I immediately liked this song when I heard it in 1984. The song originally was by Phil Phillips with the Twilights and they took it to #2 in 1959. Phil Phillips and George Khoury wrote this song. I knew Robert Plant wanted to distance himself from the hard sounds of Led Zeppelin when I heard this. I went out and immediately bought the single.
This version of the Honeydrippers included Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. I had forgotten that Brian Setzer was in it also but it makes complete sense. The members were…
Robert Plant – vocals
Jimmy Page – guitars
Jeff Beck – guitars
Paul Shaffer – keyboard
Nile Rodgers – guitar, co-producer
Wayne Pedzwater – bass
Dave Weckl – drums
Brian Setzer – guitar
Keith “Bev” Smith – Drums
That is some kind of band… a lot of great players in famous bands in this group. The song peaked at #1 in Canada, #3 on the Billboard 100, #12 in New Zealand, and #56 in the UK.
Robert Plant was actually quite horrified with this song’s success for The Honeydrippers. The A-side was “Rockin’ At Midnight,” with “Sea of Love” as the B-side. But the single got flipped. Plant feared that this would destroy his reputation and he would be typecast as a crooner, so he deliberately cut off the career of the Honeydrippers.
He thought about bringing them back in the 21st century with Ahmet Ertegün, but at the latter’s passing Plant put the idea on permanent hold. Robert can really sing those 50s hits quite well. I remember seeing him on the broadcast of the Concert for Kampuchea playing with Rockpile.
“Sea Of Love”
Do you remember when we met?
That’s the day I knew you were my pet
I wanna tell you how much I love you
Come with me, my love, to the sea
The sea of love
I wanna tell you just how much I love you
Come with me to the sea of love
Do you remember when we met?
Oh, that’s the day I knew you were my pet
I wanna tell you, oh, how much I love you
Come with me to the sea of love
Come with me, my love, to the sea
The sea of love
I wanna tell you just how much I love you
I wanna tell you, oh, how much I love you
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I think this is really cool, very different but Plant was able to pull this off with class.
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I had the single. Other than Plant and Page I did not know who else was in the band. I had no idea that Beck and Setzer was part of the band.
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Yea…they didn’t hang around for long
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I even bought this in 84 as I was on a Plant solo and Zep kick at the time. Plus our local guy Shaffer was on it.
That is some kind of band as you mentioned Max. All heavy hitters…
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I’m sorry I can’t get past this, you were at that concert?! Wow.
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NO NO NO…sorry I worded that wrong…I saw the video!
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I re-worded it just then…cause yea…it did sound like I went…sorry
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No worries I think I’ve calmed down now lol. Great lineup for those concerts, I’m big Rockpile et al fan. Interesting connection Edmunds produced The Stray Cats.
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He was the perfect producer for them
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He was indeed, I did seem them live, they were a hard working group.
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Sea of Love was also a 1989 film with Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, and John Goodman, introduced as “He is assigned to investigate the murder of a man in Manhattan, shot dead while face down in his bed, naked, listening to an old 45rpm recording of ‘Sea of Love’.” Never heard the Plant version before, thanks.
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Yeh, it reminds me of the movie above which my old man was a fan because he had a thing for Ellen Barkin and the song. I always enjoyed this version more than Tom Wait’s, which many say id the best.
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I liked it so much I bought the single when it came out…it is a great song…Plant did a good job
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Yes indeedy!
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This was interesting. I don’t think I realized it was a Page thing to, I thought it was only Plant. And really cool to see Setzer in there as well. I like his playing.
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Great song – both versions. I loved the Honeydrippers. Rockin’ at Midnight was a great jam, too.
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Yes it was…I should have combined the two for this.
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I much prefer the original by Phil Phillips with the Twilights.
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I do like that one also….the first time I heard it was a few days ago when I wrote this.
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I didn’t realise Beck and Niles Rodgers were in there too – that’s a lot of excellent guitarists.
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Great record. I liked it right away back then & it threw me for a loop. It shouldn’t have, since I liked ‘In through the Out Door’ and that definitely veered away from ‘prototypical Zeppelin’ (‘Black Dog’, ‘Rock & Roll’ etc) and I liked Plant’s first solo record – ‘Pledge Pin’ etc – but I still thought of Plant as just a hard rock singer/screamer, I was really surprised to hear something so melodic and low-key from him. the member of the band that surprised me was Paul Shaffer… until recently I had little idea he had a good career before showing up on Letterman’s show.
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Agree, Dave with what you say on Max’s blog. Its a change-up from me agreeing- later- with him on yours! I do like the vocals on this and the production is spot on right for the song.
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Oh Paul Shaffer was on SNL also in the 70s and 80s…in the band and in some skits…infact he messed up and said the F word in a skit.
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Plant seems to have long gotten over having a crooner rep. His further solo albums and also his ongoing collaboration with Alison Krauss proves it. And what about this gem from 1988, “Ship of Fools”:
I love love love how he sings this!
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Robert Plant definitely has a great voice on this tune!
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There is a certain note he hits in here that sends me to aural ecstasy.
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“Sea of Love” was quite a change from Zep, but I’ve always loved this tune. I don’t think I ever heard the original. I think I might like it even more than The Honeydrippers, though their rendition is definitely as well.
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I like it also…yes I love the original as well…it’s a great written song underneath it all…it would be hard to do a bad version of this song.
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Wow, I always learn so much. Had no idea all these guys were in one band. Thanks Max!
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Thanks for reading as always
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That band is quite the impressive lineup, and all I knew about them until now was Plant fronted it! I do love that song as a very nice change-up thrown by him, and Plant certainly pulls it off successfully.
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I loved this.
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Yea I like it also…he sounds great in it
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