The Beatles Bible

‘Honey Don’t’, Ringo Starr’s vocal spot on the Beatles For Sale album, was written by Carl Perkins and originally released in 1956.

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Wikipedia

"Honey Don't" is a song written by Carl Perkins, originally released on January 1, 1956[2] as the B-side of the "Blue Suede Shoes"[1] single, Sun 234. Both songs became rockabilly classics. Bill Dahl of Allmusic praised the song saying, "'Honey Don't…

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This is another Ringo track, and a cover of a Carl Perkins song from (IMO) the Beatles’ weakest pop era album Beatles For Sale.
“Weak” being very much a relative term for Beatles albums – they’d have knocked most other artists into a cocked hat, of course.

Ringo was a fan of country music, so Honey Don’t was a good fit for him. George Harrison was also a fan of Carl Perkins and was influenced by his guitar playing, perhaps as a result the Beatles covered several of his songs.

Later in life they George and Carl Perkins became friends, and you can see Perkins with George, Ringo, Eric Clapton, Dave Edmunds and others in this YouTube video from an 80s TV show.

Harrison looks slightly awed, I think?

The original Honey Don’t was an early rockabilly hit recorded at Sun Records (on the B-side of Perkins’ more famous Blue Suede Shoes). The Beatles would have most likely known it from their teens. Certainly it had been part of their Cavern set in the early sixties, although in those days Lennon sang it. (You can hear his version in this track, from the Beatles at the BBC)

In my view, the song (and the official release with Ringo’s lead vocal) doesn’t have the strengths typical of the Beatles, although no doubt it would have been an above average album track when compared to other contemporary bands. For a Beatles record, Ringo’s lead vocal is a bit underwhelming and the melody and lyrics are not in the same league as most of their original songs.

Looking at the track listing for Beatles For Sale it seems as if maybe the Beatles were rushing out songs from their well-practiced live repertoire to fill space on the album. This came in a natural dip in their songwriting output between A Hard Day’s Night and Help! movie soundtracks each packed with innovative originals.

The Beatles were working flat out touring, recording and trying to service their burgeoning global fame having broken through in America. They were clearly under pressure to produce more recordings even if it meant going backwards. At least that’s my interpretation.