"The Birds and the Bees" was a 1964 single release by Jewel Akens that is said to have been written by the twelve-year-old son of Era Records owner Herb Newman; the songwriting credit on the Jewel Akens recording of "The Birds and the Bees" reads Barry Stuart, which is the song's standard songwriting credit.[1]
"The Birds and the Bees" was written with a lyric based on the "birds and the bees" idiom commonly referenced with regard to affording young people their introduction to sex education. An international hit in 1965, "The Birds and the Bees" was reminiscent of such 1950s' honky tonk-style hits as "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino and "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison. Some subsequent recordings (i.e. by artists other than Akens) identify the composer as Herb Newman (Newman had written "The Wayward Wind" a 1956 No.1 hit for Gogi Grant). Jewel Akens had recorded one single for Era as frontman for the doo-wop group the Turn-Arounds in 1964 when Newman pitched "The Birds and the Bees" as the group's next recording; as Akens was the only group member to favor the song he recorded it solo, working through four or five different arrangements and thus considerably honing the song's original format.[2] Musicians on the recording included Billy Strange and Ervan Coleman on guitar, Bob West and Arthur Wright on bass, Hal Blaine on drums and Leon Russell on piano.
Chart performanceedit
Recorded at Gold Star Studios - with sound engineer Stan Ross employing the innovative technique of "chorusing" by patching the session guitarist into an organ speaker [3] - "The Birds and the Bees" afforded Akens a Top Ten hit in the first quarter of 1965 reaching No.2 on the USCash Box singles chart and No.3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart: the single also reached No.21 on the US BillboardHot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart.[4] The disc also had strong chart impact internationally reaching No.3 in Australia, No.6 in Belgium (Flemish Region), No.3 in the Netherlands and No.4 in Norway. In the UK "The Birds and the Bees" afforded Akens a more moderate hit, reaching No.29,[5] with Akens besting a cover version by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates that failed to chart.
Other recordingsedit
Alma Cogancovered Akens's hit for release in Scandinavia[6] and was afforded a No.1 hit in Sweden for three weeks in the summer of 1965, and also a Top Ten hit in both Denmark and Norway, with respective peaks of No.8 and No.4 (Cogan's version of "The Birds and the Bees" matching the Norwegian chart peak of Akens' original). Alma Cogan is often credited with a UK cover of "The Birds and the Bees"; in fact her UK single of that name - No.25 in 1956 - was a recording of "(The Same Thing Happens with) The Birds and the Bees".
A 1966 single release by Rufus and Carla Thomas was more simply titled "Birds and Bees".
Bobby G. Rice recorded "The Birds and the Bees" in 1971 to serve as B-side for his No.33 C&W chart hit "Suspicion", with "The Birds and The Bees" being featured on Rice's 1972 debut album Hit After Hit.
An Italian-language rendering of "The Birds and the Bees", "Sulla sabbia c’era lei", was recorded by Sonia e le Sorelle (it), and was an entrant in the 1965 Cantagiro festival; Nicola Salerno wrote the lyrics which typically of the song's non-English renderings are independent of the English original, the title translating as "On the sand there was you".
Also in 1965, Drafi Deutscher (de) & His Magics recorded a German rendering of "The Birds and the Bees" entitled "Heute Male Ich Dein Bild [today I paint your image],
Cindy Lou" which reached No.3 in Germany and No.5 in Austria while the French rendering "Bientôt les vacances" (Soon the holidays) by Monty (fr) reached No.11 in France; Québécois artist Donald Lautrec also recorded a French take of "The Birds and the Bees" in 1965, that being "Tu Dis Des Bêtises" (You say the nonsense)
The Cindy Lou spawned a parody recording by Jacques Desrosiers entitled "Il Y'a Des Bibites" (There are some bugs).
Ambrus Kyri (hu) recorded a Hungarian rendering of "The Birds and the Bees" entitled "Madarak és Méhek" (Birds and bees) in 1967.
A recording was made in Danish as "Blomster og bier" (flowers and bees) by Birthe Kjær in 1974
"The Birds and the Bees" was done in Swedish as "Blommor och bin" (Flowers and bees) by lyricist Keith Almgren and recorded by Little Gerhard 1965 (SweDisc SWDS 1093) and Sten & Stanley (sv) on their album Musik, dans & party 8 (1993).
It was also performed in Finnish by Laila Kinnunen as "Kuinka kuu katoaa".
^"www.discogs.com". www.discogs.com. 2 August 1965. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
January 01, 1970
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Birds and the Bees Jewel Akens song news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message The Birds and the Bees was a 1964 single release by Jewel Akens that is said to have been written by the twelve year old son of Era Records owner Herb Newman the songwriting credit on the Jewel Akens recording of The Birds and the Bees reads Barry Stuart which is the song s standard songwriting credit 1 The Birds and the Bees Song by Jewel AkensLanguageEnglishReleased1964GenrePop easy listeningLength2 08LabelEraSongwriter s Barry Stuart Contents 1 History 2 Chart performance 3 Other recordings 4 ReferencesHistory edit The Birds and the Bees was written with a lyric based on the birds and the bees idiom commonly referenced with regard to affording young people their introduction to sex education An international hit in 1965 The Birds and the Bees was reminiscent of such 1950s honky tonk style hits as Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino and Kansas City by Wilbert Harrison Some subsequent recordings i e by artists other than Akens identify the composer as Herb Newman Newman had written The Wayward Wind a 1956 No 1 hit for Gogi Grant Jewel Akens had recorded one single for Era as frontman for the doo wop group the Turn Arounds in 1964 when Newman pitched The Birds and the Bees as the group s next recording as Akens was the only group member to favor the song he recorded it solo working through four or five different arrangements and thus considerably honing the song s original format 2 Musicians on the recording included Billy Strange and Ervan Coleman on guitar Bob West and Arthur Wright on bass Hal Blaine on drums and Leon Russell on piano Chart performance editRecorded at Gold Star Studios with sound engineer Stan Ross employing the innovative technique of chorusing by patching the session guitarist into an organ speaker 3 The Birds and the Bees afforded Akens a Top Ten hit in the first quarter of 1965 reaching No 2 on the US Cash Box singles chart and No 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart the single also reached No 21 on the US Billboard Hot Rhythm amp Blues Singles chart 4 The disc also had strong chart impact internationally reaching No 3 in Australia No 6 in Belgium Flemish Region No 3 in the Netherlands and No 4 in Norway In the UK The Birds and the Bees afforded Akens a more moderate hit reaching No 29 5 with Akens besting a cover version by Johnny Kidd amp the Pirates that failed to chart Other recordings editAlma Cogan covered Akens s hit for release in Scandinavia 6 and was afforded a No 1 hit in Sweden for three weeks in the summer of 1965 and also a Top Ten hit in both Denmark and Norway with respective peaks of No 8 and No 4 Cogan s version of The Birds and the Bees matching the Norwegian chart peak of Akens original Alma Cogan is often credited with a UK cover of The Birds and the Bees in fact her UK single of that name No 25 in 1956 was a recording of The Same Thing Happens with The Birds and the Bees Later in 1965 Dean Martin included his version on Remember Me I m the One Who Loves You 7 A 1966 single release by Rufus and Carla Thomas was more simply titled Birds and Bees Bobby G Rice recorded The Birds and the Bees in 1971 to serve as B side for his No 33 C amp W chart hit Suspicion with The Birds and The Bees being featured on Rice s 1972 debut album Hit After Hit An Italian language rendering of The Birds and the Bees Sulla sabbia c era lei was recorded by Sonia e le Sorelle it and was an entrant in the 1965 Cantagiro festival Nicola Salerno wrote the lyrics which typically of the song s non English renderings are independent of the English original the title translating as On the sand there was you Also in 1965 Drafi Deutscher de amp His Magics recorded a German rendering of The Birds and the Bees entitled Heute Male Ich Dein Bild today I paint your image Cindy Lou which reached No 3 in Germany and No 5 in Austria while the French rendering Bientot les vacances Soon the holidays by Monty fr reached No 11 in France Quebecois artist Donald Lautrec also recorded a French take of The Birds and the Bees in 1965 that being Tu Dis Des Betises You say the nonsense The Cindy Lou spawned a parody recording by Jacques Desrosiers entitled Il Y a Des Bibites There are some bugs Ambrus Kyri hu recorded a Hungarian rendering of The Birds and the Bees entitled Madarak es Mehek Birds and bees in 1967 A recording was made in Danish as Blomster og bier flowers and bees by Birthe Kjaer in 1974 The Birds and the Bees was done in Swedish as Blommor och bin Flowers and bees by lyricist Keith Almgren and recorded by Little Gerhard 1965 SweDisc SWDS 1093 and Sten amp Stanley sv on their album Musik dans amp party 8 1993 It was also performed in Finnish by Laila Kinnunen as Kuinka kuu katoaa the Chicks the Defenders da Jan Keizer Brenda Lee Gary Lewis amp the Playboys Billy Preston Sha Na Na Spooky and Sue nl Vilma Santos 1971 under Willear s RecordsReferences edit secondhandsongs com secondhandsongs com Retrieved May 4 2021 Jewel Akens Rockabilly nl 1940 09 12 Retrieved 2013 02 22 Stan Ross dies at 82 producer engineer co founded Gold Star studio Articles latimes com 2011 03 17 Retrieved 2015 07 17 Whitburn Joel 2004 Top R amp B Hip Hop Singles 1942 2004 Record Research p 25 Roberts David 2006 British Hit Singles amp Albums 19th ed London Guinness World Records Limited p 17 ISBN 1 904994 10 5 45cat com 45cat com Retrieved May 4 2021 www discogs com www discogs com 2 August 1965 Retrieved December 1 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Birds and the Bees Jewel Akens song amp oldid 1216700711, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
