Jewel Akens
Jewel Akens was a one-shot artist who had a very popular song in the mid-60's.
Akens was born in 1933 in Houston, Texas. He enjoyed singing. His mother thought he had a good voice and recommended that he move to Los Angeles, where he might get more exposure to the music business. Jewel took his mother's advice -- he moved to Los Angeles in his late teens and later found out that she was right.
He got a job as a background singer for Herb Newman, the owner of Era Records. Jewel was working at a recording session one day in 1965 when Newman handed him a song on a sheet of paper. Akens recorded The Birds And The Bees on the Era label and it entered the charts on February 6, 1965. Although the prevailing thrust in the pop music business at the time was British Invasion music, Akens' version of The Birds And The Bees became very popular immediately. It remained on the charts for twelve weeks and peaked at the number three position. Writing credits for the song went to Herb Newman.
Jewel Akens was in demand. He released a similar record, Georgie Porgie, which did not sell nearly as well. Akens appeared on music entertainment shows on television such as Shindig, Hullaballo, and American Bandstand. He also toured regularly with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars.
Akens toured regularly since 1965 and included a tribute to his mentor, the late Sam Cooke, in most of his shows.
Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees
And the flowers and the trees
And the moon up above
And a thing called "Love"
Let me tell ya 'bout the stars in the sky
And a girl and a guy
And the way they could kiss
On a night like this
When I look into your big brown eyes
It's so very plain to see
That it's time you learned about the facts of life
Starting from A to Z
Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees
And the flowers and the trees
And the moon up above
And a thing called "Love" (Yeah!)
When I look into your big brown eyes
It's so very plain to see
That it's time you learned about the facts of life
Starting from A to Z
Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees
And the flowers and the trees
And the moon up above
And a thing called "Love"
Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees
And the flowers and the trees
And the birds and the bees
And the flowers and the trees
'bout the birds
FADE
and the bees
The Los Angeles Times reported that Jewel Akens died from complications following back surgery at a hospital in Inglewood, California on March 1, 2013.
Most Recent Update: March 8, 2013
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