"I'm a King Bee" is a swamp blues song written and first recorded by

Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born Isiah Moore or James Isaac Moore; February 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970)Martin Hawkins, "Slim Harpo at 100", ''Blues & Rhythm'', No.384, June 2024, p.23 was an American blues musician, a leading exponent of the swamp blues styl ...

in 1957. It has been performed and recorded by numerous blues and other artists since. In 2008, Slim Harpo's original recording received a

Grammy Hall of Fame Award The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Original song

Written by Slim Harpo, whose legal name was James Moore, the song was recorded in March 1957. The recording features a spare arrangement and instrumentation typical of J. D. Miller's production approach. Accompanying Slim Harpo were Gabriel " Guitar Gable" Perrodin on guitar, John "Fats" Perrodin on bass, and Clarence "Jockey" Etienne on drums. The song has an irregular number of bars (as opposed to the standard 12 bars). According to blues historian Gerard Herzhaft, it is derived from songs by

Memphis Minnie Lizzie Douglas (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973), better known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose recording career lasted for over three decades. She recorded around 200 songs, some of the best known being " ...

Bo Carter Armenter (or Armentia) Chatmon (March 21, 1893 or January 1894 – September 21, 1964), known as Bo Carter, was an early American blues musician. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks in concerts and on a few of their recordings. He also m ...

, and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

and uses the rhythm figure from " Rockin' and Rollin'" by Lil' Son Jackson. Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Louis Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, ...

originally released it in 1957 as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to his debut solo single, "I Got Love if You Want It".

Rolling Stones version

English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

recorded "I'm a King Bee" for their 1964 debut album. It has been identified as an early important song for the Rolling Stones, although it was not released as a single. The band's arrangement generally follows Slim Harpo's, but includes a slide-guitar break by

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

. The personnel consisted of Jagger on vocals and harmonica, Jones on slide guitar,

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

on acoustic guitar,

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

on bass guitar, and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

on drums. Later,

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

commented "What's the point in listening to ''us'' doing 'I'm a King Bee' when you can hear Slim Harpo do it?"

Grateful Dead version

Pigpen (Ron McKernan) had" I'm A King Bee" in his repertoire, featuring his considerable harmonica chops. The

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

played it over 40 times, with the first known at Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, January 8, 1966 and the last in Ann Arbor, December 15, 1971. Well-known performances include Fillmore West, San Francisco, February 28, 1969; Thelma Theater, Los Angeles, December 12, 1969; Capitol Theater, Port Chester, November 6, 1970 (Jerry on slide); and Fillmore East, New York February 28, 1971. Bob Weir tried out an arrangement in Los Angeles, December 8, 1993 and at the Omni in Atlanta, March 31, 1994 but it did not stick.

Pink Floyd version

The Tea Set, which became

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

, recorded "I'm a King Bee" and several other songs in December 1964. The recording features

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

Bob Klose Rado Robert Garcia Klose (born 1945) is an English musician, photographer and printmaker. Between 1964 and July 1965, he was the lead guitarist of the rock band the Tea Set, an early incarnation of Pink Floyd. Although he recorded a few song ...

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

, Richard Wright and

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...

. When it was officially issued on the vinyl-only '' 1965: Their First Recordings'' (2015), it became the only cover song ever released by Pink Floyd. The song was later issued for the first time on CD as part of ''

The Early Years 1965–1972 ''The Early Years 1965–1972'' is a box set that compiles the early work of the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 11 November 2016. It was released by Pink Floyd Records with distribution held by Warner Music for the UK and Europe and ...

'' box set in November 2016, along with the other songs recorded in December 1964.

John Belushi version

John Belushi John Adam Belushi ( ; January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, singer and musician. He was one of seven ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members of the first season. He was arguably the most popular member of the ''Satur ...

performed "I'm a King Bee" on the January 17, 1976 broadcast of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

,'' with Belushi and the show's house band dressed in bee costumes and bandleader

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' fi ...

dressed as a beekeeper. Guest host

Buck Henry Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's ''The Graduate'' (1967) for which he re ...

introduced them as "Howard Shore and his All-Bee Band." At the end, Belushi repeated four of the song's last five words several times in different vocal styles for comic effect.

Recognition

In 2008,

's "I'm a King Bee" received a

, which "honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance". The song has been recorded by a variety of musicians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I'm a King Bee 1957 songs Slim Harpo songs 1957 singles The Rolling Stones songs Pink Floyd songs Blues songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Songs written by Slim Harpo Excello Records singles Fictional bees