The Birds and the Bees (Jewel Akens song)
"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. History. "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 introductory 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. Though some subsequent recordings (i.e. by artists other than Akens) identify the composer as Herb Newman himself (Newman had written "The Wayward Wind" a 1956 #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. 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. 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 - "The Birds and the Bees" afforded Akens a Top Ten hit in the first quarter of 1965 reaching #2 on the US "Cash  Box" singles chart and #3 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart: the single also reached #21 on the US "Billboard" Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. The disc also had strong chart impact internationally reaching #3 in Australia, #6 in Belgium (Flemish Region), #3 in the Netherlands and #4 in Norway. In the UK "The Birds and the Bees" afforded Akens a more moderate hit, reaching #29, with Akens besting a cover version by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates that failed to chart.