497 Slim Harpo (1924-1970) “I’m a King Bee” 1957

“Born James Moore in 1924 in Lobdell, West Baton Rough Parish, Harpo, an orphan, spent his early years as a physical laborer in Baton Rouge. A musical late bloomer influenced by blues harmonica legends such as Little Walter, Harpo began moonlighting as Harmonica Slim in the mid-1950s, gigging with singer-guitarist Otis Hicks, aka Lightnin’ Slim, who was the region’s most established bluesman.” Harpo “became one of the most commercially successfully blues artists of his day, a fact borne out by the number of white blues and rock ‘n’ roll bands who absorbed his music. None other than the Roiling Stones covered Harpo's ‘I'm a King Bee" on their debut album, leading Stones frontman Mick Jagger to famously say, ‘What's the point in listening to us do “I’m a King Bee” when you can hear Slim Harpo do it?’” (Ryan Whirty, Louisiana Life, Jan/Feb 2010).

Slim Harpo “I’m a King Bee”