Jewel Akens (September 12, 1933* – March 1, 2013) was an American singer and record producer.
Doo wop veteran Jewel Eugene Akens was born September 12, 1933, in Houston, Texas, the seventh of nine children in a working-class family. He became interested in music early in life, singing for the church choir as a child, but was also influenced by the blues joint in his neighbourhood.
In 1950, Akens moved with his family from Texas to Los Angeles, where he graduated from Fremont High School. There, he met his future wife, Eddie Mae, whom he married in 1952. In his teens, Akens recorded with The Fascinators on Dootone records then The Four Dots. Introduced to Eddie Cochran's manager Jerry Capehart, they recorded a single for Freedom Records in 1959.
Later Aikens and a friend, Eddie Daniels, recorded as Akens and Daniels for Capehart's Silver and Capehart labels. Eddie Cochran played guitar on these sides as well as Akens' sides for Crest. Akens did background vocals on releases by John Ashley ("Hot Rod Gang,""High School Caesar,""2001: A Space Odyssey"). The Four Dots also recorded singles for Liberty ("Don't Wake Up the Kids,""Peace of Mind"), Bullseye, and Dot Records ("My Dear"). In 1960, Aikens and Daniels recorded as Jewel & Eddie on the Silver label and on an Imperial single, "Boom a Lay" b/w "Hide & Seek," as the Astro-Jets.
Akens began recording for Herb Newman's Era Records with a group called the Turnarounds. Newman's teenage son had written a nursery rhyme influenced song about the birds and the bees and the label owner wanted Akens to record it. After some honing, "The Birds and the Bees" b/w "Tic Tac Toe" was issued and hit number three pop on Billboard's charts in early 1965. Another nursery rhyme song, "Georgie Porgie" b/w "Around the Corner (From My House)" peaked at number 68 pop during spring 1965.
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| 1965 Bandstand |
His The Birds and the Bees LP was released that same year. Though Akens kept recording (singles:"It's the Only Way to Fly" b/w "Sure Know How to Hurt a Fella" on Era, "Blue Eyed Soul Brother" b/w "Why Do You Want to Go" on Paula, "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" b/w "You Better Move On," and a cover of Thurston Harris'"Little Bitty Pretty One" b/w "Born a Loser" [both on Colgems]), "The Birds and the Bees" and "Georgie Porgie" were his only charting singles.
Akens toured regularly since 1965 and included a tribute to his mentor, Sam Cooke, in most of his shows. He 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 considered his cover versions of "Little Bitty Pretty One" by Thurston Harris and "You Better Move On" by Arthur Alexander to be his best work.
He toured with The Monkees in the late 1960s and produced a 1973 duet album by Ted Taylor and Little Johnny Taylor, Super Taylors, for Stan Lewis' Paula Records. He also fronted a short lived group billing itself as The Coasters in 1985, though it featured no actual original members of the group. In 1989 Akens recorded on Classic Artists with Johnny Staton, Dave Antrell and Jimmy Colbert as The Feathers, a doo wop nostalgia group. Akens undertook more shows (2006-2011) with a new set of Dots, that consisted of Al Martin, Hurley D and songwriter and producer Richard Dickson.
On March 1, 2013, Akens died from complications of back surgery at an Inglewood hospital. He was 79 years old. He was buried in the Mausoleum of the Golden West in Inglewood Park Cemetery.
(Edited from Wikipedia, All Music & Los Angeles Times) (* other sources give 1940 as birth year.)