"A Sleepin' Bee" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

composed by

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

with lyrics by Arlen and

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

. It was introduced in the musical '' House of Flowers'' (1954) and performed by

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major film studio, major studio films to feature black cas ...

. While ''House of Flowers'' was a flop, "A Sleepin' Bee" became a standard of the American songbook.

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

referred to it as her favorite song, recorded it several times, and performed it in her national television debut in April 1961 on the "Jack Paar Show". Mel Tormé's performance of the song in ''Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley'' was called "definitive" in ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

''.

Selected recordings

Ernestine Anderson Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, ...

- ''Ernestine Anderson'' (1958) *

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy F ...

- ''Broadway's Fair Julie'' (1962) *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

- on the album '' Tony Sings for Two'' (1961) *

June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a so ...

- '' Off-Beat'' (1960) *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

- numerous versions including Trio 64 and

Montreaux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

* Johnny Hartman - '' I Just Dropped By to Say Hello'' (1963) * Carol Lawrence - on the album ''Tonight at 8:30'' (1960) *

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

- on the album ''

Something to Swing About ''Something to Swing About'' is a 1960 album by jazz singer Carmen McRae, arranged by Ernie Wilkins. Reception The initial ''Billboard'' magazine review from January 1960 wrote that "McRae fans are going to like this and the gal can easily ma ...

'' (1960) * Jessye Norman - '' With a Song in My Heart'' (1990) *

Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first Af ...

– ''Leontyne Price and Andre Previn'' (1967) *

- on the album '' The Barbra Streisand Album'' (1963) *

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for " The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an ...

- on the album '' Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley'' (1960) * Nancy Wilson - '' Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley'' (1961)

References

Songs about sleep Songs about insects 1954 songs 1950s jazz standards Songs from musicals Songs with music by Harold Arlen Songs with lyrics by Truman Capote Pop standards {{pop-standard-stub