The King Bees were an American
New York-based
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
musical group of the 1960s.
The King Bees were formed around 1964, and consisted of
Danny Kortchmar
Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, Gr ...
(credited as Danny Kootch) (
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
), Joel O'Brien (
drums), Dickie Frank (
bass) and John McDuffy (vocals and
organ).
They released three
singles on
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
.
After the group disbanded, Kortchmar and O'Brien met again in the Flying Machine, fronted by then-unknown
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
, and were later to reunite in Jo Mama.
In 2003, after O'Brien's death, they had a memorial where Kortchmar and Frank played.
Discography
* 1965: "That Ain't Love" / "What She Does To Me"
* 1966: "Rhythm And Blues" / "On Your Way Down To Drain"
* 1966: "Lost In The Shuffle" / "Hardly - Part III"
The band is not to be confused with the 1980's rockabilly, power pop, and New Wave band named The Kingbees.
References
American rhythm and blues musical groups
Musical groups from New York City
RSO Records artists
{{US-R&B-band-stub