"The Bare Necessities" is a jazz song, written by

Terry Gilkyson Terry Gilkyson (June 17, 1916 – October 15, 1999) was an American folk singer and songwriter. Biography Gilkyson was born Hamilton Henry Gilkyson in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and graduated from St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Is ...

, from Disney's 1967 animated feature film ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

'', sung by

Phil Harris Wonga Philip Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American actor, bandleader, entertainer and singer. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy, first with '' The Jack Benny Program'', then in '' The Phil ...

Baloo Baloo (from ''bhālū'' "bear") is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's '' The Jungle Book'' from 1894 and '' The Second Jungle Book'' from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of the cubs of the Seeonee wolf pa ...

and

Bruce Reitherman Bruce Reitherman (born September 15, 1955) is an American filmmaker and former child actor. He voiced Christopher Robin in ''Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree'' and Mowgli in ''The Jungle Book''. Early life and work Born on September 15, ...

Mowgli Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mowgli stories featured among Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kiplin ...

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

and Neel Sethi, in the same roles, performed the song in the 2016 remake.

Background

Originally, it was written for an earlier draft of the film that was never produced. The

Sherman Brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of brothers Robert Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard Sherman (June 12, 1928 – May 25, 2024). Together they received ...

, who wrote the other songs of the film, kept this as the only song used from the previous version. A reprise of the song was sung by Sebastian Cabot as

Bagheera Bagheera ( / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in '' The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and '' The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as frie ...

and Phil Harris as Baloo at the end of the film.

Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, record producer, singer, and former Warner Bros. Records executive whose work encompasses orchestral pop, elaborate recording experiments, Ame ...

worked on the arrangement. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, "The Bare Necessities" was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

but lost to "

Talk to the Animals "Talk to the Animals" is a song written by British people, British composer Leslie Bricusse. Written for the 1967 film ''Doctor Dolittle (film), Doctor Dolittle'', it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 40th Academy Awards. It w ...

" from '' Doctor Dolittle''. A

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

version of the song performed by

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...

was used as the theme song for '' Jungle Cubs''.

Other versions

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

covered the song on his 1968 album ''Disney Songs the Satchmo Way''. *

Steve Tyrell Steve Tyrell (born Stephen Louis Bilao III, December 19, 1944) is an American singer and record producer. He won a 2004 Grammy Award as the producer of the Rod Stewart studio album '' Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III''. He also h ...

covered the song on his February 28, 2006 album ''The Disney Standards''. *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

covered it on his album '' In the Key of Disney'', released on October 25, 2011. * The Overtones covered the song on their album ''Saturday Night at the Movies'', released on November 1, 2013.

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bare Necessities, The 1967 songs 1967 singles Songs from The Jungle Book (1967 film) Songs written by Terry Gilkyson Walt Disney Records singles