THE DOORS' VERSION OF "I'M A KING BEE" AND ITS ORIGINS

Among the covers The Doors recorded between 1966 and 1967 is "I'm A King Bee," a medium-paced blues originally written and recorded by Slim Harpo in 1957 (it was the B-side of his first single).

The Doors performed it several times during their concert career, including a live performance in Detroit on May 5, 1970, during the promotional tour for the "Morrison Hotel" LP.

Among the few recordings of the song by The Doors that have come down to us, however, the version played in San Francisco in March 1967 (at the famous "The Matrix") stands out. Let's take a look at its main characteristics and then discover the source from which the quartet took this cover.

The tempo that John Densmore keeps on the drums throughout the tune played at "The Matrix" basically follows that of Slim Harpo's original composition.

The rhythmic path thus established serves as a solid foundation for Ray Manzarek's vocal performance, caught here in one of his sporadic interventions as lead singer during the group's live performances.

This circumstance means that Jim Morrison is limited to backing vocals, discreetly supporting from the background of the arrangement the vocal efforts of the band's keyboardist. The result is an atmosphere that is rarely heard in The Doors recordings.

Manzarek manages to be convincing and engaging, with just the right amount of grit and vocal drive, although the result is not among the best the quartet was capable of delivering.

The most interesting moment of The Doors' cover of "I'm A King Bee" at “The Matrix” is the solo by Robby Krieger, who uses the "slide guitar" technique on his electric guitar.

In doing so, he clearly emphasizes the band's connection to the blues, the musical sphere in which this guitar style was born and developed.

The vibrant notes extended by this distortion of the guitar sound set Krieger apart from most rock musicians of the time. In fact, there were only a few guitarists who could play this style in concert with fine results.

This solo also shows us where The Doors got their inspiration for this particular cover.

After Slim Harpo, it was the Rolling Stones who recorded "I'm A King Bee" and included it on their first LP ("Rolling Stones" in April 1964).

In this case, which is also the best version of the song ever put on vinyl, Brian Jones deviates from the original version with a short, sharp solo, played with the "slide guitar" technique.

In addition to Jones' solo, there is also a remarkable vocal performance by a young Mick Jagger (he was about to turn twenty-one at the time of this recording).

Finally, the continuous glissando of Bill Wyman's electric bass is perhaps the most distinctive sound element of this version.

Starting from this excellent rendition of "I'm A King Bee" by the Rolling Stones, which had some success in the United States in the wake of the "British Invasion", The Doors drew inspiration to build their own.

In fact, contrary to the Rolling Stones version, Slim Harpo's original has no "slide guitar" and its arrangement is simpler and sparser than the one devised by Rolling Stones' themselves.

Moreover, in an interview made after the band's breakup, Manzarek explicitly acknowledged the influence of the Rolling Stones on bands who wanted to make rock music in the mid-1960s (including the Doors).

With this blues, Manzarek had the opportunity to give Morrison a few minutes of rest and, at the same time, vary the group's artistic offerings during concerts.