A Sleepin' Bee
Encyclopedia
"A Sleepin' Bee" is a popular
song
composed by Harold Arlen
with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote
. It was introduced in the musical House of Flowers
by Diahann Carroll.
The signature line is "When a bee lies sleeping In the palm of your hand ..."
had a popular recording of the song and performed it on The Jack Paar Show on her first appearance on American national TV on April 5, 1961. In the liner notes for the boxed set Just for the Record, Streisand wrote: "One of those pieces of sheet music was Harold Arlen's 'A Sleepin' Bee' from the Broadway show House of Flowers. I fell in love with his music the first time I heard the score and this became my favorite song."
In 1963, Streisand recorded the song for her first solo album, The Barbra Streisand Album
; the song later appeared on the compilation The Essential Barbra Streisand
. In 2000, she performed the song on her "Timeless Tour" and a live recording was included on the live album Timeless: Live in Concert
and the accompanying DVD release.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
composed by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
. It was introduced in the musical House of Flowers
House of Flowers (musical)
House of Flowers is a musical by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote , based on his own short story, first published in Breakfast at Tiffany's as one of three extra pieces besides the titular novella...
by Diahann Carroll.
The signature line is "When a bee lies sleeping In the palm of your hand ..."
Barbra Streisand version
Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
had a popular recording of the song and performed it on The Jack Paar Show on her first appearance on American national TV on April 5, 1961. In the liner notes for the boxed set Just for the Record, Streisand wrote: "One of those pieces of sheet music was Harold Arlen's 'A Sleepin' Bee' from the Broadway show House of Flowers. I fell in love with his music the first time I heard the score and this became my favorite song."
In 1963, Streisand recorded the song for her first solo album, The Barbra Streisand Album
The Barbra Streisand Album
- Side two :- Personnel :* Barbra Streisand — vocals* Mike Berniker — producer* Peter Matz — arrangements* Fred Plaut and Frank Lacio — recording engineers* John Berg — design* Hank Parker — photography* Harold Arlen — liner notes- Chart performance :...
; the song later appeared on the compilation The Essential Barbra Streisand
The Essential Barbra Streisand
The Essential Barbra Streisand is a two-disc compilation album of Barbra Streisand released by Sony BMG as part of their Essentials series. Released in January 2002, and drawing from four decades of her work, it includes all but one of her top-ten hits, and most of her top-forty hits...
. In 2000, she performed the song on her "Timeless Tour" and a live recording was included on the live album Timeless: Live in Concert
Timeless: Live in Concert
Timeless: Live in Concert is a live album released by Barbra Streisand on September 19, 2000 . It was her fifth live album and was released on Columbia Records...
and the accompanying DVD release.
Notable recordings
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