Jewel Akens, artist notes and General Information (biography):
Jewel Akens (born 12 September 1933, Houston, Texas) is an American singer
and record producer. He first recorded with Eddie Daniels as Jewel and Eddie
on the Silver Records label in 1960. A number of his recordings featured
Eddie Cochran on guitar.
Akens has toured regularly since 1965 and includes a tribute to his mentor,
Sam Cooke, in most of his shows. He also recorded what he considered to be his
finest recordings, cover versions of Thurston Harris' "Little Bitty Pretty One"
and Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On."
He toured with The Monkees and continued to record until the mid 1970s in a
variety of styles. In 1973 he co-produced the critically acclaimed Super Taylors,
a duet album of Southern soul by Ted Taylor and Little Johnny Taylor.
In 1989-91 Akens recorded three singles with a group called The Feathers.
However, lack of further commercial success
leaves him labelled as a "one-hit wonder."