Jimmy Bee

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Music industry veteran Jimmy Bee died of a heart attack April 22. He was 59.

Bee, a Baltimore native, worked as an artist, promotion executive, manager and record company consultant during his 35-year career.

Initially a street-corner singer in the early 1950s, Bee enjoyed his first recognition with the Flairs at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, emerging with several hits in the late ’50s and early ’60s.

As a solo artist in the late ’60s, Bee recorded the top R&B hit “I Only Have Eyes for You.”

His career as a producer began in the early ’60s with the likes of Rene Hall, Billy Williams and Brenton Wood, with whom he honed the promotion techniques that later aided musicians like the Bee Gees, Quincy Jones, the Whispers, Melba Moore, the Brothers Johnson, LTD, Johnny Guitar Watson, and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

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In the late 1980s Bee founded Bee/Alexander Prods. with Maury Alexander, which produced the million-selling “Magic Man.”

In a versatile and enduring career, Bee had most recently managed MCA recording artists Mahogany Blue.

A scholarship fund has been established in Bee’s name. Donations should be sent to: Jimmy Bee Scholarship Fund, c/o Betty Washington Bee, P.O. Box 7479, Culver City 90233.

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