The Humming Bees from Texarkana

The Humming Bees - Blessed are the Pure in Spirit (Universal Artists UAR 1006), 1967
I bought two of the Humming Bees' records from Mack Stevens in Texas, including this one. The Hummbings Bees were, to all accounts, a black gospel group from the Texarkana, Arkansas, area. Their style was much in the vein of the many bands recorded by Style Wooten in Memphis, although they never made it onto one of Wooten's labels, as far as I'm concerned.

The Humming Bees were likely formed in 1949. They were active in the Texarkana area and also across the border in Texas, as an Paris, Texas, newspaper snippet from 1956 suggests. They still (or again) performed in 1990, celebrating their 51th anniversary. The Humming Bees recorded twice for their own custom label Humming Bee(s), first in 1960 and then in 1964. They followed up with at least two discs on Universal Artists.
Universal Artists Records was a local venture from Texarkana and only sporadically active from 1967 until about 1976. Later releases carried no catalogue number, just the Rite matrix numbers. Most of the material issued on the label was gospel, apart from some country and rock'n'roll. Also, Universal Artists was somehow associated with the Humming Bees, since the label on the Religious Five's disc reads "Universal Artists Records - Hummming Bees - Texarkana, Arkansas presents".

Universal Artists Discography

(all records pressed by Rite)

1001: Bill Gentry - Baby What'ya Say / If You Want My Love (1967)
1002:
1003:
1004: Vycounts - Can't You Tell / I Need You Tonight (1967)
1005: Vicki Scott - I'm Not a Toy / I Just Lost Your Love (1967)
1006: The Humming Bees - Jesus Steps Right In / Blessed Are the Pure in Spirit (1967)

#: The Humming Bees - Jesus Has Done So Much for Me / Send It On Down (1972)
#: Willie Gulley, Jr. and the Bright Stars - Take a Little Time to Pray / Too Close (1975)
#: S. V. Hale - He Won't Leave Me Now / Pass Me Not (1976)
#: The Religious Five - Guide Me Over / I've Been Changed (1976)