Hamp Swain

Hamp Swain, Jr. (December 3, 1929 – May 9, 2018),[https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/macon/name/hamp-swain-obituary?id=19598944 "Obituary: Hamp "King Bee" Swain Jr."], Legacy.com. Retrieved 16 December 2021 nicknamed "King Bee" after the Slim Harpo song "I'm a King Bee," was an American radio disc jockey, popular on WIBB AM 1280 in Macon, Georgia, starting in 1957. In 1954, he became the city's first black DJ when he began working for WBML AM 1350.

Born in Macon, he attended college for a short time before working as an insurance agent for Atlanta Life,{{cite book |last1=Guralnick |first1=Peter |title=Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom |date=1986 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=9780316199438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-m6BAwAAQBAJ&q=Hamp+Swain |access-date=14 July 2018}} and playing saxophone in his own band, the Hamptones, which occasionally featured high school friend Little Richard on vocals.{{cite web|last1=Fabian|first1=Liz|title=Macon DJ who helped launch Otis Redding, James Brown, Little Richard, dies at age 88|url=http://www.macon.com/news/local/article210765389.html|website=Macon.com|publisher=The Telegraph|access-date=13 May 2018|date=May 9, 2018}} The Hamptones performed at the Cavalcade of Jazz concert held in Los Angeles at Wrigley Field on July 10, 1949 and in San Diego's Lane Field on September 3, 1949, which were both produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr."Star Studded Show At Wrigley Field Sunday, July 10th", The California Eagle, June 30, 1949

Swain helped give James Brown his big break by being the first DJ to play "Please, Please, Please" on the radio in 1956. He also hosted "The Teenage Party," a talent competition won by local singer Otis Redding several times. Swain started his own record label in Macon in the late 1960s, Jar-Val,{{cite web |title=Jar-Val Records |url=https://www.discogs.com/label/394006-Jar-Val-Records |website=Discogs |access-date=14 July 2018}} named after two of his children, Jarvis and Valencia.{{cite web |title=Matt & Robert |url=http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/M/matt_robert/index.php |website=Sirshambling.com|access-date=14 July 2018}}

Swain was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 13, 2008.{{cite web|title=Hamp Swain to Be Honored by GMHOF|url=https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/43136/hamp-swain-to-be-honored-by-gmhof|website=Allaccess.com|access-date=15 May 2018|date=July 17, 2008}} He died of natural causes on May 9, 2018, in Macon, at the age of 88.