Screamin Jay Hawkins--c/d?

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http://home.datacomm.ch/mik/ba/h/hawkins_jay/pics/hawkins_1998_006.jpg

Father of countless bastard children, boxer, actor, voodoo priest, and one time opera singer, Screamin Jay Hawkins is always held up as a progenitor of showmanship in performance, but damn, if he didn't have the tunes, too.

In my youth, I would drink at one particular London pub just to hear "I Put A Spell On You" blasting out from the jukebox over the PA. There are others, too- the early R&B stuff like "Little Demon" and "Ashes", insane covers of "I Love Paris" and "Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddle", and genuinely affecting blues like "Portrait Of A Man" and "What's Gonna Happen On The 8th Day". The power of his voice is as evident in his regular speech as it is in his singing- for evidence seek "Darling, Please Forgive Me", where Jay recites a steady monologue to the girl that he betrayed while his multitracked vocals wail and scream in the background.

The red suit from Mystery Train is of course a classic in itself. Nuff said. A few years ago, Jay was due to play in London, but pulled out due to ill health. I was devastated by this, despite the patchy output during the last decade or so. Do you love Jay?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I would love to know what album to buy to get the good version of I Put a Spell on You (ie the one they use in Stranger Than Paradise, which I'd imagine is the original). Does anybody know?

So far I've bought two different cheapo CDs to try and get it (one was even called I Put a Spell On You), but both versions of the song were limp re-recordings.

Just on the basis of that one song (the aforementioned good version), you can't get much more classic!

― M Carty (mj_c), Thursday, 17 April 2003 11:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, this is a problem. he re-recorded his biggest hit at least three times, including a lame and embarassing funk/disco version. And "There's Something Wrong With You" is just "Spell.." under a different name. Get an anthology like Portrait Of A Man or Cowfingers And Mosquito Pie.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 11:14 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.franckash.com/jay.jpg

Also...you did not want to get into an argument with this man about occult religion.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 11:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I first heard "I Put a Spell on You" in Jim Jarmusch's "Stanger Than Paradise" (ha ha very college student of me). I haven't heard any other song I like as much. I still have a taped copy of a record a friend had that had the good version (or what I think of as the good version) of the song. Not sure what the album as called, but maybe I can dig that out later in the day if I get ambitious.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 12:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Get ambitious!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 13:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay that wasn't too bad. The bad news is that I didn't write down a title. Either I didn't write the title down or the title was "Screamin' Jay Hawkins."

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 13:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I love his version of McCartney's "Monkberry Moon Delight"

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, what's that on?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

She Put the Whammee on Me is the name of the alb, I think. It was rereleased on the cheap by Fuel2000 a couple of years back. The song's got full Wings-style production excess and is completely ridiculous, so it's perfect.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd500/d502/d50232m6s73.jpg

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd500/d502/d50232m6s73.jpg
it's a compilation, with wavering sound quality, but it's cheap.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

The only album I have is the one he recorded with the Fuzztones. Screamin' Jay was so punk rock...

― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I love him to death, even though so far I've only been able to find one album on vinyl, and I'm totally blanking on its title. It doesn't have any of his hits on it and the cover is this weird red, black, green, and yellow voodoo vever-style drawing. It's got a bunch of great performances on it - weird overdriven r&b, some slow grinders. Great tune called "Bite It", the other one that struck a chord with me was "Mary Anne" (I think)? Does anyone know what album I'm talking about...?

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

He's great. I remember that the radio station where I worked had a recent album of his which had several songs dedicated to Sherilyn Fenn of Twin Peaks fame. The album was terrible, mind.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Aside from the Esau Smith bit, he's the best part of Tosches' Unsung Heroes.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

utterly classic, even if there are consistancy problems. i listened to my cassette of "portrait of a man" so much that it broke.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 17 April 2003 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

lauren, I believe it's spelled "continence problems".

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Shouldn't this be "search and destroy"? Can't see anyone calling him dud. search "Hong Kong"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 17 April 2003 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud. Just black music for white people, man didn't know how to keep it real.

(ahem)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 17 April 2003 17:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sure Geir will chime in with a "DUD" eventually...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 17 April 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc300/c376/c376643mw53.jpg

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 17 April 2003 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Uh, well he knew his audience.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 17 April 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

(He lived in Europe for the last few decades, right?)

― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 17 April 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

He's among my favourite singers. Lots of my favourites mentioned (Little Demon is the most fun), but I must add I Hear Voices for genuinely scary gibbering, Alligator Wine, Feast Of The Mau Mau (both the same kind of theme), his version of It's Only Make Believe, Itty Bitty Pretty One and Same Damn Thing. His cover of Tom Waits' Heartattack And Vine was okay, but sort of pointless.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Thursday, 17 April 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the compilation 'Portrait of a Man' on Demon very much, although I haven't listened to it for a long time. It features the original 'I Put a Spell On You' as well as a version with Keef and some backing 'chicks', possibly the funky disco version mentioned above. There's something about him in one of those history of rock books, possibly Nik Cohen, which is good. It points out that he had a very good voice but chose to blow raspberries instead.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 17 April 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Great stuff!!! Feast of the Mau-Mau is a classic. Tons of wonderful things out there.

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Thursday, 17 April 2003 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

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