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vinyl LP front cover
cover photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer and boxer who was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and wanted to be an opera singer (Hawkins cited Paul Robeson as his musical idol in interviews), also included were Mario Lanza, Enrico Caruso, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Brown. When his initial ambitions failed, he began his career as a conventional blues singer and pianist.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins recorded I Put a Spell on You on February 12, 1956. It was co-written with Herb Slotkin, became a classic cult song
and was Hawkins' greatest commercial success, reportedly surpassing a
million copies in sales, even though it failed to make the Billboard pop or R&B charts.
From Wikipedia:
Hawkins had originally intended to record I Put a Spell on You as "a refined love song, a blues ballad". However, the producer Arnold Maxin "brought in ribs and chicken and got everybody drunk, and we came out with this weird version ... I don't even remember making the record. Before, I was just a normal blues singer. I was just Jay Hawkins. It all sort of just fell in place. I found out I could do more destroying a song and screaming it to death."The hit brought Hawkins together with Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who added him to his "Rock and Roll Revue". Up to this time, Hawkins had been a blues performer; emotional, but not wild. Freed suggested a gimmick to capitalize on the "demented" sound of I Put a Spell on You: Hawkins wore a long cape, and appeared onstage by rising out of a coffin in the midst of smoke and fog. The act was a sensation, later bolstered by tusks worn in Hawkins' nose, on-stage snakes and fireworks, a cigarette-smoking skull named "Henry" and, ultimately, Hawkins transforming himself into "the black Vincent Price". This theatrical act was one of the first shock rock performances.
dates & photographers unknown
I Put a Spell on You was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings—published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)—and ranked No. 313 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
During his career he opened for Fats Domino, Tiny Grimes and the Rolling Stones. This exposure in turn influenced rock acts such as Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, the Cramps, Screaming Lord Sutch, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Arthur Brown, Led Zeppelin, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, and Glenn Danzig.
There have been some great covers of the song: Nina Simone, John Fogerty, Annie Lennox, Bryan Ferry, Haley Reinhart, Nick Cave, Tim Curry, The Animals and, of course, Marilyn Manson and Diamanda Galas
to name but a few. With the exception of Manson and Galas, most of the
covers treat the song seriously; few attempt to duplicate the
over-the-top performance by Hawkins.
vinyl LP, side 2
photo by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Orange Colored Sky, written by Delugg*, Stein*
A2 - Hong Kong, written by Nahan*, J. Hawkins*
A3 - Temptation, written by Freed*, N. H. Brown*
A4 - I Love Paris, written by Cole Porter
A5 - I Put A Spell On You, written by Slotkin*, J. Hawkins*
A6 - Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
A2 - Hong Kong, written by Nahan*, J. Hawkins*
A3 - Temptation, written by Freed*, N. H. Brown*
A4 - I Love Paris, written by Cole Porter
A5 - I Put A Spell On You, written by Slotkin*, J. Hawkins*
A6 - Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Side 2:
B1 - Yellow Coat, written by Nahan*, J. Hawkins*
B2 - Ol' Man River, written by Kern*, Hammerstein II*
B3 - If You Are But A Dream, written by A. Rubinstein*, J. Fulton*, Jaffe*, Bronx*
B4 - Give Me My Boots And Saddle, written by Whitcup*, T. Powell*, Samuels*
B5 - Deep Purple, written by Parish*, De Rose*
B6 - You Made Me Love You, written by Monaco*, J. McCarthy*
Personnel
- Vocals – Jalacy Hawkins
- Guitar – Mickey Baker
- Piano – Ernie Hayes
- Tenor saxophone – Sam "The Man" Taylor
- Baritone saxophone – Bud Johnson
- Bass – Al Lucas
- Drums – David "Panama" Francis
- Arrangement – Leroy Kirkland
Credits:
Conductor – Leroy Kirkland, O.B. Masingill*
Photography By – Alfred Gescheidt
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Conductor – Leroy Kirkland, O.B. Masingill*
Photography By – Alfred Gescheidt
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Stamped Side A): XEM42622-1A
Matrix / Runout (Stamped SIde B): XEM42623-1C
Matrix / Runout (Stamped SIde B): XEM42623-1C
Screamin' Jay Hawkins – At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Label: Epic – LN 3448
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: Mar 1958
Genre: Blues
Style: Rhythm & Blues
Label: Epic – LN 3448
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: Mar 1958
Genre: Blues
Style: Rhythm & Blues
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
American Blues Scene ~ Wild Operatic Bluesman Screamin' Jay Hawkins
YouTube links:
I Put a Spell on You ~
