Jalacy
Hawkins, 18 July 1929, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, d. 12 February 2000,
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Reportedly raised in Cleveland by a tribe of
Blackfoot Indians, young Jalacy became interested in music at an early
age, teaching himself piano at the age of six and, having mastered the
keyboard, he then learned to play saxophone in his early teens. Hawkins
was also an adept young boxer, winning an amateur Golden Gloves contest
and becoming Middleweight Champion of Alaska in 1949. He judged music to
be the easier option, and became a professional musician, playing piano
with artists such as Gene Ammons, Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, James
Moody, Lynn Hope, and on one occasion, Count Basie. In 1950, Hawkins began
developing an act based more on his almost operatic bass-baritone voice,
and the following year he joined Tiny Grimes' Rocking Highlanders as
pianist and occasional vocalist, making his recording debut with the band
for Gotham Records in 1952 (the record was withdrawn after three weeks)
and for Atlantic Records in 1953 (the results remain unissued). Leaving
Grimes, Hawkins was befriended by blues shouter Wynonie Harris, who
brought the young musician to New York City as his protégé.
At
this point, Hawkins' fortunes began to take an upswing, first with his
debut records under his own name for the Timely label, followed by
superior efforts for Mercury/Wing and Grand Records. In 1956, Screamin'
Jay (as he was now known) signed with Columbia Records' reactivated OKeh
Records subsidiary and enjoyed enormous success with his manic - and
apparently drunken - rendition of his own "I Put A Spell On
You", which he had recorded earlier as a ballad for Grand Records.
Released in October 1956, the original version was quickly withdrawn as a
result of the public outrage caused by the "suggestive and
cannibalistic" sound effects provided by Hawkins. A suitably
truncated substitution was soon made. Despite these efforts, an air-play
ban remained in force, but the record sold over a million copies
regardless, becoming a classic of rock music and invoking hundreds of
cover versions from Nina Simone to the Alan Price Set and Creedence
Clearwater Revival. Remaining with OKeh until 1958, Hawkins ran the gamut
of his weird-but-wonderful repertoire with recordings of straight R&B
songs such as "Little Demon" and "Person To Person",
tongue-in-cheek, semi-operatic standards such as "I Love Paris"
and "Temptation", and the unclassifiable and uniquely bizarre
"Hong Kong", "Alligator Wine" and "There's
Something Wrong With You".
To enhance this ghoulish strangeness, on his
tours with rock 'n' roll package shows, Hawkins was encouraged by Alan
Freed to use macabre props such as skulls, snakes and shrunken heads and
to begin his act from the inside of a coffin. Again, uproar followed,
resulting in a largely unrepresentative album release and, worse still,
Hawkins' only 50s movie appearance in Mister Rock And Roll being cut out
in case parents boycotted the release. Shunned by the mass media, Hawkins
spent most of the 60s playing one-nighters and tired rock 'n' roll revival
gigs, making the occasional one-off recording agreement with tiny
independent labels. The Night And Day Of Screaming Jay Hawkins, recorded
in London for producer Shel Talmy's Planet label, was more conservative in
tone. A brace of late 60s albums extended his idiosyncratic reputation and
it was during these sessions that Hawkins recorded the original
"Constipation Blues", a lavatorial performance destined to
become an intrinsic part of his stage act.
He enjoyed a cameo role in 1978's much-praised
American Hot Wax, and later won a starring role as the laconic hotel desk
clerk in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train. Hawkins later collaborated with
modern garage band the Fleshtones. A 1991 release, Black Music For White
People, which included readings of two Tom Waits compositions, "Ice
Cream Man" and "Heart Attack And Vine", as well as a rap
interpretation of "I Put A Spell On You", revealed a largely
undiminished power. His influence on other performers, notably Screaming
Lord Sutch, Arthur Brown and Alice Cooper, should not be underestimated.
Touring and recording steadily through the 80s and 90s, Hawkins formed a
new band, the Fuzztones, and made successful tours of Europe and the USA.
His 1998 album, At Last, was a notable return to form. Hawkins died in
February 2000 from an aneurysm following intestine surgery.
ALBUMS
1958 At Home with Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Okeh/Epic) - other editions entitled Screamin' Jay Hawkins and I Put a Spell on You 1965 The Night and Day of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Planet/52e Rue Est) - also entitled In the Night and Day of Screamin' Jay Hawkins 1969 What That Is! (Philips) 1970 Because Is in Your Mind (Armpitrubber) (Philips) 1972 Portrait of a Man and His Woman (Hotline) - also entitled I Put a Spell on You and Blues Shouter 1977 I Put a Spell on You (Versatile—recordings from 1966–76) 1979 Screamin' the Blues (Red Lightnin'--recordings from 1953–70) 1983 Real Life (Zeta) 1984 Screamin' Jay Hawkins and The Fuzztones Live (Midnight Records) - live 1988 At Home with Jay in The Wee Wee Hours (Midnight Records) - live 1988 Live & Crazy (Blue Phoenix) - live 1990 The Art of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Spivey) 1991 Black Music For White People (Bizarre/Straight Records/Planet Records) 1991 I Shake My Stick at You (Aim) 1993 Stone Crazy (Bizarre/Straight/Planet) 1994 Somethin' Funny Goin' On (Bizarre/Straight/Planet) 1993 Rated X (Sting S) - live 1998 At Last (Last Call) 1999 Live at the Olympia, Paris (Last Call) - live with one studio new song
SINGLES
1956 "I Put a Spell On You" / "Little Demon" [OKeh 7072] 1957 "You Made Me Love You" / "Darling, Please Forgive Me" [OKeh 7084] 1957 "Frenzy" / "Person to Person" [OKeh 7087] 1958 "Alligator Wine" / "There's Something Wrong With You" [OKeh 7101] 1958 "Armpit #6" / "The Past" [Red Top 126] 1962 "I Hear Voices" / "Just Don't Care" [Enrica 1010] 1962 "Ashes" / "Nitty Gritty" w/ Shoutin' Pat (Newborn) [Chancellor 1117] 1966 "Poor Folks" / "Your Kind of Love" [Providence 411] 1970 "Do You Really Love Me" / "Constipation Blues" [Philips 40645] 1973 "Monkberry Moon Delight" / "Sweet Ginny" [Queen Bee 1313]
RELATED T
