Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an eccentric man, who wore outlandish outfits (leopardskin and red leather were a favourite combo from the 1940's on) claimed to practice voodoo and carried a skull named Henry on stage with him every time he sprang from his casket to perform his amazing music. His "I Put a Spell on You" (1956) remains rock and roll's most singular recording, and was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The song sets out the template for the man's career: big-voiced Hawkins singing an impassioned appeal to a lost love or some other banal thing. Very quickly, however, the performance becomes something unique: Hawkins seems positively demented as he sings, threatens wildly, screams, grunts and groans, and sounds utterly demoniacal in reclaiming the lady or whatever as his own, as he does here again and again....
Hawkins' legendary theatrical act was one of the first shock rock performances, and was the progenitor of much that came later in rock and roll, including George Clinton, Arthur Brown, Alice Cooper, Dr. John, Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, Screaming Lord Sutch, Warren Zevon, and Marilyn Manson, among the many who vied for Hawkins' title as a rock and roll madman. His starring roles in Jim Jarmusch's films 'Stranger Than Paradise' and 'Mystery Train' led to other movie performances, such as Álex de la Iglesia's 'Perdita Durango' and Bill Duke's adaptation of Chester Himes' 'A Rage In Harlem', and his song "Frenzy" being featured in "The X Files". Touring with The Clash, Nick Cave and Tom Waits kept our man firmly in the news until his alleged death... So here we have a Voodootastic selection of Screamin' Jay's finest early performances to delight a terrified audience once more, including many, some would say mercifully, unissued performances. Buy it and be afraid...
|
