Screamin 'Jay Hawkins

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Screamin 'Jay Hawkins (1979)

Jalacy Hawkins , better known under the name Screamin 'Jay Hawkins (born July 18, 1929 in Cleveland , Ohio , USA ; † February 12, 2000 in Neuilly-sur-Seine , France ), was an American blues singer who known for his quirky performances and songs like I Put a Spell on You and Constipation Blues .

Early career

Hawkins originally wanted to be an opera singer, so he cited Paul Robeson and Enrico Caruso as early influences. However, his efforts in this direction were unsuccessful and he began his career as a blues singer and pianist.

During the Second World War he served in the US Army in the Pacific Ocean . Mainly as an entertainer, although he claimed to have been a prisoner of war . Hawkins was an excellent boxer . In 1949 he held the Alaska middleweight title .

In 1951 he teamed up with guitarist Tiny Grimes for a while and recorded some songs with him for Atlantic Records . When he started performing as a solo artist, he bought a fancy wardrobe, which included leopard skins, red leather and wide-brimmed hats. The performances in which he was carried onto the stage in a burning coffin became legendary. His other props and stage effects, which played with the symbolism of voodoo and were a model for several generations of “shock rockers”, have become just as legendary . B. walking stick, (plastic) snakes, but also "Henry", a smoking and speaking skull, as well as numerous pioneering pyro effects.

I put a spell on you

His most successful release was I Put a Spell on You . The song was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll . Hawkins played the song he wrote himself several times. The first recording was made in late 1955 for Grand Records; it only sold moderately. During 1956, Hawkins moved to OKeh Records, a Columbia subsidiary . In his first OKeh session on September 12, 1956, another version of the song was created, which eventually became world famous. Hawkins later reported that he and his musicians were completely drunk when they were recorded. The “screaming, shouting and grunting” (Hawkins) of the drunks made the recording “something special”.

The song was by many renowned artists gecovert , including The Animals , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Nina Simone , Them , The Who , Joe Cocker , Marilyn Manson , Katie Melua , Annie Lennox and of Shane MacGowan and Friends (including Nick Cave , Bobby Gillespie , Mick Jones , Johnny Depp , Glen Matlock and Chrissie Hynde ) as a charity download single in March 2010 for the victims of the Haiti earthquake .

A new recording was released in 1991 on the sampler Back to Blues II .

Hawkins later distanced himself from his song. He had created a monster whose life he must now lead. His attempts to produce less eccentric songs were unsuccessful. Audiences and organizers usually insisted that Hawkins bring his now signature style to the stage.

Late career

SJ Hawkins 1995

Hawkins had a number of other "hits", e. B. Constipation Blues (which has loud digestive problems on the subject), Orange Colored Sky and Feast of the Mau Mau , which benefited from the stories of the cannibalism of the Kenyan Mau Mau rebels . However, none of these pieces became as successful as I Put a Spell on You .

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Hawkins stayed in self-chosen exile in Hawaii for a long time. He continued to record during the 1960s and 1970s, but toured mostly in Europe , where he was very popular. In the USA , the success did not take place until the director Jim Jarmusch put I Put a Spell on You in the soundtrack and plot of the film Stranger than Paradise (1984) and Hawkins gave a role in 1989 in Mystery Train , where he gave one in a striking red suit clad laconic night porter in a shabby Memphis motel a. (ironically?) advises the porter boy to change clothes: "You look like a damned chimpanzee ... The clothes make the man ...." This role led to several other film appearances, such as in Álex de la Iglesias Perdita Durango , where he plays Adolfo, the assistant to the Santero priest Dolorosa and in which his play "I'm Lonely" underlines the final scene of the film. He got another appearance in Bill Duke's adaptation of Chester Himes A Rage In Harlem .

His single Frenzy , released in 1957, was included in 1996 on the sampler Songs in the Key of X: Music From and Inspired by The X-Files . This song was used for the second season of the X-Files episode Humbug .

In 1991 the album Black Music For White People came out. It contained a cover of the song Heart Attack and Vine written by Tom Waits . Hawkins' version was used in a European Levi’s commercial later that year , but Waits never granted permission to use it and a lawsuit ensued. The piece Ice Cream Man , what the blues guitarist John Brim had composed, was also previously by Tom Waits (1973) and Van Halen gecovert (1978).

During this time, Hawkins also toured with The Clash and Nick Cave and not only became a fixture at blues festivals, but also appeared on numerous occasions at film festivals .

Hawkins died on February 12, 2000, leaving behind a multitude of children from many different women. About 55 children are known; some sources report up to 75 children. His friends included Bea Arthur and Claire Roca .

Discography

Selected 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]

Albums

  • 1956 Cow Fingers And Mosquito Pie (Okeh)
  • 1958 At Home with Screamin 'Jay Hawkins (Okeh / Epic) - also released under the names Screamin' Jay Hawkins and I Put a Spell on You
  • 1965 The Night and Day of Screamin 'Jay Hawkins (Planet) - also known as 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 known as I Put a Spell on You and Blues Shouter
  • 1977 I Put a Spell on You (Versatile - recordings from 1966-76)
  • 1979 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Koala)
  • 1979 Screamin 'the Blues (Red Lightnin') - also known as She Put the Wammee on Me
  • 1983 Real Life (Zeta)
  • 1984 Screamin 'Jay Hawkins and The Fuzztones Live (Midnight Records) - live
  • 1986 Frenzy (Edsel Records)
  • 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
  • 1995 Screamin 'Jay Hawkins & Swing Feeling (Body & Soul; with Philippe Milanta , Spanky Wilson and others)
  • 1998 At Last (Last Call)
  • 1998 Live (Loudspeaker / Indigo) - live
  • 1999 Live at the Olympia, Paris (Last Call) - live
  • 2004 Live ( Frémeaux et Associés ) - live

Sampler

  • 1962 Screamin 'Jay Hawkins and Lillian Briggs (Coronet)
  • 1963 A Night at Forbidden City (Sounds of Hawaii)

Movies

Documentaries about Screamin 'Jay Hawkins

  • Screamin 'Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell on Me (Nicholas Triandafyllidis, 2001)

As an actor

  • Two Moon Junction (Zalman King, 1988)
  • Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989)
  • A Rage in Harlem (Bill Duke, 1991)
  • Perdita Durango , also Dance with the Devil (Álex de la Iglesia, 1997)
  • Peut-être (Cédric Klapisch, 1999)

Trivia

literature

  • Nick Tosches: Unsung Heroes of Rock'n'Roll. Da Capo Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-306-80891-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Nick Tosches: Unsung Heroes of Rock'n'Roll. Da Capo Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-306-80891-9 , p. 166
personal data
SURNAME Hawkins, Screamin 'Jay
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hawkins, Jalacy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues singer
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Cleveland , Ohio, USA
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 2000
Place of death Neuilly-sur-Seine , France