I've Got You Under My Skin by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Artist Biography For Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Screamin' Jay Hawkins Jalacy Hawkins July 18 1929 – February 12 2000 Was An American Musician Singer And Actor Famed For His Powerful Operatic Vocal Delivery And Wildly Theatrical Performances Of Songs Such As "I Put A Spell On You" And "Frenzy". Born And Raised In Cleveland Ohio Hawkins Studied Classical Piano As A Child And Learned Guitar In His Twenties. His Initial Goal Was To Become An Opera Singer Hawkins Has Cited Paul Robeson As His Musical Idol In Interviews But When His Initial Ambitions Failed He Began His Career As A Conventional Blues Singer And Pianist.
Hawkins Was An Avid And Formidable Boxer. In 1949 He Was The Middleweight Boxing Champion Of Alaska.
In 1951 Hawkins Joined Guitarist Tiny Grimes's Band And Was Subsequently Featured On Some Of Grimes's Recordings. When Hawkins Became A Solo Performer He Often Performed In A Stylish Wardrobe Of Leopard Skins Red Leather And Wild Hats. His Most Successful Recording "I Put A Spell On You" 1956 Was Selected As One Of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock And Roll. According To The AllMusic Guide To The Blues "Hawkins Originally Envisioned The Tune As A Refined Ballad." The Entire Band Was Intoxicated During A Recording Session Where "Hawkins Screamed Grunted And Gurgled His Way Through The Tune With Utter Drunken Abandon." The Resulting Performance Was No Ballad But Instead A "raw Guttural Track" That Became His Greatest Commercial Success And Reportedly Surpassed A Million Copies In Sales Although It Failed To Make The Billboard Pop Or R&B Charts.
The Performance Was Mesmerizing Although Hawkins Himself Blacked Out And Was Unable To Remember The Session. Afterward He Had To Relearn The Song From The Recorded Version. Meanwhile The Record Label Released A Second Version Of The Single Removing Most Of The Grunts That Had Embellished The Original Performance This Was In Response To Complaints About The Recording's Overt Sexuality. Nonetheless It Was Banned From Radio In Some Areas.
Soon After The Release Of "I Put A Spell On You" Radio Disc Jockey Alan Freed Offered Hawkins $300 To Emerge From A Coffin Onstage. Hawkins Accepted And Soon Created An Outlandish Stage Persona In Which Performances Began With The Coffin And Included "gold And Leopard Skin Costumes And Notable Voodoo Stage Props Such As His Smoking Skull On A Stick – Named Henry – And Rubber Snakes." These Props Were Suggestive Of Voodoo But Also Presented With Comic Overtones That Invited Comparison To "a Black Vincent Price." He Continued To Tour And Record Through The 1960s And 1970s Particularly In Europe Where He Was Very Popular. He Appeared In Performance As Himself In The Alan Freed Bio-Pic American Hot Wax In 1978. Subsequently Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch Featured "I Put A Spell On You" On The Soundtrack – And Deep In The Plot – Of His Film Stranger Than Paradise 1983 And Then Hawkins Himself As A Hotel Night Clerk In His Mystery Train And In Roles In Álex De La Iglesia's Perdita Durango And Bill Duke's Adaptation Of Chester Himes' A Rage In Harlem.
His 1957 Single "Frenzy" Found On The Early 1980s Compilation Of The Same Name Was Included In The Compilation CD Songs In The Key Of X Music From And Inspired By The X-Files In 1996. This Song Was Featured In The Show's Season 2 Episode "Humbug". It Was Also Covered By The Band Batmobile. "I Put A Spell On You" Was Featured During The Show And Over The Credits Of Episode 303 Of The Simpsons.
In 1983 Hawkins Relocated To The New York Area. In 1984 And 1985 Hawkins Collaborated With Garage Rockers The Fuzztones Resulting In "Screamin' Jay Hawkins And The Fuzztones Live" Album Recorded At Irving Plaza In December 1984. They Perform In The 1986 Movie Joey.
In July 1991 Hawkins Released His Album Black Music For White People. The Record Features Covers Of Two Tom Waits Compositions "Heart Attack And Vine" Which Later That Year Was Used In A European Levi's Advertisement Without Waits' Permission Resulting In A Lawsuit And "Ice Cream Man" Which Contrary To Popular Belief Is A Waits Original And Not A Cover Of The John Brim Classic . Hawkins Also Covered The Waits Song "Whistlin' Past The Graveyard" For His Album Somethin' Funny Goin' On. In 1993 His Version Of "Heart Attack And Vine" Became His Only UK Hit Reaching #42 On The UK Singles Chart.
When Dread Zeppelin Recorded Their "disco" Album It's Not Unusual In 1992 Producer Jah Paul Jo Asked Hawkins To Guest. He Performed The Songs "Jungle Boogie" And "Disco Inferno".
Hawkins Also Toured With The Clash And Nick Cave During This Period And Not Only Became A Fixture Of Blues Festivals But Appeared At Many Film Festivals As Well Including The Telluride Film Festival Premier Of Mystery Train.
Hawkins Died On February 12 2000 After Surgery To Treat An Aneurysm. He Left Behind Many Children By Many Women An Estimated 55 At The Time Of His Death And Upon Investigation That Number "soon Became Perhaps 75 Offspring". Although Hawkins Was Not A Major Success As A Recording Artist His Highly Theatrical Performances From "I Put A Spell On You" Onward Earned Him A Steady Career As A Live Performer For Decades Afterward And Influenced Subsequent Acts. He Opened For Fats Domino Tiny Grimes And The Rolling Stones. This Exposure In Turn Influenced Rock Groups Such As The Cramps Screaming Lord Sutch Black Sabbath Arthur Brown Dread Zeppelin The Horrors Marilyn Manson Tom Waits Alice Cooper And Glenn Danzig.
42 Similar Tracks:
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Time After Time
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Ebb Tide
Bobby "Blue" Bland - Driftin' Blues
Amos Milburn - Thinking And Drinking
Bobby "Blue" Bland - I'll Take Care Of You
The Blues Brothers - Rubber Biscuit
Big Maybelle - Blues Early, Early
Ray Charles - Come Rain Or Come Shine
Little Willie John - My Love Is
Junior Kimbrough - Meet Me In The City
Tom Waits - Talking At The Same Time
Nina Simone - Who Am I?
Irma Thomas - What's So Wrong With You Loving Me
Tom Waits - Whistlin' Past The Graveyard
Ike Turner - Rocket 88
Billie Holiday - Everything I Have Is Yours - 10'' Version
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Rated X, Part 3
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Rated X, Part 1
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Rated X, Part 2
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Little Demon feat. Leroy Kirland Et Son Orchestre
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Take My Back
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - untitled
Bo Diddley - Hey Good Looking
Bo Diddley - Gunslinger
Bo Diddley - Whoa Mule Shine
Bo Diddley - The Wrong Yo Yo
Bo Diddley - Baby You're My Only Love feat. Billy Stewart
Bo Diddley - Signifying Blues Remastered
Bo Diddley - Billy's Blues Remastered
Bo Diddley - Hey, Hey What Are You Going To Do? Slow Version
Bo Diddley - Stop Crawling All Over Me
Bo Diddley - Road Runner Take 2 Remastered
Bo Diddley - Give Me A Break Remastered
Bo Diddley - Ride The Water, Pt. 1 feat. Joe Cocker, Roger McGuinn, Albert Lee, Tim Bogart, Carmine Appice, Corky Laing, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore
Bo Diddley - Not Fade Away feat. Joe Cocker, Elvin Bishop, Albert Lee, Billy Joel, Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Corky Laing, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore
Bo Diddley - Kill My Body feat. Alvin Lee, Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore
Bo Diddley - Drag On feat. Ted Neely, Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore
Bo Diddley - Ride The Water, Pt. 2 feat. Joe Cocker, Roger McGuinn, Albert Lee, Tim Bogart, Carmine Appice, Corky Laing, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley Jam feat. Ted Neely, Alvin Lee, Leslie West, Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Keith Moon, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore
Bo Diddley - Oh Yea Remastered
Bo Diddley - Wake Up America!
Bo Diddley - She Wasn't Raped
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