Latest Release
- 26 MAY 2023
- 26 Songs
- Cow Fingers And Mosquito Pie · 1953
- Black Music for White People · 1991
- Cow Fingers And Mosquito Pie · 1991
- Devil Got My Woman · 2010
- Black Music for White People · 1991
- Black Music for White People · 1991
- R&B: From Doo-Wop to Hip-Hop · 1956
- A Hard Day's Night · 1964
- Little Bitty Pretty One - EP · 1970
- Somethin' Funny Goin' On · 1995
Essential Albums
Albums
- 1998
- 1972
- 1969
Artist Playlists
- The scenery-chewing cult singer helped embolden rock ‘n' roll.
Live Albums
- 1984
About Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Long before shock rock and goth, there was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Legendary for the 1956 spooky classic “I Put a Spell On You”, he was the first popular artist to fuse R&B, rock ’n’ roll and occult imagery into a theatrical show; it included coffins, Dracula capes and voodoo-inspired props. Hawkins’ career path was as unique as his music. Born in Cleveland in 1929, he studied classical piano and strove to be a Paul Robeson-style opera singer years before launching a career in the blues. But much like theatre-actor-turned-horror-icon Vincent Price, Hawkins learned that feeding the public’s insatiable appetite for darkness and camp could make him a star. And it did: from the late ’50s until his death in 2000, the singer with the ghoulish howl amassed a catalogue full of creepily eccentric gems like “Frenzy” and “I Hear Voices”. He also made numerous appearances in film and television, including a role in director Jim Jarmusch’s 1989 indie classic Mystery Train. Hawkins’ influence extends across the rock-music spectrum, with the likes of Alice Cooper, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Nick Cave, The Animals and Rob Zombie all tapping into his flamboyantly devilish sound.
- HOMETOWN
- Cleveland, OH, United States
- BORN
- 18 July 1929
- GENRE
- Blues