Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You (1972)

Jalacy Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000), better known by the stage name Screamin' Jay Hawkins, was an American rhythm and blues musician, singer, songwriter and actor. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery, and wildly theatrical performances of songs such as "I Put a Spell on You", he sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him an early pioneer of shock rock.



Hawkins had originally intended to record "I Put a Spell on You" as "a refined love song, a blues ballad." Hawkins later said that, "the producer brought in ribs and chicken and got everybody drunk, and we came out with this weird version... I don't even remember making the record. Before, I was just a normal blues singer. I was just Jay Hawkins. It all sort of just fell in place. I found out I could do more destroying a song and screaming it to death."