SPOOKYSONGS

I Put a Spell on You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins wasn’t always screaming. He was born in “Screamin'” Cleveland, Ohio in the late 1920s. At 18 months he was given up for adoption. His adoptive family gave him piano and guitar lessons, which would come in handy later. His booming voice led him to want a career as an opera singer. During World War II he snuck into the army and served in battle – at age 13! He stayed in the army until 1952 when he was honorably discharged. When he got back to America, a new type of music called “rock and roll” had emerged.

“Rock and WHAT now?

Hawkins recorded a handful of ballads to little success. One night, while recording a new ballad called “I Put a Spell on You”, he decided he and the band should be as drunk as possible. So, after a few bottles of whiskey, instead of a love song, we got a menacing tale of jealous possession, filled with whoops, hollers, growls, screams, and whooping-holler growl-screams. Hawkins claimed to have no memory of ever recording the song.

His record label was too nervous to put out the original version as it was too “cannibalistic”. They edited out most of the grunts and… it got banned from radio nationwide. However, nothing says “BUY ME” than a nationwide ban, so the single still sold millions.

The song jumps right into the creepy possessive vibe – “I put a spell on you, because you’re mine”. He repeatedly accuses his love of foolin’ around and putting him down. This is why he had to put a spell on her.

Then the song takes an even darker turn. “I don’t care if you don’t want me – I’m yours right now”. So yeah, a bit,erm, nonconsensual. Then there’s some grunting and groaning and, according to the record company, he eats her.

Is this the face of a cannibal?

The song is perfect 1950s R&B with horns following the drum beat, and spooky piano underscoring Jay’s wailing.

Jay normally performed in leopard capes and bright clothes. Cleveland DJ Alan Freed, who famously coined the term “rock n roll”, suggested he ham it up on stage with coffins, snakes, spiderwebs and whatnot. It worked. Jay became a must-see show. Goodbye opera, Jay Hawkins was now the world’s first shock-rocker. His “voodoo” character was more over-the-top silly than scary, and he became known as the Black Vincent Price.

“I Put a Spell on You” is one of the major Spooky Songs. It appears on nearly every Halloween compilation. It’s been regarded by Rolling Stone as one of the top 500 songs of all time. It’s been covered by such diverse artists as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Marilyn Manson, and Annie Lennox. It’s an R&B staple, a rock staple, and a Halloween staple. It was used in a pivotal scene in “Hocus Pocus”.

I listened to a podcast about the history of heavy metal, and he made an argument that his was very early proto-metal, at least for its vocals and subject matter. Jay’s next closest thing to a hit was “Constipation Blues”, which was about what he called “real pain”. He has plenty of other spooky songs like “I Hear Voices” and “Feast of the Mau Mau”.

Hawkins died of an aneurysm in 2000. The world is still under his spell.

Here’s Manson’s version of the song, it ups the creep factor about 342%, especially with the phrase “If I can’t have you, then no one will.” Charming!