SONG.REVIEWS
American singer and songwriter born Jalacy Hawkins, best known for his 1956 recording of "I Put a Spell on You," cut during a drunken session that transformed his intended ballad into a guttural, screamed performance he could not remember making. His theatrical, horror-tinged stage persona -- complete with a coffin and a skull on a stick named Henry -- made him a foundational influence on shock rock.
Greatest of All Time!Screamin' Jay Hawkins meant to record a polite ballad. A producer got the whole band drunk instead, and Hawkins screamed, grunted, and blacked out his way into one of the most covered songs in American music -- then had to relearn it from his own record.
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