What Are You Listening To Right Now?

http://www.biography.com/people/screamin-jay-hawkins-246007#early-life

Born on July 18, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio, "Screamin'" Jay Hawkins was a piano prodigy and boxer who worked with Fats Domino and Tiny Grimes. Hawkins had a hit in 1956 with his bombastic take on "I Put a Spell on You." His career became known for its wild stage antics, with the singer wearing bones and rising out of coffins. After later appearances in film, he died on February 12, 2000 in France.

Singer, songwriter and musician Screamin' Jay Hawkins was born Jalacy Hawkins on July 18, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio. One of rock and roll's original madmen, Hawkins was as famous for his music as he was for his stage antics. He spent the first year and a half of his life in an orphanage before being adopted. His mother reportedly gave him up because she already had too many children to care for. Hawkins' interest in music emerged at an early age. He taught himself to play piano and could read music by the age of 6.

While in his teens, Hawkins took up boxing. He had some success in the ring, winning a Golden Gloves championship in 1943. Still, Hawkins maintained an interest in music with a love for opera. "Something I wanted to do but never did is sing opera," he said. "That goes back to my respect for Paul Robeson and Mario Lanza, but when I got into the music business, opera didn't get into the charts; they were just putting rhythm and blues out."

In 1944, Hawkins put a music career on hold and left school to join the U.S. Army to fight in World War II. As part of his service, Hawkins entertained the troops. When he returned, he continued to box for a time before pursuing music full time.

In the early 1950s, Hawkins worked such artists as Tiny Grimes and Fats Domino before striking out on his own. It took two tries to score a hit with his best-known song, "I Put a Spell on You." The first version for Okeh Records failed to attract listeners.

During his next attempt for Columbia Records, he and the studio musicians drank heavily during the recording session. The result, which Hawkins claimed not to remember recording, was a bluesy, voodoo-tinged single filled with boisterous vocals, including moans and other sound effects. This version gave him his first hit in 1956.

After some encouragement and a little financial incentive from disc jockey Alan Freed, Hawkins enhanced his stage persona to project a more macabre image. He made his stage entrance from a coffin and often dressed as a vampire. Besides his coffin, Hawkins used other creepy props, including a skull perched on a stick that he named "Henry."

Sometimes he appeared wearing a turban with a bone through his nose or wearing a loincloth and carrying a shield and spear. While audiences enjoyed his wild antics, others, including the National Association for Colored People (NAACP), were concerned that his actions reflected badly on the entire African-American community.

Follow-ups to his biggest hit included "Hong Kong" and "Alligator Wine." But neither had same impact as "I Put a Spell on You." Hawkins took a break from the music business to live in Hawaii for part of the 1960s. But he eventually returned to touring and recording from the 1960s to the 1990s. His last studio recording, At Last, was released in 1998. That same year, he won the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Besides music, Hawkins dabbled in acting, appearing director Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train (1989) and Perdita Durango (1997). In the late 1990s, he moved to France.

Hawkins died after undergoing emergency surgery for an aneurysm on February 12, 2000, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, near Paris. Married six times, it is believed that he fathered at least 57 children.

On stage and in song, many others have followed in his over-the-top musical footsteps. His ghoulish show inspired other such horror-infused acts as Alice Cooper and KISS. And his legendary song, "I Put a Spell on You" has been covered by many performers, including Nina Simone and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

nina simone - this version is more smooth and soulful, her voice is powerful and there is some good saxophone here)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2k52n_Bvw

this was the first version of the song that i really noticed - someone gave me the "smells like children" album when i was in high school and i kind of thought that if anybody really could put a spell on someone it was marilyn manson lol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qkrsodwJGY

he did several good covers in that album btw but thats another post

annie lennox - great voice here too and a nice elec guitar and classic instrumentals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TrSMaOZm3Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOCvGZH4rNo

Creedence Clearwater Revival - lot of people feel this is the best cover of this song, and i have to say it IS pretty awesome, it maybe is the best

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeXqtzusIU0