During the earliest years of rock, no act rivaled the sheer outrageousness of Screamin' Jay Hawkins. He routinely rose from coffins during live shows while keeping a flaming skull named Henry by his side, projecting an extravagantly theatrical image long before such behavior gained any cultural foothold.
His off-stage existence proved almost as peculiar as his theatrical persona. Initially drawn to the resonant baritone of Paul Robeson, Hawkins never succeeded in launching an opera career. His skill in the boxing ring matched the power of his voice, and many of his most colorful stories involved physically thrashing musical competitors.
Hawkins landed his first break in 1951 when he worked as pianist and valet for jazz guitarist Tiny Grimes. The following year he made his recording debut on Gotham with “Why Did You Waste My Time,” backed by Grimes & His Rockin’ Highlanders, who performed in kilts and tam o’ shanters. Before issuing his legendary 1956 version of “I Put a Spell on You” on Columbia’s OKeh imprint, he cut singles for Timely (“Baptize Me in Wine”) and for Mercury’s Wing subsidiary, including the 1955 track “[She Put The] Wamee [On Me].”
He had conceived the number as a polished ballad. After Hawkins and his New York session players—particularly guitarist Mickey Baker and saxist Sam “The Man” Taylor—drank heavily, he tore through the song with raw, drunken abandon, screaming, grunting, and gurgling. The result became his biggest commercial success despite resistance from label executives, while the rocking B-side “Little Demon” remains a minor classic.
Several equally unhinged 1957–1958 follow-ups—“Hong Kong,” the surreal “Yellow Coat,” and the Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller-penned “Alligator Wine”—failed to duplicate “Spell”’s impact. Disc jockey Alan Freed persuaded Hawkins that emerging from a coffin could serve as a memorable stage stunt and paid him a $300 bonus for trying it, an idea from which Hawkins continued to benefit long after Freed’s death.
In 1969, while under contract to Philips Records, where he completed two albums, Hawkins recorded the crude “Constipation Blues,” which earned little airplay yet stayed central to his legacy. His outsized presence later reached movie audiences through featured roles in Mystery Train and A Rage in Harlem, exposing him to younger viewers who had never heard “I Put a Spell on You.” Hawkins died on February 12, 2000, at age 70, after surgery for an aneurysm.
