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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZHAWKINS, Screamin' Jay(b Jalacy Hawkins, '29, Cleveland OH; d 12 Feb. 2000) R&B singer, rock'n'roll pioneer with a stage act on the 'surrealistic borderline' (Arnold Shaw). He was a Golden Gloves middleweight boxing champion '47; he sang and played piano with Tiny Grimes and others and went solo c'55 with a talent for humorous lyrics: he recorded for a dozen labels, allegedly refusing to imitate Fats Domino for Atlantic. 'I Put A Spell On You' '56 on OKeh was his biggest hit (with some of the moans and groans edited out so that disc jockeys would play it): it didn't make any charts but remained a legendary record, later covered by Alan Price and Creedence Clearwater. He was carried onstage in a flaming coffin, his props including a skull on a stick, a rubber snake, a black satin bat-wing cape and a smoke-box built many years ago by an electrician at the Apollo Theatre. His manic drive and black humour were copied by Arthur Brown and influnced countless others; the act is still imitated by Black Sabbath etc whose fans never heard of Hawkins. But for all the props his vocal style was the basis, and it was too strong: by the time Hawkins was scaring teenagers (Little Richard by comparison merely entertained them) the music business was already putting the brakes on rock'n'roll by making it pretty. Other well-known songs (all his own) included 'I Hear Voices', 'Alligator Wine', 'Feast Of The Mau Mau' (all recorded '60s). He opened for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden '80; Keith Richard played on 'Armpit No. 6' and a remake of 'Spell', issued '80 in UK on Polydor. He died in France after emergency surgery for an aneurysm. |