Did Screamin’ Jay put a spell on you at Birmingham gig?
A MUSIC historian is searching for information about “lost” Birmingham gigs by the man who penned the world’s best known blues ballads.
Only die-hard fans will know about Jalacy Hawkins, who performed under the stage name Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
But his most famous track, I Put A Spell On You, is globally recognised.
The single was never a hit for Hawkins, from Cleveland, Ohio, but it became the signature song for Nina Simone – despite failing to dent the Top Ten.
In 1965, Nina’s version climbed to 23 in the US Billboard R&B chart – but barely scraped the UK top 50, peaking at 49.
The Alan Price Set also fared better with I Put A Spell On You. Their cover charted in the UK at number nine in 1966. Bryan Ferry took the track to number 18 in 1993.
The ballad has also been recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival, who performed it at Woodstock, Bonnie Tyler, Marilyn Manson, Manfred Mann and The Animals. Historian Graham Reay has now uncovered links binding the track’s author Hawkins, who died in 2000, aged 70, and Birmingham.
Mr Reay said: “I heard an ad
for BBC4’s broadcast this week of the August 21 Prom at the Albert Hall featuring the music of the late Nina Simone.
“The music they used was her version of I Put A Spell On You. I’m pretty sure Miss Simone never visited Kings Heath, but Jalacy Hawkins from Cleveland, Ohio, who wrote the song, with Herb Slotkin, did.”
Hawkins, whose outlandish performances saw him emerge from a coffin and use voodoo props, played the Whisky A Go Go, on the corner of Birmingham’s Navigation Street, on February 28, 1965.
His unheralded appearance came before Simone and Alan Price’s versions were released.
Mr Reay said: “The song did much better to promote his next visit. A version by Alan Price got to number nine in the charts in April 1966, while Jay was on tour here.
“The tour including Birmingham dates at the Penthouse Club, on Constitution Hill, on April 5 and the Handsworth Plaza and Kings Heath Ritz on April 10. Jay’s backing group and support act on that tour was Herbie Goins and the Night-Timers, who were Parlophone recording artists.”
Hawkins’ 1956 recording of I Put A Spell On You is a track pitted by grunts and screams from the singer.
But Hawkins and the band were blind drunk – so much so, he passed out and had no recollection of the studio session.
He later said: “The producer brought in ribs and chicken and got everybody drunk and we came out with this weird version. I don’t even remember making the record.”
The single was later banned because of its perceived “overt sexuality” – and Hawkins’ Black Magic stage trademark. Mr Reay added: “Screamin’ Jay died in France in 2000. Later that year, Sonique took his most famous song back into the UK Top Ten. Herbie Goins, who hailed from Florida, died in Italy in 2015.”