Starting off: I purposely didn’t choose ‘I put a spell on you’ as the track tagged track for this entry, because I don’t think it really has all that much of a horror connection, it just happened to be the Screaming Jay song that most people know.
Really Screamin’ Jay Hawkins brought a couple of thigns to the world of horror rock that should be pointed out. His connection with the story song forms of the Blues and Opera are an input that often get overlooked, the Opera part more so than that Blues part. The blues always dealt with death, damnation and murder. Going all the way back to Robert Johnson’s Hell Hound on My Trail the blues were the original Doom Rock. Opera as well has dealt with theme of the supernatural, death and ghoulishness. I have to admit that I am not all that well versed about opera, so if I am way off base please let me know. What I can say is that Screaming Jay was a classically trained opera singer who recorded and performed music with the horror image, including stage props like a skulls and coffins, because he couldn’t find work in the opera. The last thing that Screamin’ Jay brought to the horror music world was his voice, that deep rumble of bluesy darkness that sounded not only like some other worldly creature.
Up Next? Screamin’ Lord Sutch
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Screaming Jay was a genius!
apparently Screaming Jay spent time in the Balt./DC area. I used to go to a record store there and they had a search for Jay's Kids. With a photo with him asking "Are you one of Jay's kids?" He had somewhere up to like 50 potential offspring and the estate was looking for them. priceless...