I Put A Spell On You by jmjiloveyou

jmjiloveyou - I Put A Spell On You

jmjiloveyou

Jun 24, 2025 08:12am

"I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song recorded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamin%27_Jay_Hawkins" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"Screamin' Jay" Hawkins</a> and co-written with Herb Slotkin. The selection became a classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_following" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cult song</a>, covered by a variety of artists. It was Hawkins's greatest commercial success, reportedly surpassing a million copies in sales,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-komara-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-sikov-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> even though it failed to make the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pop</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26B_chart" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">R&B charts</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-whitburn2003-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-whitburn1996-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a>Hawkins's recording of it was selected as one of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame%27s_500_Songs_that_Shaped_Rock_and_Roll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll</a>. It was also included in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Christgau" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robert Christgau</a>'s "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings—published in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christgau%27s_Record_Guide:_Rock_Albums_of_the_Seventies" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies</a> (1981)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a>—and ranked No. 313 on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> magazine's list of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time</a>.<h2>Background</h2>Hawkins had originally intended to record "I Put a Spell on You" as "a refined love song, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_ballad" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blues ballad</a>".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-Dahl-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a> However, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_producer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">producer</a> Arnold Maxin "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. Before, I was just a normal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blues</a> singer. I was just Jay Hawkins. It all sort of just fell in place. I found out I could do more destroying a song and screaming it to death."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[11]</a> His first wife Anna Mae Vernon later claimed that she wrote the song and let him take the credit.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-12" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[12]</a>Hawkins first recorded "I Put a Spell on You" as a ballad during his stint with Grand Records in late 1955. However, that version was not released at the time (it has since been reissued on Hawkins's UK Rev-Ola CD The Whamee 1953–55). The following year, Hawkins re-recorded the song for Columbia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okeh_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Okeh Records</a>—the notorious screaming version, which was released in October 1956. However, this version was banned from most radio programming for its outrageous "cannibalistic" style. A truncated version was later released omitting the grunts and moans from the ending of the song, but the ban generally remained.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-13" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[13]</a> Despite the restriction, the record still sold over a million copies.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-14" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[14]</a>The hit brought Hawkins together with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cleveland</a> disc jockey <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Freed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alan Freed</a> who promptly added him to his "Rock and Roll Revue". Up to this time, Hawkins had been a blues performer; emotional, but not wild. Freed suggested a gimmick to capitalize on the "demented" sound of "I Put a Spell on You": Hawkins wore a long cape, and appeared onstage by rising out of a coffin in the midst of smoke and fog.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-bb-15" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[15]</a> The act was a sensation, later bolstered by tusks worn in Hawkins's nose, on-stage snakes and fireworks, a cigarette-smoking skull named "Henry" and, ultimately, Hawkins transforming himself into "the black <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Price" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vincent Price</a>".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-16" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[16]</a> This theatrical act was one of the first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_rock" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shock rock</a> performances.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Put_a_Spell_on_You#cite_note-17" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[17]</a>