210 Screaming Jay Hawkins (1929-2000) “I Put a Spell on You” 1956

Hawkins was adopted by a Blackfoot tribe family. He was a musical prodigy, teaching himself how to read music and play multiple instruments at a young age and attending the Ohio Conservatory of Music to learn opera. He returned to music after a boxing career and stint in the army; he became the “precursor to some of the more exotic rock and roll acts of the later part of the century…with his special combination of what critics unanimously called ‘shock and schlock’” (Contemporary Musicians).

Screaming Jay Hawkins “I Put a Spell on You”