Screamin' Jay Hawkins - "I Put A Spell On You"

And sometimes a little spellcraft is exactly what you need to lift a curse and begin a new chapter.

Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of songs such as "I Put a Spell on You", he sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him an early pioneer of shock rock.

Hawkins' most successful recording, "I Put a Spell on You" (1956), was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. According to the AllMusic Guide to the Blues, "Hawkins originally envisioned the tune as a refined ballad." The entire band was intoxicated during a recording session where "Hawkins screamed, grunted, and gurgled his way through the tune with utter drunken abandon." The resulting performance was no ballad but instead a "raw, guttural track" that became his greatest commercial success and reportedly surpassed a million copies in sales, although it failed to make the Billboard pop or R&B charts.

So today with magic materializing around me, I choose Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put A Spell On You” as my, make your you magic moments, call the corners, summon the spirits, song for a, the power is always within you, channel the gift, like sparks and lasers Friday of All Hallow’s Eve.

Happy Samhain Everyone.