A Portrait Of A Man and His Woman

Jalacy Hawkins best known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American musician, singer, and actor. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of songs such as "I Put a Spell on You", Hawkins sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him one of the few early shock rockers. His 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. "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. This disc recorded in 1972 finds Hawkins in supreme form. Never one to kowtow to trends, Hawkins delivers a gut wrenching performance of new tracks and rock & rock classics.