Screamin' Jay Hawkins: Spellbound
David Burke, Vintage Rock, Summer 2018
FOR SOMEONE whose live performances involved climbing out of a coffin, it came as no surprise that Screamin' Jay Hawkins resurrected his career in the 1980s, with a little help from some hip fans who became friends. Among them were garage rockers the Fuzztones and cult film-maker Jim Jarmusch. Arguably the latter played a pivotal role in Hawkins' revival, using his signature song, 'I Put A Spell On You', in Stranger Than Paradise, and then casting the eccentric singer as the night clerk of a run-down Memphis flophouse in Mystery Train, a triptych of stories evoking the spirit of Elvis Presley.
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