Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Best of the Bizarre Sessions: 1990-1994

Voodoo jive. Ghoul rock. Blues. R&B. Screamin' Jay Hawkins was a visionary. An influence. Outrageous. A true original. He invented shock rock so that the likes of Alice Cooper, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson and The Cramps could follow. Arriving on stage in a coffin set aflame and performing with Henry, his smoking skull companion, he was insanely theatrical and lyrically outrageous years before it was acceptable. Keith Richards worshiped him. Jim Jarmusch put him in his films. He put a spell on us. Lucky for us he chucked his pro boxing gloves and opera aspirations for Rock 'n' Roll! This best of includes eighteen of his best recordings for the Bizarre label, including four unreleased songs. Besides the Hawkins originals, Tom Waits wrote two, and Buddy Blue of the Beat Farmers wrote three. 18 tracks. Album Description

The Resurrection of Screamin' Jay Hawkins

These 18 tracks are taken from the best of Screamin' Jay's four years on the Bizarre label. He was in his 60's when he recorded these songs, but you would never know it. His vocal presence is as strong as ever and his voice reaches right through the speakers and into your brain. The best known cut here is a cover of Tom Waits' "Heart Attack and Vine" which became a hit in England after being used in a jeans commercial. He also does Waits' "Ice Cream Man", a nice bluesy strut. His famous way with standards is on display here with Kerns and Hammerstein's "Ol' Man River", partially sung seriously in his beutiful operatic baritone and then all hell breaks loose and he turns into a cannibal having a nervous breakdown. He has a pretty good band here with a good Creedence-like swamp groove on a lot of the songs like "Voodoo Priestess", "Swamp Gas", "I am the Cool" and "Brujo". And it just wouldn't be a proper Screamin' Jay collection without his trademark sick humor on songs like "Ignant and Shit", "Shut your Mouth When You Sneeze" and "You Make Me Sick", all written by Jay himself, of course. These recordings constituted a comeback of sorts for Jay, coming on the heels of numerous movie appearances such as "Dance With the Devil", "A Rage in Harlem", "Two Moon Junction" and most famously "Mystery Train". Hopefully, somehow Screamin' Jay will reach a larger audience posthumously than he did in life. Given his ghoulish image it would be appropriate for him to haunt us eternally from the grave. March 14, 2004

Smokin' J

Compiled from 3 really cool cds (with some "bonus" tracks), this baby is a "period" best of. And if you love your J as much as I do... then dont miss out on this essential collection. It's blues, it's rock... it's in heavy rotation on my cd player. Kickin' out from the crypt, Screamin' J Hawkins is alive and well on this album! July 12, 2000

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