I Put a Spell on You

"I Put a Spell on You"
A-side label of the 1956 U.S. 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
from the album At Home with Screamin' Jay Hawkins
B-side"Little Demon"
ReleasedOctober 1956 (1956-10)
RecordedSeptember 12, 1956[1]
Genre
Length2:25
LabelOkeh
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Arnold Maxin
Screamin' Jay Hawkins singles chronology
"Even Though"
(1956)
"I Put a Spell on You"
(1956)
"You Made Me Love You"
(1957)
Official audio
"I Put a Spell on You" on YouTube

"I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written and recorded by "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins. The selection became a classic cult song, covered by a variety of artists. It was Hawkins' greatest commercial success, reportedly surpassing a million copies in sales,[5][6] even though it failed to make the Billboard pop or R&B charts.[7][8]

Hawkins' recording of it was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings—published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)[9]—and ranked No. 313 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

  1. ^ "Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You The Singles 1954 - 1957". Discogs. 2009.
  2. ^ Bush, John. Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You at AllMusic. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. ^ Pareles, John (February 14, 2000). "Screamin' Jay Hawkins, 70, Rock's Wild Man". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  4. ^ McPadden, Mike (May 1, 2012). If You Like Metallica ... : Here Are Over 200 Bands, CDs, Movies, and Other Oddities That You Will Love. Backbeat Books. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-4768-1357-8. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  5. ^ Komara, Edward M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Blues: A-J. Routledge. p. 415. ISBN 9780415926997. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  6. ^ Sikov, Ed (1996). Laughing Hysterically: American Screen Comedy of the 1950s. Columbia University Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780231079839. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. ISBN 0-89820-115-2.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.