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ettawritesnstudies · 5 years ago

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Etta’s big creative to do list for when I’m not drowning in final exams

(the rest are below the cut because this got LONG! I am putting this here so you have some idea of the stuff I’ll be posting about come Monday 5/11 and also so I can find it again instead of putting it in my notebook where it will inevitably get lost among my fluids practice and history essay jottings. if you’re curious about the fact that I am not yet done with my semester, yes, I am absolutely procrastinating an essay right now by writing this. don’t worry about it.)

FINISH STORGE!! I’m only like 3 chapters away from writing The End and I desperately want to do that this year so I can edit and start sharing snippets with alpha readers by this time next year at the latest :D

Outline the Laoche Chronicles

this includes the trilogy outline in broad strokes to make sure everything sets up the next points

a detailed outline for the first book which will need a name eventually

(my outlining process can be found here!)

Character profiles for all the new OCs

(this process can be found in this post!

worldbuilding write-up questionnaire for the new civilizations that’ll feature in the main trilogy and differ from Storge

Learn how to make edits for tumblr because graphic design and anything resembling Proper Authors Platform Branding continue to elude me

This won’t happen this month, but I need to do a cleanout of the social media’s I do have so I can put writing stuff there too and start a proper Author’s Internet Presence. If I do finish Storge this year, I’ll be looking for beta readers eventually and I need to have something to show for myself. This includes...

doing a mass edit of this blog and organizing my tags

teaching myself HTML/CSS and making a custom blog theme that works for my needs or commissioning someone to do this for me

making a Laoche Chronicles wip page

buying a domain and designing an actual authors website

making an #aesthetictrash book Instagram? I’m vaguely aware this is something people do but I only use insta for it’s chat feature with my college friends so I know not the first thing about how that works

I have a disasterous Pinterest that’s 100% private boards for my various bits of nonsense that needs to be turned into a place to showcase WIP aesthetics

I refuse to touch twitter nor facebook nor snapchat nor ticktock with a fifteen foot pole

if you couldn’t tell by now, I was that kid who had a brick trac-phone until 10th grade, and used my smartphone primarily as a music device until very recently

Write a considerable backlog for my Newsies fanfic so I don’t fall behind whenever I go to my internship in a month

Finish the intro for my Vampire Plague Doctor Buddy Cop story and the Chaotic SFF Academia idea that I started last month, and write a few one shots for those Maybe start posting them somewhere if I’m happy with how they turn out?

Make a proper quilt from the 10389238320923 old event t-shirts I have sitting in a pile in the basement so I can take it to college with me in the fall. (also maybe mockup a walking skirt out of an old sheet, so I at least have an idea of what to do whenever proper fabric stores open again)

It’s going to be below freezing tomorrow for SOME REASON despite being MID- MAY, but I need to plant my garden and make a compost pile at some point

Make a list of art skills to start practicing so I can tackle the concept of “learning to draw” in a logical manner like you would in a class, and start doing these drills

Also participate in the rest of MerMay

Read a few books! My current next list of TBR looks like this

Illthdar! I have been dying to get my hands on @illthdar‘s book but I didn’t want to start it during the school year and then have to inevitably put it down like two chapters in because I had boring real life obligations to attend to, so this is my first read for as soon as I’m done with the semester on Sunday.

Pride and Prejudice, which I've heard is excellent and regrettably not actually read yet (nor any of Austen, yes I’m a heretic I know, but I’m also an engineering student and 90% of my time is spent doing maths)

Storm of Fire and Blood - I have had this book for a year and put it down because of school which is a crying shame because I really love this series! For any religious/historical fiction fans I highly recommend the Sword and Serpent trilogy! It’s a retelling of the story of St. George and the Dragon long before he’s ever a saint. I think anyone could enjoy it, but if you’re Catholic or enjoy early Christian history, you’ll get a lot of the references and saint cameos and it’s just! A lot of fun!!

also my patron St. Katherine of Alexandria is a major character in the 2nd and 3rd books and she’s absolutely wonderful so I might be just a little bit biased

Make a few watercolor maps of the world of Laoche! Including detailed maps of the city of Maaren where Storge takes place, and Arga (one of the countries in the later trilogy)

update my bullet journal which has been languishing unused on my dresser since march when I moved home from college

Carve new dulcimer hammers and teach myself a few songs. (also maybe try to make a longbow or new bridges for the dulcimer but that’s all probably a BIT of a stretch)

Brush up on my piano and guitar practice because I am very very rusty. I need to find some new songs to learn because I don’t really want to relearn Debussy or Chopin again, but I need to find some good ones first...

If you’re still reading this. Wow. Congratulations. That was a lot. and thank you! But yeah! This is what’s been knocking around in my head recently while I was supposed to be studying, but now that it is out of my head and into a post hopefully I will be able to focus again :P This is extremely ambitious and I 100000% will not be able to finish everything on this list, but! it is a plan! Wish me luck!

#etta rambles #to do #planning #things to do after finals #creative to do

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disabled-queen-hc-blog · 5 years ago

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Anon asked: i have issues with losing time and lately ive been losing about every other day which is very disorienting and kind of scary. can i request some hcs of one of the boys losing time and the others helping him ?

♚

“Roger, those pants are atrocious!” Freddie said with a laugh as Roger came out of his room in a pair of tight leopard print jeans. He was trying on possible outfits for the concert later that night and wanted some of Freddie’s input.

Roger flashed a hazy smile, his body tingling. He turned around to give Freddie a 360 view of the pants, arms thrown up in a “Really?” gesture. Freddie nodded, saying, “Animal prints are not in style anymore, love! Those pants belong in the bin if it were up to me,”

The blond let out a tinkling laugh, spluttering out between giggles, “All right. Guess it’s true,” before padding back into his room to try on other things.

So, one could imagine the shock Freddie had when later that night Roger emerged from his dressing room in those train wreck looking pair of pants.

“Did you change your mind on my advice?” he asked, stepping back to appreciate those monstrous jeans.

Roger’s head cocked, eyebrows knitting curiously. “What advice?” he was still fumbling with his belt.

“The jeans, Rog! From this morning!”

Roger shook his head, hoping Fred wasn’t drunk already. Starting off a show drunk was always...an experience.

“We didn’t talk about jeans this morning, Fred!” Roger shot back, but he shivered when he tried to remember what he did that morning. It was all blank. Blackness. What did he do this morning?

Freddie huffed, punching his shoulder playfully. “Lay off the sniff, Rog,” he said as a parting joke before he went to warm out.

What did I do this morning? What did I do??

♚

John made a weirded out face as he looked at Roger from across the room, who was supposed to be leaving to get himself some food, but had suddenly stopped in his tracks, facing the door but made no efforts to actually open it.

John watched him for what felt like minutes, creeped out by how eerily still Roger was. He decided he’d try to snap Roger out of what must have been an intense day dream. He got up, walked up to Roger who didn’t seem to notice him and gently touched his shoulder.

In a very floaty movement, Roger turned to face John, his heavy lidded eyes drooping even further, a far off smile on his face. John frowned but waved a hand in front of him, saying, “Hello..anybody home?”

Roger chuckled, replying with a bit of a delay, “I’m right here, John,”

And then he left.

John worried Roger was not only high but way too high to go out and get food by himself. He didn’t have to worry for long, as Roger came back into the room some 5 minutes later, his heart thrumming, a big but forced smile on his face.

“I walked out and completely forgot what I was doing,” he said, his eyes now wide and alert, a hint of panic in them. He let out an awkward laugh.

“You were getting some lunch...”

“Oh yeah! Hah! I’m such a blond, right?” he said, turning on his heels to leave again, his body stiff.

How could I forget?

♚

“W-What do you mean we talked about this before?” Roger said as he wringed his hands. Brian stood before him, a hand on his forehead, shaking his curls in disappointment.

“We talked about this yesterday, mate. Are you gonna stand there and tell me you forgot in a matter of 24 hours?” Brian said with an angry lilt in his voice, staring at the neatly piled up papers.

He had told Roger the day before to leave the table messy. Brian had his dissertation laid out in a specific order, pages placed in a certain way so he could write out his conclusion without having to flip through pages to find what he had written before. It would only be for a few days tops. He’d clean it up himself.

But when Roger came to visit that day, Brian had only gone to take a leak for a minute and when he came back, it was all stacked up neatly on the side of the table. Hundreds of papers jumbled up without hope of getting them back to the way the were without a long struggle.

It wasn’t a big deal, but he was working on his PhD for christs sake! His every nerve radiated anxiety and stress. Could he ask for just one thing?

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember,” Roger said, his voice cracking. Those words were beginning to become far too familiar on his tongue. He hadn’t sat down to think about these random bursts of nothingness followed by sharp clarity as he returned to reality, in a different place, around different people, in a conversation, all of which he couldn’t remember. He was losing time. Minutes, hours and sometimes a whole day’s worth. And he had no idea why. And he didn’t even know how often it was happening.

“Roger, I respect you too much to think of you as that dumb. Just. Shit, mate,” Brian rubbed his eyes, craving another pot of coffee. And for Roger to leave. He was probably doped up. Of course.

Seeing the dismay on Brian’s face made the dams break in Roger’s brain. He started to cry, against his will. Months of confusion and pretending and hiding all flooded out until all he could do was shake and sob.

Brian went wide eyed, approaching Roger like he was made of glass.

“R-Rog! It’s okay! You don’t have to cry about it. I’ll survive,” he said, not even knowing what to do to soothe the other.

“’S not that. I’m forgetting things, Bri. I don’t remember when people tell me things or when stuff happens. Like my brain keeps turning off the record button or something. I don’t remember coming here yesterday, Brian. I don’t remember what happened at all yesterday!” He stuttered, blubbered and sniffled out, his hands out in front of him like a child asking their mother to pick them up.

Brian held onto Roger tight, his chin nestled into the messy blond hair, his arms wrapped around Roger like an anchor. He wasn’t sure exactly what was happening, but his best friend was having a meltdown of sorts and he’d be damned if he ignored him because of some silly papers.

“Roger, it’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve got you, mate. We’ll figure this out, okay? You don’t have to be alone anymore,” he whispered, his shirt growing damp from Roger’s tears.

“What if I don’t remember this?” he whispered hoarsely, a hiccup wracking his chest.

“I’ll just remind you then,” Brian said assuredly.

What if I forget?

♚

“You won’t forget, darling,” Freddie said as he threw Roger a water bottle.

Roger caught it, taking a big swig of it before placing it next to his drum kit. He shook his head, drumsticks twirling through his fingers nervously. “What if we record all of this and I just forget it all? And have to keep relearning it,” he said quietly, eyes downcast.

Brian walked up next to him, guitar in hand and gave Roger’s head a reassuring pat. “Haven’t things been going well in therapy?” he asked, a little smile on his face. Roger nodded.

He thought he was losing his mind at one point. He really thought it would keep getting worse until he never remembered anything at all. Lost forever in a body on autopilot. Brian and the other’s wouldn’t allow that though. They searched far and wide for something or someone that could help. Wouldn’t you know? Suppressing years of childhood abuse didn’t mean it went away. It just came to bite you in the ass as an adult. At least, that’s what his trauma counselor said. Working with her has opened his eyes to a lot of stuff and helped him shed the stress he’d been unknowingly harboring inside of him for years. In the few months they’ve been working together, he hadn’t had an episode in weeks. It didn’t mean he wasn’t scared all the time, waiting for the next one. At least the next one wasn’t minutes away anymore.

Roger hit his drumstick down on the snare with a shrug. “Fine,” he acquiesced. They all grinned, excited to know Roger was ready to sit back down with them and keep working.

“I forget my lines all the time, dear. Don’t stress it,” Freddie said, adjusting the mic above his piano.

“And if you forget, it’s no big deal. There’s always tomorrow,” Brian added.

“I mess up all the time and nobody ever notices,” John said with a cheeky laugh.

“I said fine already!” Roger said as he blushed, appreciating their love for him but finding it smothering. “Let’s get on with it before I forget from old age!”

The four snickered but proceeded with the recording session. And Roger didn’t miss a single beat.

#roger #dunno how to tag this #ptsd!roger #dissociated!roger #??????#tw mentions of child abuse

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emmaruthrundlesh · 6 years ago

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Dispelling Genres with Emma Ruth Rundle // Addicted Mag

(Via Addicted Magazine) Following Emma Ruth Rundle’s stunning set at Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto, we sat down (in this case, stood under an ATM security light) and discussed her new album, her new home and uh, music.

The review of her show can be found here.

Let’s start from the beginning.

I grew up in L.A. Both my parents are musicians. My mom plays harpsichord. My dad’s a pianist, my stepmom is a bass player. They met in a band. I just grew up around a lot of music.

Did you grow up listening to folk music?

It was all kinds of music. And I think the folk music thing really took hold when I started to hang out at the McCabe’s Guitar Store when I was a little girl, taking Celtic harp lessons. Then went on to work there for 13 years. So I think that’s where the folk influence originated. I think it was just from being so steeped in every element of what that multifaceted establishment was. It was about the concerts, the lessons, the repair and retail.

What was the first album that you bought with your own money?

Probably In Utero, to be honest, it was Nirvana.

About your songwriting process, you start on acoustic guitar. Do you come up with ideas in standard tuning and then work out your chord voicings?

No. I Inherited the open tunings also from the guitar store. If you handed me a guitar in standard tuning, I would have a hard time with it. I mean, at some point, I started tuning the guitar in a way that made more sense to me. I heard somebody else start changing a string and then I thought well if you can do it to one string, why can’t you do all this to all the strings, just rearrange it all. So for me, mostly my voicings , the root is usually on the fifth or sixth string. Using those open strings a lot in the chords, its makes them more of a modal thing.

You give yourself a lot of work.

I actually think it’s so much easier to play guitar like that. What’s hard about what I’m doing now, on this tour. To have a guitar in all the tunings, I’d have to have all of Kevin Shields’ guitars. If I was really wealthy and had a dedicated guitar roadie. That would be amazing. But it’s not the case. What I use is a combination of two guitars, sometimes it’s three and then capoing around. it’s been difficult actually to relearn the patterns of the songs in those different positions on the fretboard, it’s throwing me off a little. Not feeling super comfortable with it yet. I have tried to learn standard. I did take some classical guitar lessons a couple of years ago. It’s like. I do want to learn standard, be more proficient.

The genre that you tend to be put into, seems to be called gothic folk or dark folk

I don’t think this is folk music at all.

And yet in my research, I keep seeing it called folk music.

It’s because somebody said something and then everyone else just repeated it. I think that there are folky moments on the records, especially on Some Heavy Ocean, but I don’t think it’s folk music.

Maybe because it’s hard to pin down, if someone needs to classify your music…

I think Americana would make a little more sense in the mix with some other things. There’s a grunge influence. There’s a shoegaze influence, there’s post rock. There is, maybe, a touch of some country songs. And there’s a lot of 90s music. You know, I’m surprised people aren’t like “this is the drop tune Cranberries”.

That brings me to a point because as I’ve been listening to the new album, On Dark Horses, there are elements in these songs that lead me to think ‘that could be a pop song’. Play it in a standard tuning, throw in a little piano and a soft beat…Let’s get to the new album. I think it’s fantastic.

Thank you.

(Producer) Kevin Ratterman is credited with doing pretty much everything behind the board including engineering, mixing and mastering.

Yeah, he even played some keyboards and some guitar. He’d be like “I’m going to mix the song” and you’d come back and he’d say “I just added this little moment here”. He’s a very colourful creator. He’s got that creative fire. He’s a very special person. He moved to L.A. sadly. Kevin will come back. I was attracted to working with Kevin because of the Young Widows album, In and Out of Youth and Lightness, which is my favourite Young Widows album. That’s another reason why I fell in love with Louisville and Evan. I did a tour with them 10 years ago. I became enamoured with Evan’s guitar playing immediately and then listened to all their albums and that record has this wonderful theme in its sound and that’s Kevin and I think he did that for this record. He captured this sonic palette. It just has a colour and it’s Kevin. Once you know him and you’re around him, you see that he’s so in the records that he’s made.

On Dark Horses seems like the kind of album that you can continually listen to and still pick up new little pieces in the background.

He’s hidden a lot of little things. I love what he did with the bridge in Darkhorse where he did this panning so drums become the horses running around you. It’s very cool.

It’s good to have a producer thinking creatively like that.

Exactly, and Todd (Cook, bassist) and Evan and Dylan. Having them as well really changed it for me too.

Do you have a favourite off the album?

Darkhorse and Control are my two favourites

You Don’t Have To Cry is the song that I listened to again and again

I think a lot of people love that song and it’s our encore. I wrote it for my friend, Blake.

You write a lot in what I think of as vignettes or abstractions. There isn’t really a narrative in your songs.

It’s all about my life, my music and my lyrics…

Your lyrics can be interpreted in different ways. I think that’s the kind of music that people grasp onto. They can make it about themselves as well.

I think that that is perfect. And that’s one reason why I don’t want to talk too much about my things, because some of is explicit in nature and I don’t want to really directly divulge those things. But it is meaningful enough and I think that some of it is charged in that way. That’s what music did for me when I was younger. That was the ultimate thing, when music could do that.

Of course. When someone says a song saved their life, it’s never a pop country song about tequila and trucks.

Yeah, It’s hard to find it now.

Which is why people grab on tight when they do find it.

I’m definitely like that. I have certain albums and I just listen to over and over and have for years.

What’s the one that you still gravitate to?

Well, for the last few years,. I would say 40 Watt Sun. The Inside Room. I listen to it almost every day. But that’s not like a nostalgic classic record from my childhood. It’s a discovery in my adult life. It did that cathartic thing for me that’s just so rare. That’s some serious soul music from my perspective

Why did you move from LA to Louisville?

It’s a fantastic place for artists. There’s a tight little scene of people. I think the great thing about it is that it’s very affordable and there’s a good quality of life. People are down to earth and we have a nice little situation there. Sometimes I start to feel like I’m trapped in the Beetlejuice town a little bit. And I do miss LA a lot but we get to tour. (Pause). I couldn’t go back. It’s kind of what Dead Set Eyes is about, leaving LA. Louisville is a great place. These fine people are from there (pointing to Jaye Jayle as they load out). Like my family. It’s kind of a long story. I was on tour, Jaye Jayle and ERR released the split record (The Time Between Us) last year, those were b-sides from Marked For Death and from their album, House Cricks. And the packaging, we just made it like this weird country romance. So we had this wild idea, since I was got asked to play Roadburn and do a little tour in Europe. Because I had very little funds, the idea was to combine the bands, have them learn my music and they would open for me. Then they would back me up as my band. That was Cathy’s wild idea (Cathy Pellow, founder of Sargent House) and she’s full of wild ideas. And I came off the Deafheaven tour and had split up with a partner. At some point earlier in the year, I was just kind of like gypsying around. I went back to Denver with Dylan (Nadon), that’s my drummer and Jaye Jayle were on tour with Oathbreaker. So the plan was they were going to finish their Oathbreaker tour and we were going to rehearse for four days in Louisville. I would go to Louisville and then we would all together fly to Europe and play Roadburn and do this tour. And I just thought, they were playing in Denver the next day and thought why don’t I just get in the van with you. I’ll sell your merch for the next two weeks and then I don’t have to fly to Louisville. I’ll just get a free ride, we’ll all have a wild time and I’ll help you out. And I got in that van and I just never got out. And now I’m married to Evan, So it’s a pretty good deal.

Talk about collaborating with Evan (Patterson, husband, Young Widows/Jaye Jayle songwriter and singer) .

Light Song is a love song. And so, he’s the answer, you know. I sang on their album. We did that record right after we came back from Europe. I had to cancel a bunch of shows because I was physically destroyed. I just went to the studio to recover and he had written that song (Marry Us). It was so weird. Like a sort of strange magic. He wrote that song before I got in the van. I sang on it. We had been singing together on tour. We were singing Run Forever when we played that song live. Those two songs, Marry Us andLight Song are like secret partner songs. So, if you’re a fan that’s paying attention, it’s kind of a cute thing. That there’s these matching love songs on the records that we both sing on together. I think it’s cute.

I do too! Thanks for talking to us, congrats on the new album. Have a great tour.

Photo by Geert Braekers

#Emma Ruth Rundle #Addicted Magazine #On Dark Horses

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blackkudos · 7 years ago

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Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Jalacy (Screamin' Jay) Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. 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.

Early life

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Hawkins studied classical piano as a child and learned guitar in his twenties. His initial goal was to become an opera singer (Hawkins cited Paul Robeson as his musical idol in interviews), but when his initial ambitions failed he began his career as a conventional blues singer and pianist.

Hawkins was an avid and formidable boxer. In 1949, he was the middleweight boxing champion of Alaska. In 1951, he joined guitarist Tiny Grimes' band, and was subsequently featured on some of Grimes' recordings. When Hawkins became a solo performer, he often performed in a stylish wardrobe of leopard skins, red leather, and wild hats.

Career

"I Put a Spell on You"

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.

The performance was mesmerizing, although Hawkins himself blacked out and was unable to remember the session. Afterward he had to relearn the song from the recorded version. Meanwhile, the record label released a second version of the single, removing most of the grunts that had embellished the original performance; this was in response to complaints about the recording's overt sexuality. Nonetheless it was banned from radio in some areas.

Soon after the release of "I Put a Spell on You", radio disc jockey Alan Freed offered Hawkins $300 to emerge from a coffin onstage. Hawkins accepted and soon created an outlandish stage persona in which performances began with the coffin and included "gold and leopardskin costumes and notable voodoo stage props, such as his smoking skull on a stick – named Henry – and rubber snakes." These props were suggestive of voodoo, but also presented with comic overtones that invited comparison to "a black Vincent Price."

"I Put a Spell On You" became a classic cult song, covered by a variety of artists such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Nina Simone, Alan Price, The Animals, the Them with Van Morrison, Arthur Brown, Bryan Ferry, Buddy Guy with Carlos Santana, Tim Curry, Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Nick Cave in a concert only version, Marilyn Manson, Mica Paris with David Gilmore, Jeff Beck and Joss Stone, Diamanda Galas, and Annie Lennox in 2014 for her Grammy nominated album Nostalgia. Hawkins' original "I Put a Spell on You" was featured during the show and over the credits of Episode 303 of The Simpsons.

Later career

Hawkins' later releases included "Constipation Blues" (which included a spoken introduction by Hawkins in which he states he wrote the song because no one had written a blues song before about "real pain"), "Orange Colored Sky", and "Feast of the Mau Mau". Nothing he released, however, had the monumental success of "I Put a Spell on You". In Paris in 1999 and at the Taste of Chicago festival, he actually performed "Constipation Blues" with a toilet onstage.

He continued to tour and record through the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in Europe, where he was very popular. He appeared in performance (as himself) in the Alan Freed bio-pic American Hot Wax in 1978. Subsequently, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch featured "I Put a Spell on You" on the soundtrack – and deep in the plot – of his film Stranger Than Paradise (1983) and then Hawkins himself as a hotel night clerk in his Mystery Train and in roles in Álex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango and Bill Duke's adaptation of Chester Himes' A Rage in Harlem.

His 1957 single "Frenzy" (found on the early 1980s compilation of the same name) was included in the compilation CD, Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files, in 1996. This song was featured in the show's Season 2 episode "Humbug". It was also covered by the band Batmobile. In 1983, Hawkins relocated to the New York area. In 1984 and 1985, Hawkins collaborated with garage rockers The Fuzztones, resulting in "Screamin' Jay Hawkins and The Fuzztones Live" album recorded at Irving Plaza in December 1984. They perform in the 1986 movie Joey.

In 1990, Hawkins performed the song "Sirens Burnin'," which was featured in the 1990 horror film Night Angel.

In July 1991, Hawkins released his album Black Music for White People. The record features covers of two Tom Waits compositions: "Heart Attack and Vine" (which, later that year, was used in a European Levi's advertisement without Waits' permission, resulting in a lawsuit), and "Ice Cream Man" (which, contrary to popular belief, is a Waits original, and not a cover of the John Brim classic). Hawkins also covered the Waits song "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard", for his album Somethin' Funny Goin' On. In 1993, his version of "Heart Attack and Vine" became his only UK hit, reaching #42 on the UK singles chart.

When Dread Zeppelin recorded their "disco" album, It's Not Unusual in 1992, producer Jah Paul Jo asked Hawkins to guest. He performed the songs "Jungle Boogie" and "Disco Inferno". He also toured with The Clash and Nick Cave during this period, and not only became a fixture of blues festivals, but appeared at many film festivals as well, including the Telluride Film Festival premier of Mystery Train.

In 2001, the Greek director and writer Nicholas Triandafyllidis made the documentary Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell on Me about various stages of his life and career, including a filming of his last ever live performance, in Athens, on December 20, 1999, two months before his death (he played in Salonica too a day earlier). Notable artists such as Jim Jarmusch, Bo Diddley, Eric Burdon, Frank Ash, Arthur Brown and Michael Ochs talked about Screamin' Jay Hawkins' early life, personality, career and his incredible talent.

Personal life

Hawkins had six marriages; his last wife was 31 at his death. Singing partner Shoutin' Pat Newborn stabbed him in jealousy when he married Virginia Sabellona. He had three children with his first wife and claimed variously to have 57 or 75 in total. After his death, his friend and biographer Maral Nigolian set up a website to trace these children, identifying 33, at least 12 of whom met at a 2001 reunion.

Death

Hawkins died after emergency surgery for an aneurysm on February 12, 2000, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, near Paris.

Influence

Although Hawkins was not a major success as a recording artist, his highly theatrical performances from "I Put a Spell on You" onward earned him a steady career as a live performer for decades afterward, and influenced subsequent acts. He opened for Fats Domino, Tiny Grimes and the Rolling Stones. This exposure in turn influenced rock groups such as Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, the Cramps, Screaming Lord Sutch, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Arthur Brown, Dread Zeppelin, the Horrors, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Glenn Danzig.

In popular culture

In 1995, a portion of his song "Frenzy" was used in the season 2 episode "Humbug" of the Fox TV series The X-Files.

In 2009 "Frenzy" can be heard during the end credits of the season 2 episode, by the same name, of the HBO series True Blood.

In 2009 film, Nowhere Boy, a vinyl of "I Put A Spell On You" is presented to a young John Lennon, who then gives the vinyl to his Mother, Julia, to play on a record player.

In 2016, a portion of his 1957 song "Little Demon" was used as the soundtrack for a Fitbit Blaze commercial.

In 2016, "an inventive retelling of the outrageous life of Screamin' Jay Hawkins" by author Mark Binelli, entitled "Screamin' Jay Hawkins' All-Time Greatest Hits", was released by Metropolitan Books.

Discography

Studio albums

1958 At Home with Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Okeh/Epic) – other editions entitled Screamin' Jay Hawkins and I Put a Spell on You

1965 The Night and Day of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Planet/52e Rue Est) – also entitled In the Night and Day of Screamin' Jay Hawkins

1969 ...What That Is! (Philips)

1970 Because Is in Your Mind (Armpitrubber) (Philips)

1972 A Portrait of a Man and His Woman (Hotline) – reissued as I Put a Spell on You and Blues Shouter

1977 I Put a Spell on You (Versatile – recordings from 1966–1976)

1979 Screamin' the Blues (Red Lightnin' – recordings from 1953–1970)

1979 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Koala)

1983 Real Life (Zeta)

1991 Black Music for White People (Bizarre/Straight Records/Planet Records)

1991 I Shake My Stick at You (Aim)

1993 Stone Crazy (Bizarre/Straight/Planet)

1994 Somethin' Funny Goin' On (Bizarre/Straight/Planet)

1998 At Last (Last Call)

Live albums

1984 Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the Fuzztones Live (Midnight Records)

1988 At Home with Jay in the Wee Wee Hours (Midnight Records)

1988 Live & Crazy (Blue Phoenix)

1991 Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the Chikenhawks: Dr. Macabre (Trade Service)

1993 Rated X (Sting S) — recorded in 1970

1999 Live at the Olympia, Paris (Last Call) — live with one new studio recording

Singles

1953 "Not Anymore" / "Baptize Me in Wine" [Timely 1004]

1954 "I Found My Way to Wine" / "Please Try to Understand Me" [Timely 1005]

1955 "Well I Tried" / "You're All of My Life to Me" [Wing 9005]

1955 "This Is All" / "(She Put The) Whammee (On Me)" [Mercury 70549]

1956 "Even Though" / "Talk About Me" [Wing 90055]

1956 "I Put a Spell on You" / "Little Demon" [OKeh 7072]

1957 "You Made Me Love You" / "Darling, Please Forgive Me" [OKeh 7084]

1957 "Frenzy" / "Person to Person" [OKeh 7087]

1958 "Alligator Wine" / "There's Something Wrong with You" [OKeh 7101]

1958 "Armpit #6" / "The Past" [Red Top 126]

1962 "I Hear Voices" / "Just Don't Care" [Enrica 1010]

1962 "Ashes" / "Nitty Gritty" w/ Shoutin' Pat (Newborn) [Chancellor 1117]

1966 "Poor Folks" / "Your Kind of Love" [Providence 411]

1970 "Do You Really Love Me" / "Constipation Blues" [Philips 40645]

1973 "Monkberry Moon Delight" / "Sweet Ginny" [Queen Bee 1313]

1990 The Art of Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Spivey)

1993 "Heart Attack and Vine" / "I Put a Spell on You" / "On the Job" [Columbia 6591092]

Multi-artist samplers and budget compilations

1962 Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Lillian Briggs (Coronet)

1963 A Night at Forbidden City (Sounds of Hawaii)

1988 Screamin' Jay Hawkins- I Put A Spell on You (Elvira Presents: Haunted Hits LP)

1990 Screamin' Jay Hawkins- I Put A Spell On You (Elvira Presents: Haunted Hits CD Re-Release)

1994 Screamin' Jay Hawkins- Little Demon (Elvira Presents: Monster Hits CD)

1996 Screamin' Jay Hawkins – Frenzy (Songs in the Key of X – The X Files)

Filmography

American Hot Wax (as himself, 1978)

Joey (as himself, 1986)

Mystery Train (as Night Clerk, 1989)

A Rage in Harlem (as himself, 1991)

Two Moon Junction (as Blues Club Singer, 1992)

Perdita Durango, (1997)

Peut-être (as club singer, 1999)

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell On Me (2001)

Wikipedia

#Screamin' Jay Hawkins #07-18 #02-12

9 notes · View notes