Shooting at strangers in Manchester: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins first UK tour
The progenitor of shock rock, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, lived a full life populated by the insane and bizarre. When Hawkins first burst onto the rock ‘n’ roll scene in the 1950s, he was unlike anything audiences had seen before – or would ever see again. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the traditionally conservative United States, the extreme image of Hawkins did not enjoy lasting success, but the songwriter enjoyed a cult following both in his home nation and in the United Kingdom.
Hawkins became known to many through his seminal 1956 track ‘I Put a Spell on You’ – later to be covered by the likes of Nina Simone, Jeff Beck and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Arriving at his striking image, influenced by African voodoo traditions and horror films, Hawkins became known for his wild onstage behaviour, complete with flashbangs, fire and the haunting baritone of his voice. Disappointingly, though unsurprisingly, the widespread Conservatism and racist attitudes within 1950s America were not incredibly accepting of a wild man with a bone through his nose, corrupting their children with his infectious proto-rock. Hawkins struggled to follow up on the success of ‘I Put a Spell on You’, soon becoming a reclusive and obscure figure.
Northern England has a lot to answer for when it comes to the musical world: from synthpop to The Beatles, the north has always seen through the superfluity of music industries to create their own innovative sounds. As it turns out, the north of England – or Manchester, specifically – is also responsible for inspiring a renaissance of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. During the 1960s, a small group of R&B fans at Manchester’s legendary Twisted Wheel venue wrote to Hawkins, who had not been heard of for years, telling him of his popularity at Twisted Wheel and asking him to cross the Atlantic for a tour.
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins had never been particularly popular in the UK, but the letter sent by his Mancunian fans was enough to entice the songwriter out of his chasm of obscurity and back into the limelight. Arriving at the airport in 1965, carting a record player and stack of vinyl – alongside an accoutrement of bones and supernatural materials, which likely wouldn’t be allowed through customs today – Hawkins must have found it weird that his music from a decade prior had found an audience among kids from places like Stockport and Altrincham.
Unsurprisingly, for a musician who often appeared on stage in a Nosferatu-esque coffin, setting things on fire and espousing the supernatural, Hawkins’ trip across the Atlantic was fraught with strange encounters. Photographer Brian Smith, who accompanied Hawkins for much of the tour, shared tales of the singer’s unbelievable exploits to Record Collector. For instance, Hawkins once interrupted a wedding party in his full stage attire on the way home from a gig. Smith recalls, “Jay ordered Neil to stop the car, jumped out and started shouting at the groom: ‘Fool! Fool! Don’t do it! Get in the car, there’s still time!’ then jumped back in and away they drove.”
On another occasion, while being driven through the streets of Manchester, Hawkins was said to have produced a revolver (presumably brought with him on the flight), rolling down the window and firing blanks at passers-by on the streets. When questioned on his motives by R&B DJ Roger Eagle, he calmly replied, “Just keepin’ ’em on their toes, man.”
As well as providing the Twisted Wheel Hawkins fanatics with a wealth of anecdotes to share for years to come, Hawkins’ UK tour also vitalised his musical career. The success he found in the R&B all-nighters of 1960s England inspired the shock rocker to get back on the horse, writing and recording new material. It paid off in the end, as Hawkins scored his first UK chart hit three decades later with ‘Heart Attack and Vine’.
