Search - Screamin Jay Hawkins :: Portrait of a Man

What you can't find on other albums is on this one.

12/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""i put a spell on you" may be one of the greatest early rock and roll songs around, but it's also included on every screamin'jay album around. what makes this album amazing is the inclusion of lesser-known but still great songs like "baptize me in wine" and jay's take on "öl'man river," which rolls along quietly and smoothly until he explodes into his usual manic howling and screaming. frankly there's some stuff on here that is completely unnecessary, and you almost certainly won't be able to listen to this album all the way through because of its length, but its more comprehensive than other albums and includes biographical notes that come from someone who actually knew screamin' jay, albeit only in a somewhat cursory way. the point is that a lot of best-ofs give you the hits without any sense of continuity, but this album is what it says it is: a portrait of the man, screamin'jay hawkins, and the progression of his career."