Screamin' Jay Hawkins - ...What That Is! - Limited Edition 180 Gram LP

Limited Edition 180 Gram LP

Elemental Music proudly presents an LP reissue of the second album by the great singer Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, What That Is? It was originally released on the Philips label in 1969, almost ten years after he cut most of his classics, such as the unforgettable “I Put a Spell on You”. Back in the day, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins put the show in show business. His voodoo-inspired stage act included fireworks, flash powder, snakes, shrunken heads, and his faithful companion, a skull named Henry. To start his concerts, he was carried on in a coffin, from which he leaped, as if risen from the dead, often sending a good portion of his audience scampering for the exits. Caught live in 1969 at the Club Amigo in North Hollywood (but edited later in the studio), What That Is? features Hawkins at his raw, unhinged best. A rare and sought after LP, it is reissued here in its original form.

Tracklist:

Side 1

1. WHAT THAT IS
2. DO YOU REALLY LOVE ME?
3. STONE CRAZY
4. I LOVE YOU
5. CONSTIPATION BLUES

Side 2

1. I’M LONELY
2. THING CALLED WOMAN
3. DIG!
4. I’M YOUR MAN
5. ASK HIM
6. REPRISE

Personnel:

All vocals and piano by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Earl Palmer • Drums Lyle Ritz • Bass Plas Johnson • Saxes Mike Anthony • Guitar & Banjo ...on all selections except: Eddie Hoh • Drums Ron Johnson • Bass Grahame Bond • Piano Ernest McLean • Banjo …on "I’m Lonely & Stone Crazy" and… Herb Ellis • Guitar …on "Feast of the Mau Mau", "Thing Called Woman" & "Ask Him". Back up Vocals on: "Ask Him": Billy Watkins Singers "Do You Really Love Me?": Carl “Beef” Gottlieb, Christopher “Egg” Ross, Sal Valentino, Deirdre La Porte, Tom Reid & Théa Marcus. String Arrangements on "I’m Lonely" by Shorty Rogers.

Credits:

Produced by Milan Melvin. Engineered by Hank Citalo Seconds • Mark Harmon & Russ Schmidt. Graphics by Greg Irons. Photography by Dunstan Pereira. Producer’s Note: This album was recorded live at the Club Amigo in North Hollywood on June 23rd and 24th, Nineteen Hundred and Yesterday, and is dedicated to President Nixon, whose efforts to recapture the era of the early 50’s do not pass unnoticed.