Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, “Voodoo Jive” (greatest hits, 1955-69), <i> Rhino </i>

Hawkins is a true American original, a demented maverick of blues and early rock ‘n’ roll whose booming operatic-quality baritone, primal shrieking and macabre material has directly or indirectly influenced performers as diverse as James Brown, Alice Cooper, John Fogerty and the Crammps. (In more recent years, Hawkins’ peculiar presence has made him a scene stealer in such films as “Mystery Train” and “A Rage in Harlem”). His sole hit single, “I Put a Spell on You,” has become a rock ‘n’ roll standard. Unfortunately, some of his best material has remained obscure, the victim of poor promotion and distribution and the misguided ef forts of morality watchdogs who succeeded in censoring his music for everything from sexual suggestiveness to political incorrectness to “cannibalistic sounds.” This collection presents “Spell” along with such underexposed gems as the raucous hoodoo threats “She Put the Wamee on Me” and “Alligator Wine” and the hilariously butchered “I Love Paris” and “You Made Me Love You,” not to mention the mind-boggling “Constipation Blues” wherein Hawkins’ deranged vocalizing evokes the sound of a man in what he calls “real pain.” For all the n’yuk n’yuk aspects of his work, though, Hawkins’ voice remains startlingly potent, his vision wholly unique, and his inspiration omnipresent in theatrical rock to this day.

MORE CLASSICS: “Twisted: The Best of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (1957-61),” Rhino