Screamin' Jay Hawkins - The Whamee 1953-55 (2006/2020)

Shock-rock godfather Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s Howlin’-Wolf-meets-Dracula brand of horror blues hit the big time in 1956 with “I Put a Spell on You,” but this collection documents the years leading up to that breakthrough. Focusing on his earliest recordings, from 1953-55, THE WHAMEE find Hawkins no less imposing a figure for his lack of celebrity or experience. There are some alternate, early versions of later hits like the abovementioned classic, but the real finds here are the lesser-known tunes, where Hawkins’ zombie-on-the-rampage wail haunts some slamming ‘50s R&B arrangements for a sound that foreshadows things to come. It all amounts to a captivating snapshot of a true American original finding his artistic feet.