1999Released
2:24

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about I Put a Spell on You. By Songfacts®.

Hawkins wrote this as a ballad lamenting the loss of a girlfriend he wanted back. The original version was a lot slower and much more tame. Hawkins was recording for Grand Records at the time, and had a hard time convincing them to release this. A year later, Hawkins recorded the version that became famous for another label, and transformed the song into a spooky tale about putting a curse on the girl so he can have her.

Hawkins performed the ghoulish version for the first time at a Christmas concert staged by Cleveland DJ Alan Freed in 1956. He got a huge reaction from the song, and Freed invited him to perform it on his TV special. Hawkins developed a bizarre stage show around this. He would come out in a flaming coffin and wield a skull on a stick that he named "Henry."

The producers wanted a "weird" sounding record, so they gave the musicians lots of food and liquor and created a party atmosphere at the session.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of I Put a Spell on You.
FKey
MinorMode
3/4Time Signature
174BPM

Album

The album I Put a Spell on You is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released I Put a Spell on You.
Sony Music Entertainment
Originally Released 1969 T-Neck Records, (P) 1979 Capitol Records inc., 1979 MJJ Productions, Inc., 1984 Personal Records Inc., 1985, 1987 Courtesy of Universal Music Special Markets, 1996 Ruthless Records, Originally Released 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955,

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