I am torn. Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" is one of my all time favorite songs. Spooky, possessive and brilliantly raw, it's hard to imagine someone doing the track better than Screamin' Jay himself (though many have tried). Shane MacGowan is one of my favorite singers of all time -- he of the brilliantly raw via whiskey variety. But putting two great things together rarely creates the masterpiece it should, and these fears ring true for MacGowan's decision to give a punk pickup to the bluesy classic. While the proceeds will go to charity, which always obscures criticism of the actual quality of this sort of cover anyway, the merging of Nick Cave, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, the Pretender's Chrissie Hynde, the Clash's Mick Jones, and the Sex Pistols' Glen Matlock wavers between genius and shit on the fence of possible outcomes. The fact that Johnny Depp is featured on guitar does nothing by way of reassurance. The single, which will be available March 7th and is up for preorder here, is a benefit for the Haiti relief efforts of Dublin based organization Concern Worldwide. A video for the song (studio shoot) is available for viewing here I am torn. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” is one of my all time favorite songs. Spooky, possessive and brilliantly raw, it’s hard to imagine someone doing the track better than Screamin’ Jay himself (though many have tried). Shane MacGowan is one of my favorite singers of all time — he of the brilliantly raw via whiskey variety. But putting two great things together rarely creates the masterpiece it should, and these fears ring true for MacGowan’s decision to give a punk pickup to the bluesy classic. While the proceeds will go to charity, which always obscures criticism of the actual quality of this sort of cover anyway, the merging of Nick Cave, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, the Pretender’s Chrissie Hynde, the Clash’s Mick Jones, and the Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock wavers between genius and shit on the fence of possible outcomes. The fact that Johnny Depp is featured on guitar does nothing by way of reassurance. The single, which will be available March 7th and is up for preorder here, is a benefit for the Haiti relief efforts of Dublin based organization Concern Worldwide. A video for the song (studio shoot) is available for viewing here. I’m too frightened to watch.
March 01, 2010 at 5:53 pm, Amy Rose said:
that’s one of my favorites too. have you seen videos of him performing it?!?
March 05, 2010 at 4:01 pm, vermontfudge said:
Just another internet fraudster. That’s great, calling this a bad cover without having listened to it. Pretends to be “reviewing” it, but upon reading this whole thing it’s apparent you haven’t bothered to listen to it or view it. It’s great, but by all means don’t bother to revise your “opinion.” Haiti could really use the money, they are desperate, but in your title you have just trashed what is a great song created to benefit the poorest of the poor. Must be proud of yourself.