The name "Jalacy" comes from native Clevelander Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins who wrote the song "I Put a Spell on You". Hawkins originally set out to become an opera singer, and regularly cited Paul Robeson as his idol. When his initial ambitions failed, he began his career as a conventional blues singer and pianist.
He served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, primarily as an entertainer. Hawkins was an avid and formidable boxer: in 1949, he was the middleweight boxing champion of Alaska.
In 1951, he joined guitarist Tiny Grimes for a while, and recorded a few songs with him.
He wrote the tune "I Put a Spell on You" (1956), which was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It has been covered by dozens of diverse artists including CCR, Nina Simone, Buddy Guy, Bryan Ferry, The Animals, Marilyn Manson, Ray Charles, Roxy Music and Joe Cocker to name a few. We covered this tune in the style of CCR who had a regional hit with it in the mid 60's.
About us: We are some folks who decided to get together to make some music. We are not a band, nor do we intend to tour. We do enjoy getting into the studio to record. Many of the folks on these recordings play in other groups around the Cleveland/Akron area.
We did put together a dozen or so songs, but MySpace only allows a few to be posted at any time, so we'll rotate them often. We put them on an album with artwork but we are not trying to sell it. A picture of it is shown.
Thanks for listening, and for all the nice things some of you have said. The MP3s are downloadable - Enjoy! We hope to have a few more new songs soon.
