Castin' My Spell

Spooky season continues with the little-known but absolutely excellent rocker, "Castin' My Spell"! The Johnson Brothers concocted the original witches brew back in 1959 (2:40)–  the list of gris-gris is sung with good-natured aplomb, but eviller things are bubbling under. The Johnny Otis Show came along a few months later and were clever enough to add a Bo Diddley beat to the voodoo incantation (37:05). JO and Marcie Lee make the song a delicious duet - why didn't Kenny & Dolly do this number? The Pirates didn't exactly mutiny in 1964, but they did take a solo step down the plank away from Cap'n Johnny Kidd with their wax rendition of the tune (1:05:08).  These guys make the song more sinister and Mick Green adds some  major mojo. And Pastronauts will be glad we finally made it into the 90s, to hear The Gories perform a zombie-fied version of the song (1:27:06). They keep it lean and mean and garagers everywhere will do the Lurch!