Constipation Blues

Screamin' Jay Hawkins lets it go with Serge Gainsbourg's assistance

Greetings, Jagged Time Lapsers!

Tonight I’ll be boarding a plane to bonnie Scotland for a week packed with castles, music, pubs and most likely rain. Therefore, this will be the last post you’ll see from me for the next ten days or so. But if you find yourself feeling hard up for some good reading material in my absence, please note that there are now over 200 posts in the Jagged Time Lapse archive — the vast majority of which are pretty evergreen; if you dig the sort of stuff I’ve posted recently, rest assured that there’s plenty more of it dating all the way back to August 2022.

(And hey, if anybody wants to buy me a beer or a wee dram while I’m in Scotland, becoming a paid subscriber to Jagged Time Lapse is a great way to do it. I will toast you by name in whatever 17th century or earlier pub I happen to be visiting!)

---

---

Scotland is a country I’ve wanted to visit for many, many decades — I’ve been to England several times, but never further north than Manchester — so I’m incredibly excited about this trip. And because there’s so much amazing Scottish music that has moved me over the years, this post was originally supposed to be about something along those lines. However, since I still haven’t finished packing, I’m gonna have to hold that particular thought until after I return home…

So instead, I’ll leave you with one of the most incredible videos I have ever seen: a 1983 French TV appearance by the late, insanely great Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, in which he performs a piano duet of his 1969 cautionary anthem “Constipation Blues” with the legendary Serge Gainsbourg.

I posted this clip on Facebook yesterday in honor of Screamin’ Jay’s birthday. It was probably the seventh or eighth time I’ve celebrated this blessed day in such a manner, and yet several folks told me they’d never seen it before — which immediately made me think that I should probably go ahead and share it with my JTL subscribers. After all, you folks appreciate the finer things in life, right?

The inspired pairing of two of the 20th century’s most unique musical figures is alone worth the price of admission. But when you also factor their song choice (supposedly a smash hit — or maybe I should say “splash hit” — in Japan back in 1970), and the surreal, cobwebs-and-roses strewn set… well, it’s something that must truly be seen to be believed.

And actually, the first time I saw it, about 15 years ago, I didn’t believe it — I thought I’d accidentally tuned into a remote broadcast from Heaven itself. Because if there is an afterlife, this is pretty much what I imagine goes on in the piano lounge every day around happy hour.

Catch you all the last week of July. And in the meantime, be sure to eat plenty of fiber.

---