TRAD La Cucaracha "La cucaracha ya no puede caminar, porque no tiene marihuana por fumar" = "The cockroach can't walk anymore, because he doesn't have any marihuana to smoke".
1927 Willie the Weeper - Frankie 'Half Pint' Jaxon A ribald vaudeville star and female impersonator, Frankie's recordings were wild and laden with innuendo. In the earliest known reefer song - the lyric of which Cab Calloway copied for Minnie the Moocher - Jaxon's accompanied only by piano and washboard, as heard on Viper Mad Blues. Reefer Songs includes a contemporaneous version called Willie, The Chimney Sweeperby Ernest Rodgers, who also performed it as Willie the Street Sweeper.
Lyric. Download mp3 of Ernest Rodgers.
1929 Muggles (Instrumental) - Louis Armstrong Recorded with pianist Earl 'Fatha' Hines in Chicago on December 7, 1928, Satchmo's best known reefer tune is a warm, lilting blues instrumental that passes the melody round like a joint. The piano lights it up with a flame-like ripple, the trombone tokes, hands it to the clarinet, and then to Pops trumpet. There's a pause and Satch hits an upward gliss as the herb kicks in. The tempo takes off and Pops wails.
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1930
1932 Reefer Man - Cab Calloway & his Orchestra Also covered by Don Redman & his Orchestra - as heard on Reefer Songs - and by Baron Lee & the Blue Rhythm Band, which version appears on Viper Mad Blues.
Lyric. Download mp3 of Don Redman.
November, 1932 The Man From Harlem - Cab Calloway & his Orchestra Features on the Reefer Songs collection: "I've got just what you need. Come on, sisters, light up on these weeds and get high and forget about everything".
Lyric. Download mp3.
1933 Minnie The Moocher - Cab Calloway & his Cotton Club Orchestra The flamboyant swinger's theme song features on the Reefer Songs CD, but if you check the lyric, it's almost certainly not about pot, but opium, as is made clearer in a contemporaneous, Minnie-related song that's included on Viper Mad Blues, Kicking the Gong Around.
Download mp3.
1933 Texas Tea Party - Benny Goodman & his Orchestra with Charlie & Jack Teagarden As heard on Reefer Songs.
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1933 Gimme a Reefer - Bessie Smith Entitled Gimme A Pigsfoot when released as OKeh 8949, with only one sly mention of reefer slipped into the final chorus so that slower folks would catch on that Bessie' wasn't wailing 'bout no pork.
Lyric.
1934 A Viper's Drag (Instrumental) - Fats Waller The creation of Fats' Rhythm group and their first recordings for the Victor label on 16 May 1934 marked a swinging new trend in jazz; this tune was recorded in New York on November 16.
Real Audio @ redhotjazz.com
1934 Sendin' the Vipers (Instrumental) - Mezz Mezzrow & his Orchestra With Willie 'the Lion' Smith on piano and Chick Webb on drums.
1934 Song Of The Vipers - Louis Armstrong Recorded in Paris with a band of French musicians, Pops scats through the first part of the tune, which ends with a wailing horn solo. Pulled from the stores when the record company cottoned on to its meaning, it took decades for this gem to be reissued in the US.
1934 Jerry the Junker - Clarence Williams and His Washboard Band Features on Reefer Songs.
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1935 Blue Reefer Blues (Instrumental) - Richard M. Jones & his Jazz Wizards Included on Viper Mad Blues.
1935 Blue Drag - Freddy Taylor & his Swing Men from Harlem. Included on Viper Mad Blues.
1935 A Viper's Moan - Willie Bryant & his Orchestra An instrumental with ad lib crosstalk that's included on Viper Mad Blues.
1935 Anybody Here Want to Buy My Cabbage? - Lil Johnson "Now, I've got good cabbage, ain't no mustard greens / I raised my sprouts down in New Orleans... Now, I've got good cabbage, smelling mighty sweet / I carry my cabbage to Thirty-fifth Street... Now, my cabbage is mighty good / The best old cabbage in the neighborhood. / Is there anybody here want to buy my cabbage? / Just holler hey-hey!"
Lyric.
1936 You'se a Viper - Stuff Smith & his Onyx Club Boys "Dreamt about a reefer / Five feet long / Mighty Mezz, but not too strong / You'll be high, but not for long / If youse a viper..." Originally recorded by the King of the Swing violin, Stuff Smith, as featured on Viper Mad Blues, the version included on Reefer Songs is by Bob Howard and His Boys, from 1938. Fats Waller recorded a version he called The Reefer Song in 1943 (qv). Most recently, Wayne Kramer of the MC5 gives it loads on NORML's Hempilation 2: Free The Weed. Lyric. Download mp3 of Bob Howard.
1936 Here Comes The Man With Jive - Stuff Smith And His Onyx Club Boys An early celebration in song of the kindly neighbourhood drug dealer that features on the Reefer Songs collection.
Download mp3.
1936 When I Get Low, I Get High - Ella Fitzgerald with Chuck Webb & his Orchestra Included on Viper Mad Blues, the same team were also responsible for Wacky Dust in 1938, which song features on Reefer Songs even though it's pretty obviously about cocaine.
Download mp3 of Wacky Dust
1936 The Weed Smoker's Dream (Why Don't You Do Right?) - The Harlem Hamfats Included on the Reefer Songs CD.
Download mp3.
1936 All The Jive is Gone - Andy Kirk & his Twelve Clouds of Joy As heard on the Reefer Songs compilation: "All the jive is gone! / All the jive is gone! / What an awful fix, can't get my kicks / 'Cause all the jive is gone!"
Lyric. Download mp3.
1937 The Stuff Is Here - Georgia White Included on Reefer Songs.
Download mp3.
1937 The Onyx Hop - Frankie Newton & his Uptown Serenaders Included on Viper Mad Blues.
March, 1938 That Cat is High - The Ink Spots This seminal vocal harmony groups' Viper Era classic was covered by Manhattan Transfer and is included on their anthology, Down in Birdland.
1938 Jack,I'm Mellow - Trixie Smith Included on Reefer Songs.
Download mp3.
1938 Light Up - Buster Bailey's Rhythm Busters Included on Reefer Songs. Download mp3.
1938 Spinach Song - Julia Lee
Lyric. Download mp3.
1938 Viper Mad - Sidney Bechet with Noble Sissle's Swingsters The New Orleans legend who introduced the soprano saxophone as a jazz instrument in the 1920s, Sidney Bechet roped in Sissle's vipers to sing: "Wrap your chops 'round this stick of tea / Blow this gage and get high with me / Good tea is my weakness, I know it's bad / It sends me gate and I can't wait, I'm viper mad." It's included on Reefer Songs and features on the soundtrack to Woody Allen's movie, Sweet & Lowdown. Download mp3.
1938 Reefer Head Woman - Jazz Gillum & his Jazz Boys Featuring Big Bill Broonzy on guitar and Washboard Sam on - er - washboard: "I got a Reefer Headed Woman / She fell right down from the sky (good Lord) / I got a Reefer Headed Woman / She fell right down from the sky... Lord, I gots to drink me two fifths of whiskey / Just to get half as high." The original's included on Viper Mad Blues; Aerosmith performed a version on their 1979 album, Night In The Ruts. Lyric.
1938 Reefer Hound Blues - Curtis Jones Included on Viper Mad Blues.
1938 Ol' Man River (Smoke A Little Tea) - Duke Ellington Sir Duke changed the lyric 'get a little drunk' to 'smoke a little tea' on this version, which is similar to that by Cootie Williams & His Rug Cutters on Viper Mad Blues.
1938 Smoking Reefers - Larry Adler Adler died in August, 2001, at the age of 87; this tune is included on Viper Mad Blues
1938 I'm Feeling High and Happy - Gene Krupa & his Orchestra Included on Viper Mad Blues.
1938 Weed - Bea Foote Included on Reefer Songs. Download mp3.
1939 Killing Jive - The Cats & the Fiddle Jive = tea = gage = ganja: "you start laughing and you can't stop". Included on Viper Mad Blues.
1940
1940 Junker's Blues - Champion Jack Dupree Possibly not about pot, but junk? It's included on Viper Mad Blues
1941 Knocking Myself Out - Lil Green Featuring Big Bill Broonzy on guitar, this song appears on both the Reefer Songs collection and Viper Mad Blues: "Listen girls and boys I got one stick / Give me a match and let me take a whiff quick / I'm gonna knock myself out, I'm gonna kill myself / I'm gonna knock myself out, gradually, by degrees." Lyric. Download mp3.
1943 The Reefer Song - Fats Waller This version of If You'se A Viper, with slightly altered lyric, ad lib cross talk and hissing viper sounds, was among the last recordings Fats made, months before his death. It's included on both Reefer Songs and Viper Mad Blues and also on an album called Last Testament (Drive Archive), along with a song called This Is So Nice It Must Be Illegal. Download mp3.
1944 Save the Roach For Me - Buck Washington Included on Reefer Songs. Download mp3
1944 Santa's Secret - Johnny Guarnieri with Slam Stewart The parting song on the legendary Savoy Jazz Christmas Album, Christmas Blues (SV-0241) is this tribute to the recently deceased Fats Waller, in which Santa's a viper!
1945 Sweet Marijuana Brown - Barney Bigard Sextet Included in the Reefer Songs collection. Download mp3.
1944 Who Put The Benzedrine In Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine - Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson Though it's obviously about speed, not pot, this song is included in the Reefer Songs collection. Download mp3.
1945 The G Man Got the T Man - Cee Pee Johnson and His Band As heard on Reefer Songs: "Cats can't buy their jive at night / So now they hurry home / since the G man got the T man and gone / They have to drink their lush and stagger / Even though they know its wrong / Cause the G man got the T man and gone / They've arrested my connection / And I can't find any more / Cause the G man got the T man and gone." Download mp3.
1947 Lotus Blossom - Julie Lee & her Boy Friends As heard on Reefer Songs. Download mp3.
1955 Ling Ting Tong - The Five Keys An R & B vocal group that helped shape the rhythm and blues revolution of the 50's, The Five Keys' first hit for Capitol was this novelty pop jump with a nonsense lyric, allegedly influenced by marijuana: "'Taisk ko mo bom da yay', or something like that..."
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