People have been making records about drugs since recorded music was a thing. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, the Ink Spots and many more sing about their recreational choices, and not in a veiled way.
Songs Played
- Bea Foote “Weed” [10″ single] 1938
- Cab Calloway and His Orchestra “The Man From Harlem” [b/w Bugle Call Rag] 1933
- Trixie Smith “Jack I’m Mellow” [b/w He May Be Your Man (But He Comes To See Me Sometime)] 1938
- Memphis Jug Band “Cocaine Habit Blues” [b/w It Won’t Act Right] Date Unknown
- Harlem Hamfats “Weed Smoker’s Dream” [b/w Little Girl] Date Unknown
- Harry (The Hipster) Gibson “Who Put The Benzedrine In Mrs. Murphy’s Ovaltine ” [b/w I Stay Brown All Year Roun’] 1946
- Champion Jack Dupree “Junker’s Blues” [Blues From The Gutter] 1958
- Buck Washington “Save the Roach For Me” [Unknown] 1944
- Stuff Smith And His Onyx Club Boys “Here Comes The Man With The Jive” [b/w I’ve Got A Heavy Date] 1938
- Buster Bailey And His Rhythm Busters “Light Up” [b/w Man With A Horn Goes Berserk] Date Unknown
- Slim and Slam “Dopey Joe” [b/w Buck Dance Rhythm] 1938
- Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy “All the Jive is Gone” [10″ single] 1936
- Chick Webb and His Orchestra “Wacky Dust” [b/w Spinnin’ The Webb] 1937
- Ernest Rogers “Willie, The Chimney Sweeper ” [b/w Vernon Dalhart “Casey Jones”] 1927
- Georgia White “The Stuff Is Here” [b/w Rock Me Daddy] 1938
- Sidney “Pops” Bechet and Noble Sissle’s Swingsters “Viper Mad” [Viper Mad] 1938
- Harlan Lattimore and His Connie’s Inn Orchestra “Have You Ever Met That Funny Reefer Man” [b/’w I Heard] 1932
- Barney Bigard Sextet “Sweet Marijuana Brown” [b/w Blues For Art’s Sake] 1945
- Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra “Kickin’ The Gong Around” [b/w Georgia On My Mind] 1932
- Josie Miles “Pipe Dream Blues” [Unknown] Date Unknown
- Carl Martin “That New Kind of Stuff” [b/w Casey Bill Hawaiian Guitar Wizard “Jinx Blues”] Date Unknown
- Lucille Bogan “Baking Powder Blues” [Unknown] Date Unknown
- The Ink Spots “That Cat is High” [b/w Oh! Red] Date Unknown
- Mills Blue Rhythm Band “Kokey Joe” [1931-1937] Date Unknown
- Victoria Spivey “Dope Head Blues” [b/w Blood Thirsty Blues] 1928
- Leadbelly “Take A Whiff On Me” [The Library Of Congress Recordings] 1935
- Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five “Junco Partner” [b/w Azure-Té (Paris Blues)] 1952
- Dick Justice “Cocaine” [b/w Old Black Dog] 1930
- Frankie Half Pint Jaxon “Jive Man Blues” [b/w It’s Heated] Date Unknown
- Charley Jordan “Just a Spoonful” [b/w Two Street Blues] 1930
- Luke Jordan “Cocaine Blues” [b/w Two Street Blues] 1930
- The Spirits of Rhythm “Junk Man” [b/w Dr. Watson And Mr. Holmes] 1934
- The Cats and the Fiddle “Killin’ Jive” [b/w Nuts To You] 1939
- “Hi” Henry Brown “Skin Man” [b/w Nut Factory Blues] 1932
- Clarence Williams And His Orchestra “Jerry The Junker” [b/w Chizzlin’ Sam] 1934
- Benny Goodman and His Orchestra “Texas Tea Party” [b/w Dr Heckle And Mr Jibe] 1933