"Cocaine Blues" is aWestern swing song written by Troy Junius Arnall, a reworking of the traditional song "Little Sadie."Roy Hogsed recorded a well known version of the song in 1947.
The song is the tale of a man, Willy Lee, who murders his unfaithful girlfriend while under the influence ofwhiskey andcocaine. He flees to Mexico and works as a musician to fund his continued drug use. Willy is apprehended by a sheriff from Jericho Hill, tried, and promptly sentenced to "ninety-nine years in theSan Quentin Pen". The song ends with Willy imploring the listener:
Come on youhypes listen unto me, lay off that whiskey, and let that cocaine be.
Lyrically based upon the turn of the century, traditional, folk song "Little Sadie", the popular version of this song was originally recorded by W. A. Nichol's Western Aces (vocal by "Red" Arnall) on the S & G label, probably in 1947, and byRoy Hogsed and the Rainbow Riders May 25, 1947, at Universal Recorders in Hollywood, California. Hogsed's recording was released on Coast Records (262) andCapitol (40120), with the Capitol release reaching number 15 on the country music charts in 1948.[3]
Johnny Cash famously performed the song at his 1968Folsom Prisonconcert. He replaced the lyric "San Quentin" with "Folsom", and changed "C'mon you hypes..." to "C'mon you gotta listen unto me...", as well as using the then-provocative lyric "I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down." Cash also altered the last line to "Lay off the whiskey..." instead of "Drink all you want...". During the performance, which was released uncensored byColumbia Records in 1968 (though other language is censored), Cash can be heard coughing occasionally; later in the concert recording, he can be heard noting that singing the song nearly did his voice in.
The song was also featured on Cash's 1960 Columbia albumNow, There Was a Song! under the title "Transfusion Blues" substituting the line "took a shot of cocaine" with "took a transfusion" along with some other minor lyrical changes (and a tamer version of the climactic lyric "I can't forget the day I shot my woman down"). Cash later recorded "Cocaine Blues" for his 1979 albumSilver. Cash chose not to use the word "bitch" in this version.
Cash also performed the song – with original lyrics and the use of the word "bitch" – for his December 1969 performance atMadison Square Garden, which was recorded but withheld from release untilJohnny Cash at Madison Square Garden was released by Columbia Records in 2002.
Cash's Folsom Prison performance of "Cocaine Blues" was portrayed byJoaquin Phoenix in the 2005 Cash biographical filmWalk the Line. The film version, edited down to make it shorter, fades into the next scene before the line "I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down" is sung. The DVD specials include an extended version of the song with the lyric, and the full, unedited version (apparently a different "take") is found on the soundtrack CD.
Arnall is also sometimes credited with the version of "Cocaine Blues" written and recorded byBilly Hughes (also in 1947).[4] The music is similar, bearing a marked resemblance to 'Little Sadie", however the lyrics in Hughes' vary considerably from Arnall's. For instance, Hughes has the Cocaine Kid, not Willy Lee, killing "his woman and a rounder, too" inTulsa, being captured inEl Paso, and sentenced to "ninety-nine years way down inMac." It ends with:
For you'll become an addict and blow your lid. Take a look at what it did to the Cocaine Kid.
George Thorogood recorded a version of "Cocaine Blues" on his 1978 albumMove It On Over.
Another song is often known as "Cocaine Blues" but is completely different; it is also known, in its different versions, as "Take a Whiff on Me" and "Cocaine Habit Blues". This song has three families of variants.
"Cocaine Blues"/"Coco Blues"
One of the most familiar, usually known as "Cocaine Blues," isReverend Gary Davis’s arrangement, aneight-bar blues inC Major. Davis said that he learned the song in 1905 from a traveling carnival musician, Porter Irving.[5][6] This version is made up of rhyming couplets, followed by a refrain "Cocaine, running all around my brain" or "Cocaine, all around my brain").[7] The song is sometimes known as "Coco Blues," as on Davis’ 1965 albumPure Religion and Bad Company.
Gary Davis was a key influence on thefolk revival singers of the early 1960s, includingDave Van Ronk, who learned this version of "Cocaine Blues" from Davis (it features on his 1963 albumFolksinger) andBob Dylan (a 1961 variant features onThe Minnesota Tapes, a 1962 variant is onGaslight Tapes[8] and a third version performed live in 1997 is on the more recentcompilation albumTell Tale Signs). On Van Ronk's record, the song is wrongly credited toLuke Jordan, who recorded a completely different song of the same name, see below.[9][10]
In 2013 Los Angelesskate-punk bandFIDLAR recorded a version titled "Cocaine" on their eponymous debutalbum. This rendition was featured on theGrand Theft Auto V soundtrack.[14] Englishindie rock singerKate Nash covered this version, changing the title to "Girl Gang."[15]
"Take a Whiff on Me"
Secondly, "Take a Whiff on Me" (again often known as "Cocaine Blues") shares chords and many rhyming couplets with this song, but with the refrain "Honey, take a whiff on me" instead of "Cocaine runnin’ all 'round my brain". This version is most strongly associated withLead Belly, whose version opens with "Walked up Ellum and I come down Main." ("Ellum", "Elem" and "Dep Elem" in various version, refers to Elm Street inDallas, in that city'sred light district).[16] The song was first published byJohn Lomax in 1934 as "Honey, Take a Whiff on Me". Lomax stated that its origins were uncertain.[17]
The song "Take a Drink with Me"/”Take a Drink on Me", recorded by whiteold-time music performerCharlie Poole in 1927 and collected by various folklorists,[19] is a variant on "Take A Whiff On Me", with alcohol rather than cocaine as the drug of choice. This in turn has been performed by a number of artists in thefolk music andcountry music traditions, including theNew Lost City Ramblers.[20] It shares some words withFrank Hutchison's 1927 ballad "Coney Isle".[21]
"Cocaine Habit Blues"
A third, very closely related to this version is the one also commonly known as "Cocaine Habit Blues", recorded by theMemphis Jug Band in 1930 (credited to Jennie Mae Clayton).[22] It was ajug band standard, later recorded by the Panama Limited Jug Band and byJerry Garcia inMother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions in 1964.[23] Its introductory verse is "Oh cocaine habit mighty bad".[24]
"Croquet Habits"
This disguised version of "Cocaine Habit Blues" was recorded by Freeny's Barn Dance Band in 1930. After the first verse, there is no similarity in the lyrics.
"Tell It to Me"
Another traditional song often known as "Cocaine Blues".[25] Also called "Let The Cocaine Be", some musicologists see a relationship to "Take A Whiff On Me" since some versions share the same lines.[26] It has a similar structure to "Take a Whiff"/"Cocaine Habit Blues", and some versions share couplets (e.g. "Cocaine's [dose] is not for a man/Doctor said will kill you, but he don't say when" and "You know I walked down Fifth and I turned down Main/Looking for a nickel for to buy cocaine"),[27] but the refrain is darker: "Cocaine that killed my honey dead".
A version was collected (as “Cocaine”) by folklorist Mellinger Edward Henry (1873–1946) in hisFolk Songs from the Southern Highlands from the singing of Barnet George,Lithonia, Georgia, July 1931.[28] The earliest recorded version is by whiteTennessee bandThe Grant Brothers in 1928 (Columbia 15332-D).[29] It has been recorded by numerous folk revival artists,[30][31] includingDavid Grisman and the New York City Ramblers at theNewport Folk Festival. Grisman collaborated with the Grateful Dead in 1970, and they included it in their live repertoire at that time.[27] It has more recently been covered by Old Crow Medicine Show andWhite Ghost Shivers.
"Cocaine Done Killed My Baby"
This song recorded by Mance Lipscomb has the same refrain, but lacks the "Tell it to me" theme.
"Cocaine"
Another song of the same title (sometimes called simply "Cocaine" or "Simply Wild About My Good Cocaine") was recorded by bluesmanLuke Jordan in 1927 as "Cocaine Blues", interspersed with verses from another song "Furniture Man".[32][33] White singerDick Justice recorded a cover under the title "Cocaine" in 1929. It copied all of Jordan's text, including the "Furniture Man" verses.[34] In 1930, The Kentucky Ramblers sang most of Jordan's version (including the "Furniture Man" verses) as the first part of a medley entitled "Good Cocaine (Mama Don't Allow It)".David Bromberg recorded a version as "Cocaine Blues"; it was recorded under the same name by theHoly Modal Rounders on their 1967 albumIndian War Whoop. The Luke Jordan lyrics share some lines ("Cocaine's for horses and not for men/Doctor says it'll kill you but don't know when") with "Take a Whiff on Me" as recorded by Lead Belly and the Reverend Gary Davis version of "Cocaine Blues" as recorded by Bob Dylan.
“Whiskey Blues”
Another title for the song as sung by Australia’s King of Country Slim Dusty, who rewrote some of the song to make it Australian which he recorded and released in on his first album in 1946 calledRegal Zonophone Label.
^Lomax,American Ballads and Folk Songs, p. 186: "The origin of this cheerful ditty of the dope-heads is doubtful. At any rate the Southern barrel-house Negroes sing it and have made it their own."
^Tullos,Long Journey Home, p. 11: "... The Grant Brothers, from nearby Bristol, recorded a song called 'Tell It To Me,' known widely today as 'Cocaine Blues' ..."
^Waltz,"Take a Whiff on Me"Archived May 16, 2011, at theWayback Machine: "I'm joining them primarily because many versions of "Tell It to Me" include the 'Honey, take a whiff on me" refrain, but a case could also be made for splitting'."
^"Cocaine Blues, Luke Jordan". Mudcat.org. Archived fromthe original on March 20, 2012. RetrievedNovember 20, 2011.Luke Jordan 'Cocaine Blues' Vi 20176. Recorded Tuesday 16 August 1927 in Charlotte NC. Reissued on Various ArtistsThe Roots of Rap Yazoo CD 20218. Dick Justice recorded "Cocaine" on 20 May 1929 in Chicago Ill. It is reissued onOld-time Music from West Virginia Document DOCD-8004.
^Paul OliverSongsters and Saints: Vocal Traditions in Race Records, Cambridge University Press, 1984; Wolf-Reienhard KemperKokain in der Musik: Bestandsaufnahme und Analyse aus kriminologischer Sicht Song Nr.002-3, p.282
Kemper, Wolf-Reinhard.Kokain in der Musik: Bestandsaufnahme und Analyse aus kriminologischer Sicht. Berlin-Hamburg-Münster: LIT Verlag, 2001ISBN3-8258-5316-0,ISBN978-3-8258-5316-7
Kienzle, Rich.Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz. New York: Routledge, 2003.ISBN0-415-94102-4
Lomax, John A.American Ballads & Folk Songs. 1934.
Russell, Tony.Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. Oxford University Press, 2004.ISBN0-19-513989-5
Tullos, Allen.Long Journey Home: Folklife in the South. Southern Exposure, 1977.
