Dear Readers,
The first podcast episode on Sunday inspired David Courtwright to send me a link to a 1959 article by Charles Winick on “The Use of Drugs by Jazz Musicians.”
If you haven’t listened to the pod, toward the end James Bradford and I discuss the question of the influence that drugs may have had on the history of American music, specifically jazz. I really don’t know much about it, but David sent me that piece, so today I thought I’d highlight a few of its more interesting details.
Rock and roll is of course closely linked to drugs, and there’s an argument to be made that drugs played a huge role in the development of the form during the 1960s. I’m thinking here of the Beatles’ highly influential psychedelic evolution beginning with Revolver, or perhaps even Dylan’s surge of creativity during the middle of the decade when he was reportedly taking amphetamines by the handful.
But drugs may have been considerably more foundational for all…
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