Viper Mad Blues: Songs Of Dope & Depravity

Various Artists - Blues | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 9, 1996)
• Label: Mojo Records
• ASIN: B000001LYN
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,880 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Kickin' The Gong Around - Cab Calloway & His Cotton Club Orchestra

2. Dope Head Blues - Victoria Spivey

3. Cocaine Habit Blues - The Memphis Jug Band

4. Pipe Dream Blues - Hazel Meyers

5. Smoking Reefers - Larry Adler

6. Take A Whiff On Me - Leadbelly

7. Killin' Jive - The Cats & The Fiddle

8. You'se A Viper - Stuff Smith & His Onyx Club Boys

9. The Stuff Is Here And It's Mellow - Cleo Brown

10. Reefer Man - Baron Lee & The Blue Rhythm Band

11. The Onyx Hop - Frankie Newton & His Uptown Serenaders

12. Knockin' Myself Out - Lil Green

13. Junker's Blues - Champion Jack Dupree

14. Reefer Hound Blues - Curtis Jones

15. The Reefer Song - Fats Waller

16. I'm Feeling High And Happy - Gene Krupa & His Orchestra

17. When I Get Low, I Get High - Chick Webb & His Orchestra

18. Ol' Man River (Smoke A Little Tea) - Cootie Williams & His Rug Cutter

19. Blue Reefer Blues - Richard M. Jones & His Jazz Wizards

20. Cocaine - Dick Justice

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and fun!, September 12, 1999

By 

Brenna E. Lorenz "heptune" (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Viper Mad Blues: Songs Of Dope & Depravity (Audio CD)

This CD introduces the listener to a very nice cross-section of 1920s and 1930s jazz and blues performed by 25 different artists, including Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Leadbelly, and Gene Krupa. Some of these pieces are just plain beautiful music, like Blue Drag. Others, as one would expect, are roll-on-the-floor funny, like Fats Waller's "The Reefer Song" or Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon's version of "Willie the Weeper." (His sound effects are quite remarkable.) Some of these pieces seem to be unavailable on any other CD, like "Killin' Jive" by the Cats and the Fiddle. They performed this song in the movie, The Duke is Tops, but no CD of their material has yet been released. This is one of my favorite CDs.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great album, tracks available elsewhere, September 29, 2006

By 

Ian Mccullough (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Viper Mad Blues: Songs Of Dope & Depravity (Audio CD)

This is a terrific album and highly recommended. However, the individual tracks are all available legally through other channels. Try "Dope & Glory" or "Flashbacks: Drug Songs, high & low 1917-1944" if this type of music appeals to you. Can't beat the cover art though.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Blues and R&B, August 25, 2010

By 

John L Frigo "Music Man" (Shaker Heights, OH, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Viper Mad Blues (Audio CD)

This compilation is part of the Stash and Jass catalog of LPs released during the 1970's. I purchased most of them at the time that they were released. The pressing quality of most of these vinyl releases left a lot to be desired. I remember problems with bubbles caused by bad pressings causing the LPs to skip, and having to return the discs for refunds. Today, we have these reissues on CD, and my recommendation is to buy them and enjoy them! Remastering has come a long, long way since the 1950s, and these CDs are so much better in every way. You will have surface noise to some extent, but, believe me, you'll get used to it. Hey, it's all about the music, isn't it?

What is really great about these CDs is the music they contain. If you are interested in the history of rhythm and blues, these are some of the CDs to start with. You have a great cross section of topical songs from those relating to drugs and alcohol, such as the 'Jake Walk Blues', or songs about straight and gay issues. Most of these are from the 1930s. I highly recommend this disc. It has been remastered with the best quality sources. I'm happy that I can enjoy this music, no matter how worn the source material is because it is American history, and because it is great music in it's own right. Check out Amazon for more of these CDs. There are several that are still available from Marketplace Sellers.