Viper Mad Blues: 25 Songs of Dope and Depravity (1924-1943)

My November '07 posting of Reefer Songs was quite popular, so I figured I really should follow it up with something similar. Like 1989's Reefer Songs, 1991's Viper Mad Blues was also compiled and released by Jass Records and then later reissued by Mojo Records. The material here is quite similar, as the time period is roughly the same. In fact, two of the tracks (Lil Green's "Knockin' Myself Out" and Fats Waller's "The Reefer Man") appear on both of these compilations. In comparing the two, Reefer Songs contains mostly blues material, while Viper Mad Blues relies a bit more on the traditional jazz of the era. 'Course, take a look at those song titles! "Traditional" this ain't! Either way, like the gateway compilation that preceded it, this disc invariably finds its way to the harder stuff.

Hah!

Check out Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra performing "Kickin' the Gong Around" in this clip from 1932's The Big Broadcast:



Check out this vintage soundie of The Cats and the Fiddle's "Killin' Jive":



Check out these three fan-made clips that feature the music of Stuff Smith and His Onyx Club Boys' "You'se a Viper," Gene Krupa and His Orchestra's "I'm Feelin' High and Happy" and Dick Justice's "Cocaine":







Big thanks go out to my buddy Bill the Splut for once again supplying me with the original CD to rip. The cover scan is from the original Jass Records CD. The liner notes included recording dates for all of the tracks except Hazel Meyers' "Pipe Dream Blues" and Dick Justice's "Cocaine," which I found after digging a little with Google.

Viper Mad Blues: 25 Songs of Dope and Depravity (1924-1943)
1. Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra - Kickin' the Gong Around [1933] (3:24)
2. Victoria Spivey / Lonnie Johnson - Dope Head Blues [1927] (3:13)
3. The Memphis Jug Band - Cocaine Habit Blues [1930] (2:47)
4. Hazel Meyers - Pipe Dream Blues [1924] (3:09)
5. Larry Adler - Smoking Reefers [1938] (3:05)
6. Leadbelly - Take a Whiff on Me [1934] (2:57)
7. The Cats and the Fiddle - Killin' Jive [1939] (2:50)
8. Stuff Smith and His Onyx Club Boys - You'se a Viper [1936] (3:13)
9. Cleo Brown - The Stuff Is Here and It's Mellow [1935] (2:42)
10. Baron Lee and the Blue Rhythm Band - Reefer Man [1932] (2:50)
11. Frankie Newton and His Uptown Serenaders - The Onyx Hop [1937] (2:45)
12. Lil Green - Knockin' Myself Out [1941] (3:00)
13. Champion Jack Dupree - Junker's Blues [1940] (2:40)
14. Curtis Jones - Reefer Hound Blues [1938] (2:43)
15. Fats Waller - The Reefer Song [1943] (2:51)
16. Gene Krupa and His Orchestra - I'm Feelin' High and Happy [1938] (2:41)
17. Ella Fitzgerald / Chick Webb and His Orchestra - When I Get Low, I Get High [1936] (2:29)
18. Cootie Williams and His Rug Cutters - Ol' Man River (Smoke a Little Tea) [1938] (2:47)
19. Richard M. Jones and His Jazz Wizards - Blue Reefer Blues [1935] (2:57)
20. Dick Justice - Cocaine [1929] (3:05)
21. Jazz Gillum and His Jazz Boys - Reefer Head Woman [1938] (3:02)
22. Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon - Willie the Weeper [1927] (2:21)
23. Luke Jordan - Cocaine Blues [1927] (3:14)
24. Freddy Taylor and His Swing Men from Harlem - Blue Drag [1935] (2:59)
25. Willie Bryant and His Orchestra - A Viper's Moan [1935] (3:22)

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