Comments on: Are you ready for some foootballl?

Question: Are you ready for some foootballl?

zek — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:07:48 -0800

Are there any well-known songs that were (or might have been) recorded while the artist was stoned/wasted/tripping/etc? Not counting concert performances, unless the song charted.

I realize the question's open to speculation, but I do know that a lot of musicians and band members don't hold back much about things like this and it might be common knowledge in the pages of Rolling Stone, etc.

By: JekPorkins

JekPorkins — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:12:58 -0800

It's so common that the list would take hundreds of pages. Basically, name a popular song from the last 40 years in nearly every genre and it probably fits the description.

I'd say that 80-85% of your favorite songs, regardless of what kind of non-classical music you like, were probably recorded while the artist was stoned/wasted/tripping/etc.

By: maxreax

maxreax — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:15:10 -0800

Blonde on Blonde is said to have been written in the recording studio while Dylan was high on speed.

Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow was supposedly written and recorded in a single afternoon tripping on acid.

By: MonkeySaltedNuts

MonkeySaltedNuts — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:21:25 -0800

one of the most notorious is John Sebastian singing "I had a dream" and 'Rainbows All Over Your Blues", after unknowingly taking LSD at Woodstock

By: agropyron

agropyron — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:27:42 -0800

I'd say that 80-85% of your favorite songs, regardless of what kind of non-classical music you like, were probably recorded while the artist was stoned/wasted/tripping/etc.

How about songs where it's really obvious in the recording that the musicians are out of their heads? Like on Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", the whole band seems like they're winding up a 48-hour drug-fuelled spree of debauchery.

By: JigSawMan

JigSawMan — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:29:39 -0800

InAGaddaDaVidda recorded by Iron Butterfly.

Originally titled In the Garden of Evil but rumor has it the singer was either so drunk or so stoned that he could not spit out the In the Garden of Eden part.

By: gsh

gsh — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:29:55 -0800

Battleflag by Lo Fidelity All-Stars -- recorded while blitzed on lager.

By: JigSawMan

JigSawMan — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:35:14 -0800

Whoops, meant to type In the Garden of Eden but typed Evil for some reason.

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:43:24 -0800

Everything the Beatles did after 1966.

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:45:48 -0800

Make that everything the Beatles ever did.

By: nathan_teske

nathan_teske — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:48:01 -0800

So... you've heard of The Doors, yes?

By: zaebiz

zaebiz — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:50:58 -0800

Everything the Beatles did after 1966.

Yes. Some obvious Beatles candidates : "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Across the Universe", "Day in the Life", "Revolution No 9", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

By: danb

danb — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:51:34 -0800

Also, I'd say the lion's share of jamband music was composed (and, usually, performed) under the influence.

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:51:39 -0800

Listen to Leon Redbone's first album closely, the one with the dancing frog on the cover. The guitar parts leave no doubt that he was definitely drunk at the sessions.

By: casconed

casconed — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:59:55 -0800

insert obligitory bill hicks quote about musicians and drugs...

By: JekPorkins

JekPorkins — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:03:14 -0800

Every good Van Halen album
Every Oasis album
Eddie Vedder drinks wine on stage like a fish, so every live Pearl Jam recording
There are just so many. Tool, Miles Davis, Nirvana, the Sex Pistols, Guns n Roses, Metallica up until St. Anger, the obvious ones like Hendrix, the Dead, Pink Floyd, Doors, Beatles, Janis Joplin, Nirvana, every good Stones album, Syd Barrett's solo stuff, Bauhaus (see, e.g. "Departure"), the Afghan Whigs, Ministry,etc . . .

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:25:28 -0800

Sleep - Jerusalem

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:32:32 -0800

Most of Charlie Parker's stuff.

By: cerebus19

cerebus19 — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:36:28 -0800

Make that everything the Beatles ever did.

No, their earliest stuff was made drug-free. They didn't get into the drug scene until a few months after they were introduced to marijuana by Bob Dylan sometime in '64.

By: cerebus19

cerebus19 — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:37:50 -0800

And, incidentally, I think the most obvious Beatles song is "I Am the Walrus." Watch the video of Magical Mystery Tour, when John's singing it, and you can tell he's higher than an SST.

By: pasici

pasici — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:40:31 -0800

I read an interview with Neil Young once where he described the recording session for Tonight's the Night as the band starting to drink tequilla and play about midnight and turning on the recording equipment about 4:00 AM.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:49:48 -0800

Jefferson Airplane - (not Starship; they were high on delusion)

By: i_cola

i_cola — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:03:20 -0800

In addition to anything already mentioned, anything the Happy Mondays ever did (early stuff mainly weed, middle stuff MDMA, later stuff crack & smack), Non-stop Erotic Cabaret by Soft Cell (MDMA), Technique by New Order (MDMA)...pah...it's easier to list the ones who were recording straight...

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:18:47 -0800

Make that everything the Beatles ever did.

No, their earliest stuff was made drug-free. They didn't get into the drug scene until a few months after they were introduced to marijuana by Bob Dylan sometime in '64.
posted by cerebus19 at 1:36 PM CST on June 26

Actually, the Beatles were speed freaks from their earliest days in Hamburg playing ridiculously long hours. The only way to get through the gigs was amphetamines. So, they had a serious affinity for pharmaceuticals long before they got in to psychedelics.

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:21:03 -0800

Eric Clapton was in the depths of heroin addiction during the 461 Ocean Blvd. sessions, from which came his version of I Shot the Sheriff, which brought Bob Marley to a MUCH wider audience.

By: beelzbubba

beelzbubba — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:33:43 -0800

FWIW, OM by John Coltrane was rumored to be fueled by LSD. I find it hard to believe that someone who was supposedly opposed to drugs after beating his heroin addicition would do so, but the music on the album would lead one to assume it was possible.

By: Zozo

Zozo — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:34:30 -0800

Thom Yorke was too drunk to stand up when he recorded the vocal line for Radiohead's "Planet Telex," so he did it lying down.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:48:48 -0800

Are we only counting recreational drugs? Because when Barnes & Barnes recorded "Gumby Jaw's Lament," Bill Mumy was suffering from a terrible flu and was seriously doped up on medication. You can hear it in his improvised vocals.

By: dobie

dobie — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:12:06 -0800

For the recording of Nevermind, Nirvana were completely wasted on codeine cough syrup because Kurt had a bad cold at the time.

By: premortem

premortem — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:21:09 -0800

No one has mentioned a single Rap/Hip Hop song or album?!?!?!?!?!?!

Snoop was known for his blunted rapping (see The Chronic)
Cypress Hill
Total Devastation
--all rapped about how blitzed they were on various drugs and alcohol.

Pretty much 90% of the rap and hip hop album from the early 90's to about '03 has at least one song on it that references either pot or malt liquor. I just always assumed it was part of many popular rappers creative process.

By: premortem

premortem — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:24:45 -0800

(why the "are you ready for some football" title?? Is it widely known that Hank Williams Jr. was drunk while recording?

By: kindall

kindall — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:27:26 -0800

Todd Rundgren's pretty well-known for toking while recording IIRC, to the extent that it has caused a conflict with some of the groups he's produced.

By: Rash

Rash — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:37:50 -0800

Don't fans of the Replacements claim their best stuff was done when they were drunk?

By: JekPorkins

JekPorkins — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:39:59 -0800

the Replacements were always drunk. Their best stuff was done when they stayed home and let Paul Westerberg just record everything himself.

By: fvox13

fvox13 — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:47:58 -0800

Allegedly:
Louie Louie by the Kingsmen
Because I got High by Afroman

By: Drunken_munky

Drunken_munky — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:17:37 -0800

I seem to recall watching on the DVD that Tenacious D wrote all the material for their album while they were high.

Ever hear "one note song"? Yeah.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:20:20 -0800

Effectively everything Syd Barrett ever put on tape.

By: ramix

ramix — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:29:00 -0800

Bob Marley...

By: Asparagirl

Asparagirl — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:09:04 -0800

Most live Phish albums were recorded with at least some of the group on some sort of substance. The most obvious example would be Trey being totally wrecked (and not in a good way) at their final concert, Coventry. Hell, some people say that in the concert's footage, which was simulcast live in movie theatres across the US, he was visibly using some sort of powder--though I haven't seen the footage, so I can't say firsthand.

By: Kronoss

Kronoss — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:20:39 -0800

Spacemen 3 were known for being permanently zonked. Although I can't recall any members admitting to being wasted while recording, it's pretty likely. Their album The Perfect Prescription was supposed to be the aural equivalent of trip, and it does kind of sound like it, but band member Sonic Boom denied that, saying something like "I don't know how many trips last 45 minutes." On their live album, Dreamweapon, one member is credited with "joint rolling."

By: xil

xil — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:39:40 -0800

I'm surprised you forgot the Spacemen 3 album "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To".

By: JekPorkins

JekPorkins — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:04:53 -0800

And let's not forget Queens of the Stone Age, of course (see, e.g., Feel Good Hit of the Summer). And their side project, Desert Sessions, which I understand is basically a drug-fuelled desert brainstorm of rock.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:59:51 -0800

Every dub track ever.

By: oats

oats — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:37:30 -0800

Even if it was later denied by the band:

"In the time this album was completed, we filled up 3.600 hours of tape, and inhaled 5 cans of Scotchguard..."

By: zackdog

zackdog — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 22:27:49 -0800

Better question was there ever a really cool song composed cold sober?

By: bonehead

bonehead — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:30:40 -0800

Kate Bush has been called "the most stoned woman in Britan." (by David Gilmore, I think).

By: premortem

premortem — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:16:32 -0800

shpongle

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 11:08:35 -0800

Lots of later-ish Beach Boys stuff, especially where Brian Wilson was the producer. Smile, anyone?

Also, classically, the Pogues. But I bet you didn't need me to tell you that.