Take a Whiff on Me explained

"Take a Whiff on Me" (Roud 10062) is an American folk song, with references to the use of cocaine.^[1] It is also known as "Take a Whiff (on Me)", "Cocaine Habit", and "Cocaine Habit Blues".^[2]

History

This song was collected by John and Alan Lomax from Iron Head and Lead Belly, as well as other sources.^[3]

The first recording appears to be the 1930 recording by Memphis Jug Band titled "Cocaine Habit Blues."^[4]

Recordings

• Memphis Jug Band The Best of the Memphis Jug Band (titled Cocaine Habit Blues) 1930^[5]
• Lead Belly Leadbelly ARC and Library of Congress Recordings Vol. 1 (1934–1935)
• The Greenbriar Boys Ragged But Right! (1964)
• Jerry Garcia (with Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions) Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (recorded 1964, released 1998)
• The Byrds (Untitled) (1970), There Is a Season (2006), and Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971 (2008)
• Mungo Jerry (as “Have a Whiff on Me”, 1971 single)
• The New Kentucky Colonels Live in Sweden (recorded 1973, released 1976)
• The Flying Burrito Brothers The Red Album (recorded c. 1975, released 2002)
• Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band (1975 Album, "Australia")
• Mission Mountain Wood Band In Without Knocking (1977)
• Lonnie Donegan's "Have a Drink on Me" on Puttin' On the Style (1978) is a sanitized version of the song.
• Woody Guthrie Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW 40101 (1997)
• The White Stripes Under Blackpool Lights (2004)
• Old Crow Medicine Show: Two versions: As "Tell It to Me" on Old Crow Medicine Show (2004) and with substantially reworked lyrics as "Cocaine Habit" on Big Iron World (2006)

Print versions

• American Ballads and Folk Songs, John Lomax and Alan Lomax, 1934 as "Honey, Take a Whiff on Me"
• Mission Mountain Wood Band, "Take a Whiff on Me", 1970

Notes and References

1. Book: Aaron Parrett . Aaron Parrett . Montana Americana Music: Boot Stomping in Big Sky Country . 25 July 2016 . Arcadia Publishing Incorporated . 978-1-62585-785-9 . 64–.
2. Book: Rupert Till . Pop Cult: Religion and Popular Music . 2 December 2010 . A&C Black . 978-0-8264-4592-6 . 39– . Cocaine use was common among black labourers in the Mississippi delta where blues first emerged, and was sold in various ... 'Cocaine Habit Blues (Take a Whiff on Me)', also known as 'Tell it to Me', is usually associated with Leadbelly, ....
3. Book: Diane Holloway . American History in Song: Lyrics from 1900 to 1945 . 2001 . Authors Choice Press . 978-0-595-19331-8 . 329– . Porter wasn't the only composer writing about cocaine in 1934. Huddie Ledbetter wrote a drug song called Take a Whiff On Me. "I'se got a nickel, you'se got a dime. You buy the coke and I'll buy the wine. Cocaine's for horses and not for men..
4. Web site: 2015-09-20. That Cocaine Has Got All Around My Brain: 5 Classic Cocaine Blues Tunes. 2022-02-16. Alternet.org. en.
5. Web site: Grateful Dead Lyric And Song Finder. 2022-02-16. www.whitegum.com.