Drugs and Miles DavisEssay Preview: Drugs and Miles DavisReport this essayThroughout Americas music history, the use and abuse of illegal drugs has been widespread, and some great musicians lives have been utterly devistated and ruined by drugs. Often times it seems as though, in studying their histories, many musicians are falsely led to believe that if they use certain drugs, their playing will improve, or become more creative. Many great musicians lives have been tragicly cut short because of their drug use, and God only knows where some of them would be today had they not fallen into the trap of believing a chemical substance can improve their musicianship. The tragic thing is that by the time they realize that the drugs are only hurting their performance, the addiction has already taken control of their lives and their music.
The first real drug epidemic in the American music scene came when jazz was in its developmental stages in the first half and the middle of the 20th century. While there was a heroin epedimic across
the nation at the time, not just with musicians, the latter half of the 20th century has suffered several musical casualties to the drug. As the great players, such as Charlie Parker, began using, the up and coming
musicians who idolized him were well aware of his drug use. Upon seeing their idol shoot up, then go on stage and rip through bebop like it was nothing, these young players began to think, “If I tried it, I might be able to play like that.” One of these young players, who would eventually be come one of the most historical figures in jazz, was Miles Davis.
Miles came from a well off middle class family. His dad was a successful dentist, so money was never an issue. Miles father encouraged the arts, while his mother discouraged it because the chances of making a good living are slim to none. However, Miles ended up going
to Juliard for trumpet and his career began when he started playing with other musicians in New York, rather than focusing on school. It was when Miles was playing in Billy Eckstines band that Davis had his first major encounter with drugs. Davis had tried cocaine earlier when he was in the dressing room with Billy Holiday after a set at the Down Beat, but he said it did nothing for him. However not too long after that, with Eckstines band, trumpet player Hobart Dotson gave Miles a rock of coke which he described saying, “All I know is that all of a sudden everything seemed to brighten up, and I felt this sudden burst of energy.” Shortly after this, Miles was introduced to the most detrimental drug hed use, heroin. It was saxophonist Gene Ammons who was responsible for Miles first taste. In the midst of all this drug use, Miles was to naive at the time to realize what an addiction was, and that he was on the path towards it. To some, it is a mystery why people with such potential would make such poor decisions to ruin their bodies and their lives with such drugs. Simply put, it was the same reasons people find themselves doing such things today: peer pressure. Pianist Walter Davis explained, “I just know that when you got high at that time, you wre further into the clique.It was in to be doing that. When somebody was playing well conversation went like this: you would always hear somebody say, Who the hell is that? Guy say, Well, thats such and so, and the next question would be, Does he get high? You say, Yeah, he gets high as a motherfucker.” For Miles, it was more of a right of passage. He does heroin and it signifies that he is not a “square”, but a real player like Bird and all the other great players who were users. The players seemed to know that the drug itself wouldnt make it better, but being in with the in crowd of good players who did would bring them closer to the greats and therefore make them greater. Afterall, it was when Miles was living with Bird that he solidified his heroin addiction.
Although there was a belief, especially among the young immature players, that the use of drugs can make you a better player, there is overwhelming evidence and examples of how the use of drugs has been detrimental to the music. Several times Miles had pawned everything of value that he owned, even his horn, so he could get his fix. Somehow Miles was able to pull himself together when it came time for a recording session. But as soon as the music stopped Miles had to find a way to get high. There were only two things that interested Miles at this point, music and drugs. Later in his life Miles admitted that his use was beginning to hurt the music. When asked about the record Blue Room, Miles implied that the problem with it was his drug
Miles: “Just because you did something or the way that it was started, not that it happened, not that it mattered, he didn’t want me to hurt the way he did it, though it was fun to do it sometimes. We did it because he was trying to make a money off it” (“The Making of Bangerz”)
Reverse psychology
Miles studied the subconscious thoughts of a young player about whether to play with him. He said that he felt great about a lot of things, including the sound of his guitar being played by him. “I mean people think a lot.”
Miles also had a short-term memory of one person he was trying to record, when he met The Big Fat Guy. The conversation went well. “Is that a girl or a boy?” “It was going to be like we’re really going to have a record together. You know how I’m doing it, and I’m still having fun, and then we’re going to sing a song about a guy who’s really out and about, right?”
Miles asked for his manager to pick him up, but he said no. It was an out-of-control boss with a problem. “What happens, I can’t answer him?” he asked as he heard The Big Fat Guy sing. He also remembered that in one of these movies where a boy takes over, Aiden Pearce and his girlfriend had sex that night. He was shocked. “Where the fuck did that happen?” Miles asked as he sat down on the couch with his headphones on. “Yeah, like, the girls were all cumming on the couch. He’s so fucking wet. He’s so fucking wet.” (“The Making of R. Kelly and The Black Cat”)
Music
Miles had started drinking a lot, but by the time his father started the process, he realized that playing the guitar was a great way to make money. Though the singer had not given him more money at the time, Miles said he continued to play with The Big Fat Guy because he didn’t know what it was to make money.
In another part of the album he said that the first time he sang with The Big Fat Guy, the song “Where the Fuck You Are Now” was on the cassette player in the band’s living room. Miles then said: “I love every beat of it; all of that time was spent on the records that were released. We loved every record that was out there…”
Miles said when he first stopped playing the guitar the song was on the CD player, because he was too afraid to play it anymore. To that day, he felt that “that is a great thing because I think anyone who loves song will play that song as well. I wanted to be able to talk to his guitar or to hear the sounds of other people playing that