Take a Whiff on Me
Encyclopedia
"Take a Whiff on Me" is an American folk song, with references to the use of cocaine
. It is also known as "Take a Whiff (on Me)", "Cocaine Habit", and "Cocaine Habit Blues".
and Alan Lomax
from Iron Head and Lead Belly, as well as other sources.
" of Loudon Wainwright III
, which contains the line: "take a whiff on me, that ain't no rose!"
The song is also the basis for the 1976 hit "Cokaine In My Brain" of reggae artist Dillinger
.
Jack White of The White Stripes
sang this song in the Under Blackpool Lights
concert during the song "I Think I Smell a Rat".
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. It is also known as "Take a Whiff (on Me)", "Cocaine Habit", and "Cocaine Habit Blues".
History
This song was collected by JohnJohn Lomax
John Avery Lomax was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk songs...
and Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
from Iron Head and Lead Belly, as well as other sources.
Recordings
- Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW 40101 (1997) - Lonnie DoneganLonnie DoneganAnthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
's "Have a Drink on Me" on Puttin' On the Style (1978) is a sanitized version of the song. - The Greenbriar BoysThe Greenbriar BoysThe Greenbriar Boys were a seminal northern bluegrass music group who first got together in jam sessions in New York's Washington Square Park. Along with the New Lost City Ramblers, their urban traditional country sound inspired a generation of musicians and fans.-Biography:In 1959,...
Ragged But Right! (1964) - The ByrdsThe ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
(Untitled) (1970), There Is a SeasonThere Is a SeasonThere Is a Season is a four-CD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on September 26, 2006 by Columbia/Legacy. It comprises 99 tracks and includes material from every one of the band's twelve studio albums, presented in roughly chronological order...
(2006), and Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971Live at Royal Albert Hall is a live album by the American rock band The Byrds, released in 2008 on Sundazed Records. The album consists of recordings from the band's appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on May 13, 1971...
(2008) - The Flying Burrito BrothersThe Flying Burrito BrothersThe Flying Burrito Brothers was an early country rock band, best known for its influential debut album,The Gilded Palace of Sin . Although the group is most often mentioned in connection with country rock legends Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes.-Original...
The Red Album (recorded c. 1975, released 2002) - The White StripesThe White StripesThe White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
Under Blackpool LightsUnder Blackpool LightsUnder Blackpool Lights is the first official DVD released by The White Stripes. It has since been out of print and hailed as a must for White Stripes fans....
(2004) - Mission Mountain Wood BandMission Mountain Wood BandMission Mountain Wood Band , abbreviated M2WB, is an American bluegrass and country rock band formed in Missoula, Montana in 1971. They were noted for headlining Woodstock style concerts in Montana,notably the University of Montana's Aber Day kegger. They also toured nationally, mostly playing...
In Without Knocking (1977) - Old Crow Medicine ShowOld Crow Medicine ShowOld Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...
Big Iron WorldBig Iron WorldBig Iron World is an album by folk/country/old timey band Old Crow Medicine Show, released on August 29, 2006. The album was produced by David Rawlings who is most famously known for being Gillian Welch's musical partner...
(2006) - Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
(with Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions) Mother McCree's Uptown Jug ChampionsMother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (album)Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions is an American folk music album. It was recorded live by the band of the same name at the Top of the Tangent coffee house in Palo Alto, California in July, 1964, and released in 1999....
(recorded 1964, released 1998) - The Cowboy Killers Greatest Hits Vol. III: Cocaine Habit and Other Spirituals (2008)
- Lead Belly Leadbelly ARC and Library of Congress Recordings Vol. 1 (1934-1935)
- Memphis Jug BandMemphis Jug BandThe Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group in the late 1920s and early to mid 1930s. The band featured harmonicas, violins, mandolins, banjos, and guitars, backed by washboards, kazoo, and jugs blown to supply the bass; they played in a variety of musical styles...
The Best of the Memphis Jug Band - Mungo JerryMungo JerryMungo Jerry is an English rock group whose greatest success was in the early 1970s, though they have continued throughout the years with an ever-changing line-up, always fronted by Ray Dorset. They are remembered above all for their hit "In the Summertime". It remains their most successful and most...
(as “Have a Whiff on Me”, 1971 single)
Print versions
- American Ballads and Folk Songs, John LomaxJohn LomaxJohn Avery Lomax was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk songs...
and Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, 1934 as "Honey, Take a Whiff on Me" - Mission Mountain Wood Band "Take a Whiff on Me" 1970
In popular culture
The title of the song is quoted in the song "Dead SkunkDead Skunk
"Dead Skunk" is a 1973 novelty song by Loudon Wainwright III.The song is musically a simple folk song based on acoustic guitar, but accompanied by drums and strings. The lyrics, which literally interpreted describe a dead skunk in the middle of a busy road and the smell it produces for pedestrians,...
" of Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
, which contains the line: "take a whiff on me, that ain't no rose!"
The song is also the basis for the 1976 hit "Cokaine In My Brain" of reggae artist Dillinger
Dillinger (musician)
Dillinger is a reggae artist.-Biography:As a young man growing up in Kingston, Dillinger would hang around Dennis Alcapone's El Paso sound system...
.
Jack White of The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
sang this song in the Under Blackpool Lights
Under Blackpool Lights
Under Blackpool Lights is the first official DVD released by The White Stripes. It has since been out of print and hailed as a must for White Stripes fans....
concert during the song "I Think I Smell a Rat".