Jazz and Drugs in 1960

For the November 1960 issue of Playboy, the magazine assembled a panel of musicians to discuss drug addiction in the jazz world and the public's perception of jazz as a result. The topic was a hot one back then, coming off the 1950s. And yet in historical perspective, the topic's urgency seems somewhat ludicrous. Within seven years, drugs would become an integral part of the rock and youth culture, resulting in psychedelic album covers, masses of stoned concertgoers and rock-star overdoses.

But in 1960, jazz and drug use were virtually synonymous, thanks in some measure to Hollywood's portrayal of jazz  musicians as scatterbrained psychotics and corrupting influences. One assumes that Playboy, the sponsor of the first indoor jazz festival in 1959, was hoping to show readers (and potential concert-goers) that not all jazz musicians were bad eggs, particularly the ones they hoped to feature on stage.

The roundtable discussion was moderated by Max Cohen, an attorney and legal expert on narcotics addiction, and someone named Dr. Winick, director of Research of the Narcotics Addiction Research Project. The panelists were Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, Shelly Manne, Jimmy Giuffre and Nat Hentoff.

Here's the opening paragraph followed by a link to the full discussion...

PLAYBOY: Our purpose, gentlemen, in this first Playboy Panel, is to discuss narcotics addiction and the jazz musician. We might put it another way: to what extent is addiction a special problem of the jazzman? How common is the use of narcotics among musicians, and to what degree is the public attitude a reflection of the facts. We aren't in search of dogmatic conclusions: rather, we'd like to stimulate thought, to ventilate the subject and let in the light of knowledge and experience—which you men have.

Stan Kenton, you have not only been in the very forefront of advanced big-band jazz since the early Forties, you've also been a long-time, articulate spokesman for jazzmen. Why don't you lead off? There are an estimated 60,000 drug addicts in this country: how common is narcotics addiction in the jazz field?

For the full text, go here.

 

Comments

[Larry Kart]

Some of the more odd and/or amusing comments from the Playboy jazz and drugs panel discussion:

'GILLESPIE: Now you know about how many musicians I know - thousands and thousands. Well, right now I can't think of over five, maybe six or seven musicians who I know are using heroin.'

What? Dizzy, let me introduce you to your trumpet and sax sections.

'B. TAYLOR: I worked with Charlie Parker, and Bird said a couple of times in print that he felt some of his worst performances were when he was under the influence of drugs. And I think this is borne out by some of the records that he made - "Relaxing at Camarillo" and some things like that - and he was in pretty bad condition on some of those records.'

Taylor no doubt means "Lover Man." Bird's playing on "Relaxing at Camarillo" is superb, and the piece is so titled because it celebrates his return from his six-month stay in the California state mental hospital where he was taken after his crack up at the "Lover Man" session. Doesn't give you much faith in Taylor, though.

'C. ADDERLEY: An ounce of heroin in Lebanon costs five dollars. In the United States, that ounce will sell for $6,000.

HENTOFF: There's the free enterprise system.'

Hentoff sure seems to be singing a different tune politically these days.

Finally, the Adderley brothers display uncommon common sense throughout. I particularly like Nat's response after Hentoff used the word "iniquitous."

[John Herr]

Almost unnoticeable on the lurid cover of Night Train is the name of the author, Kenneth Millar. Under the pseudonym Ross Macdonald, he later found fame writing the Lew Archer series of S Cal detective novels. Or is that why you included this potboiler among yr illustrations?

[Doug Zielke]

From the article-
"TAYLOR: I think it was Dr. Winick who once said that drug addiction is the only illness he knows of that's treated by the police department."

That is a fact. Even now.