The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group in the 1920s and 1930s. … Read Full Bio ↴The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group in the 1920s and 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.

Between 1927 and 1934 various African-American musicians in the Memphis, Tenn., area grouped around singer, song writer, guitarist, and harmonica player Will Shade (also known as Son Brimmer). The personnel of this jug band varied from day to day, with Shade booking gigs and arranging recording sessions.

Among the recorded members were (at various times) Will Shade (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Charlie Burse (pronounced Bursey) (guitar, mandolin, and vocals), Charlie Nickerson (piano and vocals), Charlie Pierce (violin), Charlie Polk (jug), Tewee Blackman (vocals, guitar), “Hambone” Lewis (jug), Jab Jones (jug, piano, vocals ), Johnny Hodges/Hardge (piano), Ben Ramey (vocals and kazoo), Casey Bill Weldon (guitar and vocals), Memphis Minnie (guitar and vocals), Vol Stevens (vocals, violin, and mandolin), Milton Robie (violin), Otto Gilmore/Gilmer (drums and woodblocks), and Robert Burse (drums). Vocals were also provided by Hattie Hart, Memphis Minnie, Jennie Mae Clayton (Shade’s wife), and Minnie Wallace, with Charlie Burse often contributing beautiful harmony parts to Shade’s lead vocal lines. In the case of Memphis Minnie, the Memphis Blues Band accompanied her on two sides for Victor Records, recorded in 1930 when the band's career was "winding down".

The attributed names of the group led by Shade on various recording labels vary quite a bit, but recent scholarly consensus has led writers to compile all of these works under the over-arching rubric of the Memphis Jug Band. In addition to that name, alternative names found on record labels include the Picaninny Jug Band, Memphis Sanctified Singers, the Carolina Peanut Boys, the Dallas Jug Band, the Memphis Sheiks, the Jolly Jug Band and recordings credited to the individual performers Hattie Hart, Minnie Wallace, Casey Bill Weldon, Charlie Nickerson, Vol Stevens, Charlie Burse, “Poor Jab” Jones, and Will Shade, but actually performed with accompaniment by other Memphis Jug Band members.

Musically their large membership pool allowed the Memphis Jug Band the flexibility to play a mixture of ballads, dance tunes, knock-about novelty numbers, and blues. Some of their songs mention hoodoo magical beliefs, and some members also contributed to gospel recordings, either uncredited or as part of the Memphis Sanctified Singers.

The Memphis Jug Band has been described as having a remarkable sound due in part to the unusual instruments. Although most songs included a rhythm guitar and either a jug, a kazoo or a harmonica as a lead instrument or sometimes a mandolin or violin. The sound of the instruments ofen conveyed a "raspy, buzzing sound" that a Briish music scholar who did not know the band personally stated was close to the musical aesthetic of Africa, and in which, he said, the jug and kazoo represented the voices of animals or ancestral spirits. Shade never told scholars why he liked this sound, and since many of the performers were also part Native American, it is a good question as to which ancestors—if any—the kazoo was supposed to represent.

The Memphis Jug Band played wherever they could find engagements, and busked in local parks. They were popular among white as well as black audiences.

In total, they made more than eighty recordings, first for Victor Records, then—as the Picaninny Jug Band—for the Champion-Gennett label, and finally for OKeh Records. The Victor recordings were made in Memphis and Atlanta, Georgia between 1927 and 1930, the Champion-Gennetts in Richmond, Indiana in August 1932, while the final sessions on Okeh were held in Chicago in November 1934. By that time, their style of music was no longer in demand, and Shade was no longer able to keep the musicians assembled as a group, although many of the individuals carried on working around Memphis until the 1940s.

In 1963 Shade recorded one last time with another Memphian, 79-year-old Gus Cannon, former leader of Cannon’s Jug Stompers, another popular jug band. They recorded the album Walk Right In, on Stax Records, a result of The Rooftop Singers having made Cannon's "Walk Right In" into a number one single. Will Shade on jug and former Memphis Jug Band member Milton Roby on washboard perform a series of thirteen traditional songs, plus Cannon's great hit "Walk Right In," including "Narration," "Kill It," "Salty Dog," "Going Around," "The Mountain," "Ol' Hen", "Gonna Raise A Ruckus Tonight," "Ain't Gonna Rain No More," "Boll-Weevil," "Come On Down To My House," "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor," "Get Up In The Morning Soon," and "Crawdad Hole." The album is almost an audio documentary tour through different corners of Cannon's life and career that, ideally, might've run to several volumes.

Cocain Habit Blues
Memphis Jug Band Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Cocaine habit mighty bad
It's the worst old habit that I ever had
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me

I went to Mr Beaman's in a lope
Saw a sign on the window said no more dope
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me

If you don't believe cocaine is good
Ask Alma Rose at Minglewood
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me

I love my whiskey, and I love my gin
But the way I love my coke is a doggone sin

Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me

Since cocaine went out of style
You can catch them shooting needles all the while
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me

It takes a little coke to give me ease
Strut my stuff long as you please
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me

(Let's all take a whiff on Hattie now)

Hey, hey

Overall Meaning

, Honey take a whiff on me is a song by Memphis Jug Band that was released in the 1920s. The song is about the singer's experience with cocaine, which he describes as the worst habit he has ever had. The singer suggests that his love for cocaine is a sin and he knows it, but he continues to use it anyway. The chorus of the song is an invitation to the singer's friend or lover to try cocaine, indicating that he wants someone to share his addiction with him. The other verses of the song talk about the singer's experience with trying to quit cocaine and the impact of it going out of style on the drug culture.

The first verse of the song talks about the singer's experience with the consequences of a cocaine habit. He sings "Cocaine habit mighty bad, It's the worst old habit that I ever had," and this line alone shows that he knows the damage cocaine is doing to him. The second verse talks about his attempt to quit cocaine by visiting a friend's house but seeing a sign that says "no more dope," leaving him with no option but to continue using. The third verse talks about a friend who he introduced to cocaine and who is now a habitual user.

In summary, the song is a commentary on the destructive nature of cocaine addiction, the struggle to quit, and the desire to have someone to share the addiction with. Its lyrics highlight the devastating effects that cocaine has on users.

Line by Line Meaning

Cocaine habit mighty bad
Cocaine is a very bad habit.

It's the worst old habit that I ever had
This habit is the worst one the singer has.

Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me
The singer is urging someone to try cocaine.

I went to Mr Beaman's in a lope
The artist went to see a prohibitionist.

Saw a sign on the window said no more dope
The prohibitionist had a sign saying no drugs.

If you don't believe cocaine is good
The singer challenges the listener's belief about cocaine.

Ask Alma Rose at Minglewood
The singer suggests asking someone who used to use cocaine.

I love my whiskey, and I love my gin
The artist enjoys alcohol.

But the way I love my coke is a doggone sin
The artist admits to loving cocaine.

Since cocaine went out of style
Cocaine is no longer popular.

You can catch them shooting needles all the while
People are now using heroin.

It takes a little coke to give me ease
The artist uses cocaine to relax.

Strut my stuff long as you please
Cocaine makes the singer feel confident.

Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me
The singer is again urging someone to try cocaine.

(Let's all take a whiff on Hattie now)
The singer suggests they all do cocaine together.

Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me, don't be shy
The artist is still urging someone to try cocaine.

Cocaine is the drug that never seems to die
Cocaine is still a popular drug.

It's so bad, it's worse than any other addiction
The singer believes cocaine is a terrible addiction.

But when it comes to cocaine, it's a temptation I can't refuse-y
The singer is unable to resist cocaine.

But it still takes a little coke to get my swagger in possession
The artist needs cocaine to feel confident.

So come on, Honey, let's take a whiff and make it quick
The artist wants to do cocaine together.

Let's get our fix of this habit that's making us sick.
The artist wants to do cocaine despite knowing it's bad for them.

Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JENNIE MAE CLAYTON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@MrAndyCretin

6y↑26

LYRICS:
Cocaine habit mighty bad
It's the worst old habit that I ever had
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me
I went to Mr Beaman's in a lope
Saw a sign on the window said no more dope
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me
If you don't believe cocaine is good
Ask Alma Rose at Minglewood
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me
I love my whiskey, and I love my gin
But the way I love my coke is a doggone sin
Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me
Since cocaine went out of style
You can catch them shooting needles all the while
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me
It takes a little coke to give me ease
Strut my stuff long as you please
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me
Hey, hey

All comments from YouTube:

@robertpaxton3380

47w↑3

Sung by Hattie Hart. Love her powerful voice, and love the band.

@kaljic1

5y↑25

"I love my whiskey and I love my gin. But the way I love coke is a dog-gone sin." Classic!

@mechcavandy986

29w

I heard that! 🙀

@Wunjo-Wunjo

26w

One of my favourites.

@kaljic1

3y↑4

Never get tired listening to the Memphis Jug Band!!!

@stefanschleps8758

At three A.M.when all the party poopers have gone home. It's time for the real homies to dip a stiff Sherman and split rails like Abe Lincoln. All you meat heads in Laurel, you know who you are. (Its still 1975.)

@notJerrytho

37w

WE MAKING OUT THE MURKOFF FACILITY WITH THIS ONE 🗣🗣🗣🔉🔉🔉

@miltonkanfer4229

5y↑3

"Woist 'ol habit I ever had!" Man, you got that right.

@Pentagonshark666

3y↑3

What a great band it were.

@toansavoo

15y↑2

Yes, correct... Jack likes the blues and knows his classics!

@ZMoulton

15y↑3

This is one of my all time favorites Good to see it here..

@joshuarayborn

14y↑1

Jug bands are cool as hell

@vincentedwards2617

7y↑6

bless you beautiful artists you are all in a cool place for sure and you dont need the royalties you never got paid jve

@sayckeone

15y↑2

THIS IS REAL HIP HOP! WORD!

@SexPot99

12w

When the Caribbean folks find this page, they gonna tell us all how they invented cocaine too.

@trainwatcher411

5y↑2

Love the Band keep them coming

@nyclion13

I’m buyin’

@leegroce7566

11y↑3

Love this song, thanks for posting... Peace

@coravisser727

7y↑3

This is real music wauw super thank you so much for uploading.

@stefanschleps8758

3y↑1

This song alone gets you an immediate sub. Two shots of Courvosier and bust a rail for me.
Peace.

@toansavoo

15y↑1

Yeah this is one of the best! Glad you aprreciate it!

@sodaygo420

9y↑1

yeah its 2015 and still listening to this

@ithu45

14y↑1

this is great please keep posting!

@gypsylou77

5y↑1

Wicked! I love the version from Mother McCrees jug band (aka) The Grateful Dead! Sounds almost the same

@imramblindad

14y↑2

I dig it. Old Crow Medicine Show's rendition does it justice. It's always good to be introduced to a classic folk song by a current contemporary artist, just to go back to research it's origins and discover the original is still a great piece of music. A good song can stand the course of time. It's a shame that artists today don't draw from their roots more extensively.

@scandalous217

15y

Thanks for adding this awesome song

@ridged8

Damn that was great! Thank you!!

@davidtouchstone4871

It's best by Leadbelly. He calls it "Take a Whiff On Me". Lyric from his version: "Cocaine for horse but it's not for men, Dr. say it'll kill you but he don't say when" (I figure they were giving it race horses.) and "You take Sally and I'll take Jane, The both good lookin but they ain't the same" and "Walked up Elam and I come down Main, Tryin to bum a nickel just to buy cocaine". Lol. He was referring to Elm Street in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Tx. where he played with Blind Lemon Jefferson. Wow!!!!!!!

@matthewtaylor7355

Hugo Leadbetter or Huddy

@ithu45

14y

this is great thanks for posting!

@ristau

12y

Mighty!

@alanoneill3065

50w↑1

Hey, hey, Honey take a whiff on me

The Memphis Jug Band recorded a bunch of sizzling songs in the late 1920s and early 1930s (K.C. Moan, On the Road Again, Stealin' Stealin'), and this rollicking, good-timey tune, replete with kazoos, jugs, and washboards, is a real toe-tapper, too, despite its serious theme. In addition to moaning that "the cocaine habit mighty bad, it's the worst old habit I ever had," and referencing cocaine prohibition—they went to the drugstore and "saw a sign on the window said no more dope"—the tune also alludes to the unintended consequences of drug prohibitions: "Since cocaine went out of style, you can catch them shooting needles all the while." Still, despite bemoaning how bad it is, "It takes a little coke to give me ease, strut my stuff as long as I please.

@MrLeadbelly

14y

go for it tackle nose LET ME IN!!!!!

@richardcorysghost

11y↑1

CORRECT, brother! Ain't nothing like the blues to touch yer soul! NOTHIN! Its been a life long love affair for me and will be til its time to see Robert Johnson play! And this is another great track I hadn't heard before, so thanks for posting, toansavoo. Is that album available on CD, do you know? Another must have blues work, I reckon!

@themadcarver608

41w

I'm right there wit ya, father. Ise gwine up there soon enough... this world ain't noting but misery

@MrAndyCretin

6y↑26

@Pygar2

6y↑2

"Ask Alma Rose back in the woods". And I hear Lehman's, not Beaman's, too.

@MelBee128

5y↑1

You're right. Lehman's was a popular department store then.

@RollerVol

2y↑2

last strut "is strut "your" stuff long as you please"...the Jugs are way under-rated

@matthewtaylor7355

Only 90 yrs before Amy Wine whitehouse

@avenueq14

15y

its not that rap came directly from this, its that their lyrical content and rhythmic singing predated rap, and is similar

@alliballiskalli

11y

happy holidays <3

@MaabudZ

13y

The premise that this music is blues is at least partially incorrect. The MJB was actually string band music and somewhat distinct from blues. Certainly most if not all modern music evolved from the earlier stuff. By that same premise one could say that Hip Hop evolved from the Yarum songs of the Fra Fra tribesmen of North Ghana. Actually that might not be too far off.

@ElvizaPelvis

14y

@McElroyPad Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers, and many others of that era had songs about murder and other forms of death. I once had a banjo player come over and we spent the evening singing songs- at the end I said "Do you realize somebody died in every song?" We had a good laugh about that. Young Freda Bolt, Banks of the Ohio (there is a drowning version and a stabbing version), Knoxville Girl (based on way older murder songs), lots more. Check 'em out... :o)

@rattmann36863

13y

Bet ya won't hear this one on your local oldies station...ha!!

@029732042

11y

Are there more recordings with Hattie Hart?

@DRTMaverick

13y

@glushglush7 Bluegrass also originated from this as well, I think it's a mix of roots as well.

@germainpieton7318

4y↑1

The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group that was active from the mid-1920s to the late 1950s. From 1926, several African American musicians from the Memphis, Tennessee area, gathered around the singer songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player Will Shade (also known as Son or Sun Brimmer). The staff for this group varied day by day depending on Shade's concerts and recording sessions. The musicians could thus pursue their personal career in parallel. Being numerous, they were able to play: slow blues, pop songs, humorous songs, but also do lively dance numbers, in jazz colors. https://countrynarbonneplage.clubeo.com/page/passion-jazz-1er-partie.html

@BoKnowsZombies

11y

It's good, but I like OCMS version better

@milascave2

11y

And the same Man were selling it to them. You know, Mr. Leiman.

@Justin-hb9wc

8y↑17

i'm only 15 and i'm so special cause i like this music it's so much better than music people my age listen to, pay attention to me

@logicone5667

8y↑4

shut up.. there is a time and place for everything.. not the time for papa franku here and now.. i want to hear about hard drug use..

@iciehawkins6345

8y↑1

lmao

@FukcYuo-cy5yg

5y↑1

your 18 now and can take a whiff on me

@MarbleWhornets

Nein!

@capajo02

14y

@alexandermalskaer between 1929 and 1934. That is my guess. I have the collected recordings of the Memphis Jug Band from that period and this is included. If the recordings are chronological in my collection, then this would fall in 1932 or '33, but I'm not positive.

@gangstayakuza

15y

yes.

@ridovem

12y

..and so do you... ^..^

@malcomshaw5962

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😎✌🏿

@ImpalerXll

13y

yeeee hawwww!!!!

@seanranspot

14y

@SuperMemphis89 More or less the roots of R&B...

@alexandermalskaer

14y

@capajo02 Thanks, that was very useful! Props

@Kilabyte21

13y

@SlainDane interesting but what are your sources? I would like to read into it a little more...

@capajo02

14y

@alexandermalskaer No problem... I just read something that listed this recording as completed in 1930. Don't know if that is right either, but it may be a better guess than mine.

@ronniepevahouse688

I tried to look up Beaman's Drug Store in the Memphis City Directories , could not find. I actually think it was suppose to be Lehman's Drug Store. I have a pill tin from Lehman's but it is not listed either.

@megetdejlig

I always heard Lehman's and sing it that way.

@jeffwilliams196

I once tried to look up "Judge Harsh" from Furry Lewis' "Judge Harsh Blues." I know he was a real person but I couldn't find him.

@GregKelley1956

10y↑1

Memphis Jug Band

@jeffreyheffner908

Greg Kelley is that the G-plat G in your avatar?

@rexzens

11y

yeah

@69ISH1

12y

that is what led me here

@glushglush7

13y

@MistaBusta901 rap originated from these guys then hip hop branched off from rap later on in the 80s thats what i learned

@wardy940

12y

they all do

@shawmcgowan6872

What came first, this song or Charlie Poole's "take a drink on me"?

@alexandermalskaer

14y

does anyone know when this awesome tune is from? :D

@iwannabeyourdog1969

15y

"honey take a wiff on me" ? , like the verses jack white sings in under blackpool lights?

@milascave2

12y

and before that, too.

@toansavoo

15y

You're welcome

@sergiozc

14y

@toansavoo it actually did bro,

@toansavoo

15y

I dont see to have that one, sorry. If i find it, i'll put it on!

@tinjarir

13y

@subjecttovalidity Actually, Rap is a cousin to Blues. Research music from colonial Jamaica (quadrilles, contra dance) and you'll see that the mixing of European melodies and African rhythms produced a style called Mento. From Mento came Ska, which then morphed into something called Toasting, which is the direct father of Rap. It would be more accurate to say that Western pop music is more closely related to Reggae than Blues. It doesn't matter that much anyway because all music is related.

@seatoskyinsurance2523

5y↑1

THUMBS UP IF MOTHER MCREES UPTOWN JUG CHAMPIONS BROUGHT YOU HERE! #weireverywhere

@Folk1994

11y

There's always a "Man" in every story, kind of like how there's a rich white guy in every major story.

@milkonokemono

lmao a classic

@VitorVitorSB

singer/cantor(a)?

@marto177

14y

hola mama

@supervidere7

What year was it released anyone know?

@smizz5989

november 14, 1930

@lebs123

15y

rapping came from this?

@castblast87

12y↑2

God damn you Wikipedia. Lol. How did I end up here?

@loufrmdathow

True story

@MarbleWhornets

Too much cocaine maybe.

@toansavoo

15y

Not really, but i do think it had something to do with blues yeah

@Lazyguy22

12y↑2

Who let Peter Griffin in at the end there?

@milascave2

11y

Mr. Leiman sold drugs back then. Now, he buys them.

@laughsinmisogyny8827

Is the original "coke rapper"? Pusha T granddaddy was ahead of his time.....

@nick-bl3zq

15y

ok listen to the then listen to triky by run dmc then amill by lil wayne its amazing

@sarge6925

13y↑1

looks like farting was used as an instrument back then lol!

@BearWindAppleyard

10y↑6

This is really cool music, but I just can't my mind away from the instrument that sounds a little like farts, bit destracting...

@TomParmenter

9y↑11

That wheezing is the JUG, idiot!

@MelBee128

Yeah they're a jug band. That instrument is a big glass jug similar to one of those big water jugs you'd get for a water cooler. The jug player blows across the top of it to make that sound you said sounds like farting. Lol

@gravemaster8747

Mungo Jerry has a jug player

@GreatGonzoMusic

14y

@McElroyPad That is pretty generalized... if you apply that same though to any race you could get the same result. Did you know that the banjo actually came over from Africa with black slaves. One has to ask what you gain by listening to this if you don't like it, but since you think that bad music has something to do with race you risk looking like a jackass to everyone that doesn't. History is not on your side.