She was born Victoria Regina Spivey in Houston, Texas, United States, the daughter of Grant and Addie (Smith) Spivey. Her father was a part-time musician and a flagman for the railroad; her mother was a nurse. Her sisters were Addie "Sweet Peas" Spivey (1910–1943), also a singer and musician, who recorded for several major record labels between 1929 and 1937, and Elton Island Spivey (1900–1971), who also followed a professional singing career as The Za Zu Girl.
Spivey's first professional experience was in a family string band led by her father in Houston. After Grant Spivey died, the seven-year-old Victoria played on her own at local parties and, in 1918, was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas. As a teenager, she worked in local bars, nightclubs, and buffet flats, mostly alone, but occasionally with singer-guitarists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1926, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she was signed by Okeh Records. Her first recording, "Black Snake Blues", did well, and her association with the record label continued. She made numerous Okeh sides in New York until 1929, then switched to the RCA Victor label. Between 1931 and 1937, more recordings followed on the Vocalion and Decca labels, and, working out of New York, she maintained an active performance schedule. Spivey's recorded accompanists included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Red Allen. She recorded many of her own songs, which dwelt on disease, crime and outré sexual images.
The Depression did not put an end to Spivey's musical career; she found a new outlet for her talent in the year of the crash, when film director King Vidor cast her to play "Missy Rose" in his first sound film, Hallelujah! (1929). Through the 1930s and 1940s, Spivey continued to work in musical films and stage shows, often with her husband, vaudeville dancer Billy Adams, including the Hellzapoppin' Revue.
In 1951, Spivey retired from show business to play the pipe organ and lead a church choir, but she returned to secular music in 1961, when she was reunited with an old singing partner, Lonnie Johnson, to appear on four tracks on his Prestige Bluesville album, Idle Hours. The folk music revival of the 1960s gave her further opportunities to make at least a semblance of a comeback. She recorded again for Prestige Bluesville, sharing an album Songs We Taught Your Mother with fellow veterans Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin and began making personal appearances at festivals and clubs.
In 1962, Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt launched Spivey Records, a low-budget label dedicated to blues and related music. They recorded prolifically such performers as Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Tate and Hannah Sylvester, as well as newer artists including Luther Johnson, Brenda Bell, Washboard Doc, Bill Dicey, Robert Ross, Sugar Blue, Paul Oscher, Danny Russo and Larry Johnson.
In March 1962, Bob Dylan contributed harmonica and back-up vocals, accompanying Victoria Spivey and Big Joe Williams on a recording for Spivey Records. The recordings were released on Three Kings And The Queen (Spivey LP 1004) and Kings And The Queen Volume Two (Spivey LP 1014). (Dylan was listed under his own name on the record covers.) In 1964 Spivey made her only recording with an all-white band: the Connecticut based Easy Riders Jazz Band, led by trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette. It was released first on an LP and later re-released on compact disc.
Spivey married four times; her husbands included Ruben Floyd and Billy Adams.
Victoria Spivey died in New York on October 3, 1976, at the age of 69, from an internal haemorrhage.
Dope Head Blues
Victoria Spivey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just give me one more sniff of, another sniff of that dope
I'll catch a cow like a cowboy, and throw a bull without a rope
Doggone, I've got more money than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
Doggone, got more money than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
I bit a dog last Monday and forty doggone dogs went mad
Feel like a fighting rooster, feel better than I ever felt
Got double pneumonia and still I think I got the best health
Say, Sam
Go get my airplane and drive it up to my door
Aw, Sam, go get my airplane and drive it to my door
I think I'll fly to London, these monkey men makes mama sore
The president sent for me, the Prince of Wales is on my trail
The president sent for me, the Prince of Wales is on my trail
They worry me so much, I'll take another sniff and put them both in jail
The song "Dope Head Blues" by Victoria Spivey is a blues ballad about the singer's addiction to drugs. The song begins with the singer asking for another sniff of dope, which she thinks will give her enough energy to catch a cow like a cowboy and throw a bull without a rope. This line serves as a metaphor for her feeling of invincibility under the influence of drugs.
In the next verse, the singer boasts about her wealth, claiming that she has more money than Henry Ford or John D. Rockefeller ever had. She even bit a dog, causing it to go mad and attack forty other dogs. This exaggerated display of wealth and power reflects the singer's desperation to maintain her drug addiction.
In the third verse, the singer compares herself to a fighting rooster, feeling better than she ever has, even though she has double pneumonia. She then requests her airplane to be driven up to her door so she can fly to London, where "monkey men" are making her mother angry. The final verse tells us that both the President and Prince of Wales are after her, causing her to once again turn to drugs to cope with the pressure and avoid confrontation.
Overall, "Dope Head Blues" is a sad but honest reflection of addiction and its power over its victims. The singer's exaggerated stories and boasts highlight her delusions and the sad reality of her addiction.
Line by Line Meaning
Just give me one more sniff of, another sniff of that dope
I need just one more hit of the drug to satisfy my constant cravings.
I'll catch a cow like a cowboy, and throw a bull without a rope
The drug makes me feel invincible and gives me strength to do physical feats beyond my capacity.
Doggone, got more money than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
I have ample financial resources to sustain my addiction to drugs.
I bit a dog last Monday and forty doggone dogs went mad
My addiction is so severe that it is affecting my sanity and causing me to act in unpredictable ways.
Feel like a fighting rooster, feel better than I ever felt
The drug creates a sense of euphoria and makes me feel like I can take on anything.
Got double pneumonia and still I think I got the best health
Despite the harmful physical effects of the drug on my body, I believe I am healthier and stronger than ever before.
Aw, Sam, go get my airplane and drive it to my door
My addiction has led to a delusion of grandeur and I believe I have the means to travel anywhere I please.
These monkey men makes mama sore
The people around me are causing me distress and I use the drug to escape from reality.
The president sent for me, the Prince of Wales is on my trail
My addiction has caused me to experience paranoia and delusions of grandeur, making me believe that powerful people are seeking me out.
They worry me so much, I'll take another sniff and put them both in jail
The discomfort caused by my delusions and paranoia can only be relieved through another hit of the drug, even if it means creating dangerous situations for others.
Contributed by Evelyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@plumedesinge
Just give me one more sniffle
Another sniffle of that dope
Just give me one more sniffle
Another sniffle of that dope
I'll catch a cow like a cowboy
And throw a bull without a rope
Doggone, I've got more money
Than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
Doggone, I've got more money
Than Henry Ford or John D. ever had
I bit a dog last Monday
And forty doggone dogs went mad
Feel like a fightin' rooster
Feel better than I ever felt
Feel like a fightin' rooster
Feel better than I ever felt
Got double pneumonia
And still I think I got the best health
Say, Sam
Go get my airplane and drive it up to my door
Oh, Sam, go get my airplane
And driii-ve it to my door
I think I'll fly to London
These monkey men makes mama sore
The president sent for me
The Prince of Wales is on my trail
The president sent for me
The Prince of Wales is on my trail
They worry me so much
I'll take another sniff and put them both in jail
@DrugStabbingTime
So natural sounding. Not contrived like most of today's music.
@yungmentalproblems
Stfu so much of today's music is way better than this
@LadyRia91
They called it "Dope" 100 years ago...WoW. The song is amazingly beautiful
@tmrezzek5728
Fan-TAS-tic! Lonnie Johnson compliments Victoria Spivey so well on this; he did the same for Texas Alexander on a series of contemporary recordings. Great stuff.
@gedsoft3793
I like Texas Alexander :) Glad somebody else has heard him. My fave with Lonnie would have to be Deep Blue Sea Blues. Another notable accompanist of his was Little Hat Jones, now there is a great but forgotten bluesman.
@deloreswilson1798
And the song remains the same...🤔
@deloreswilson1798
It ain't " beautiful".Its sad.Self destruction is never pretty,. especially a woman...🤔
@macb8588
Had the pleasure of knowing Lonnie in Canada. He hung with hippies and musicians in Yorkville , Toronto.
@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe
That was very early hippie history even in Canadian.@macb8588
@rodneykitchen3869
Saw them both at Gerdes Folk City in New York in the sixties, Lonnie been amongst my heroes ever since