It's got contributions from all the greats; Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Buck Washington and more.

Apart from the obvious fact that it's got some fantastic jazz on it, this CD is also interesting in that we get to to hear these musicians attitudes and references to weed and getting stoned during these decades. Hearing Fats Waller dreaming about "a reefer 5 foot long" (nice!) and Buck Washington asking "save that roach from me" is kinda like listening to a 30's/40's version of a Cypress Hill CD. It's good shit - as they say.

Marijuana (weed, pot, hash etc) has been around from the beginnings of time and has played a key role in various civilizations. In the first half of the 20th Century jazz culture took hold, marijuana was still legal and proved popular with the musicians of the day, some would say influencing and helping them along their way. Even so its use was still kept relatively underground in an already conservative America, resulting in the use of various alisas such as 'Jive', 'Golden Leaf', 'Texas Tea', 'Viper' and others too numerous to mention.

Eventually Middle Class White American worries over its corrupting influences won the day and it was banned in 1933 in 33 states with the rest following suit some 3 years later.

In many ways the tunes on this CD could be described as pop records of the day, as they were often no more than 3 minutes long and obtained national appeal from the Radio and Record Companies.

Packaging & Liner Notes
Standard Jewel Case. Great 12 page booklet containing brief notes on each track.