Drugs impacts on Music free essay sample

Tate Wade Music Appreciation Saint Paula School May 6th, 2013 Jazz Is considered by numerous the best contribution the united States has made to the art of music_ In the sass. Jazz evolved from a New Orleans styled music, now called Dixieland, to a more successful music labeled Swing. Instead of mimicking traditional music, jazz is an improvisational music style. As a result, jazz became the most dominant form of dance music in the United States during the sass and sass made it an easy target for hate. Jazz created its own rules which were viewed from a critics viewpoint as corrupting musical values.In addition, black musicians were not allowed In many buildings, so they were forced to play In brothels and speakeasies. Society In the sass saw Jazz as young people drinking, doing drugs, and dancing to the Devils music, an unholy trinity that had to be stopped. (Radio Stars Magazine). This caused society to view jazz to be associated with a wild and morally wrong lifestyle. For example, Jazz was associated with interracial sex and with illegal drugs, in the early days, marijuana, and later on, with heroin and opium.Jazz was a cultural revolution, it influenced the way people dressed, their language, and political beliefs. Jazz was also a model for both rock and roll and hip hop because it was hated by the bourgeoisie. Harry Anglings, former Assistant Prohibition Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, was simplemindedly responsible for the outlaw of hemp and marijuana. He used tactics such as fear, ignorance, and race to his advantage. Many Americans, including Congress, hadnt even heard of marijuana.Anglings, using this to his advantage, said Reefer makes blacks think theyre better than white men. In addition, Anglings incited fear by saying, marijuana causes white women to have sex with Negroes, entertainers, and many others. Although, some disputed his evidence the damage was done; the law passed without even tallying the vote. Throughout the 1 9505, heroin was the hot new drug. Heroin had a profound effect on three major Jazz musicians, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis. Each of these had a long history of heroin addiction.Billie Holiday had a very bad addiction to heroin, she was a frequent user Of heroin for over a decade which not only caused her to die prematurely, but she lost her cabaret card which allowed you to perform in New York nightclubs and her ice as a singer deteriorated. In Charlie Parsers case he also lost his cabaret card and often showed up late to performances or was to messed up to play. Miles Davis addiction was only a blip in his amazing career. It only lasted about 4-5 years and had no negative impact on his musical ability.Drugs and music have always had a strong connection, with genre shifts occurring with the rise of a new drug. In the early sass, marijuana use was starting to escalate; the primary consumers were mostly African Americans and Latino. In addition, Jazz was spreading throughout the entire United States during this time. Jazz musicians were mostly African Americans, who used their music and marijuana to free themselves from their problems. However, the life of a jazz musician has been surrounded by substance abuse. Many jazz musicians were dealing with racial and financial difficulties throughout their careers.Consequently, alcohol became a common addiction among jazz musicians, and later, cannabis and heroin became the common drugs in the jazz community. Many of jazzs greatest players died at a premature age from the deadly complications of cirrhosis and hypothetically carcinoma, such as John Chlorate. Some musicians turned to marijuana and heroin in an attempt to stimulate creativity and others used it to gain camaraderie amongst their friends. The end result of years of alcohol and drug abuse was a great occurrence of cirrhosis between jazz musicians.The solution to these problems include better healthcare of musicians, but should also include a system to allow talented, yet deprived musicians to escape the ravages of poverty. Music is consistently being influenced by the trends of the times; representing politics, economics, and clamoring lifestyles. During the sass, music had a huge impact on everyones life. Music was used at demonstrations, organizations, speeches, and protest. Music and the people, who created it, had one of the most influential variables, drugs.In the early sass, a new wave started to flow which changed the way many people looked at music. This became known as the Psychedelic Era. It introduced drugs to be the vital ingredient involved in the creation of music, and was also used to enhance the listeners experience. Many bands experimented with drugs such as LSI and marijuana. Musicians use of hallucinogens and other drugs induced changes in both the sound and lyrical content of their music, adding to the creation of the psychedelic rock of the 1 9605, which subsequently influenced the shape of all rock music to come.There were a number of influences that combined to produce this music including increased government control, peoples livelihood worsened, fear of the Cold War, and racial tensions. The principles of the previous decade left little room for creativity. The youth of the sixties used drugs as a form of rebellion and a Way for them to assert their defiance of the norm. Music and drugs Were the response from the rebellious Baby Boomer age. Music was the driving force Enid the sixties peace and love culture that emerged.The growth of the sixties music scene was connected to the increased use of marijuana and hallucinogens by the youth culture. Many of the iconic musicians had dabbled in drugs, or fully immersed themselves into it, and through this achieved an escape from reality, and freedom which was not possible during the sass. The influences of marijuana and LSI on music and culture through the mid and late-ass are both profound and obvious. The drugs perception-bending psychological effects were an obvious influence on psychedelic music.Also, he feelings of brotherhood and community that marijuana and LSI created in users meshed well with the youth politics and ethics of the day. As the communal drugs like marijuana and LSI yielded to detaching, narcissistic drugs such as cocaine, the change in music was also reflected. Politically conscious folk rock and perception altering rock were replaced by stadium rock and glam rock; genres characterized by excess and hedonism. Bands like The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Flooded Mac, and David Bowie lived the rock star fantasy of teenage dreams, fueled by the belief in ones own great ness that only cocaine can induce. Disco, with its accelerated beats-per-minute, mindless lyrics, obnoxious clothes, and club culture was essentially cocaine embodied. The rise of punk in London and New York in the late sass saw the return of amphetamines. Punk music was typified by short, simple songs, but sped up and with a more nihilistic bent. Cheap, accessible, and often homemade drugs like amphetamine sulfate (also known as speed) and amyl nitrates (also known as poppers) were commonplace in punk clubs.They provided the energy rush needed both to play and dance to the fast, aggressive music. Technological developments in sass, plus a greater affordability and accessibility of synthesizers and electronics, spurred the rise of various electronic music scenes. New wave, acid house, and techno all became significant genres and scenes around North American and Europe. With this, ecstasy and its purer cousin MADAM tore through Englands working class cities and neighborhoods in the late-ass sparking another short-lived but generation-defining music scene in Manchester.A unique combination of guitar rock and acid house sounds typified by band like Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, and Inspires Carpets was at the center of the Matches event. To get an insight into the link between communal, euphoric effects of ecstasy and Matches music, watch the film 24 Hour Party People named after a term coined by Happy Mondays singer Shawn Ryder. New Order even snuck a sly ecstasy reference, E is for England, into their 1990 FIFE World Cup song.As usual, the high was followed by a comedown of busts, overdoses, failed tours, and lousy albums. To this point, musicians and fans could claim ignorance. The jazz crowds werent educated on the effects of heroin the same way that moods didnt know the effects of speed and Matches bands didnt know the effects of ecstasy. But starting in the ass, drug awareness campaigns illustrated by Nancy Reggaes Just Say No slogan became common. Such campaigns usually register better with young kids, who internalize the message take it into adulthood.Teens and 20- something are generally less receptive to rich, old politician-wives telling them how to live. T hats possibly why the link between music and drugs stayed strong into the ass, most obviously with grunge (heroin, again) and Britton (cocaine, again). Heroin matched the self-loathing and pessimism of range while cocaine matched the grandiose, world conquering ethic of Britton. Though drug-addled bands like Nirvana and Oasis became popular in the age of Just Say No, they grew up in the willfully ignorant late-ass and early-ass.But what happened in the sass when the new generation Of bands who couldnt claim chemical ignorance took over? We saw, for the first time in 50-plus years, a weakening link between drugs and music. Yes, bands took drugs. There are even bands inextricably linked to drugs (Pete Doherty/ The Libertines and MGM to varying degrees) but there appeared to be no ajar music scenes driven by particular drugs. In a 2008 column in The Guardian newspaper, writer Kevin Sampson wondered if the link between music and drugs had been broken.Dazed and Confused magazine editor Rod Stately was quoted saying, No one has really invented or discovered a new drug for a while. Every time one has been found over the decades, young people swiftly work out the best music experience to go with it. He added. If a new drug were discovered today, a new music scene would spring up overnight. While the link is less obvious than it once was, Sampson didnt ask deep enough. In some areas, music and drugs have maintained a link, but the effects of neither have become widespread.