Madison NORML

While watching the Cash Box Kings open, I spotted Mr. Margolin and asked if they would be playing Champagne and Reefer. He said Madison was definitely a good town to play it in, and later in the set I was delighted to hear him introduce the tune as a request, noting it was Muddy’s version of the song, “My Favorite Things”. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, although no smoke-in broke out. It was definitely one of many highlights in a night of the real, head shaking, foot-tapping, gutbucket blues performed by two blues masters, with great assistance from Katherine Davis on vocals and the Cash Box Kings. The Kings have the postwar Chicago blues sound down, and they didn’t miss a beat backing Sumlin & Margolin.

Back to the tune:

I first heard Champagne and Reefer in 1998, when James Cotton and George “Mojo” Bruford, two more ex-Muddy sidemen, played it at a gig at San Francisco State.

Not only is the tune a tribute to two of Muddy’s favorite things, he also urges decriminalization while citing some medicinal benefits:

Well you know it shouldn't be no law
That people that wanna smoke a little dope

Well you know it good for your head,
And it relax your body don't ya know.

[Lyrics transcribed from Champagne & Reefer, from Muddy’s album, King Bee, Columbia 5099751516323, released in 1981.]

The King Bee final version, the one performed at Orton by Bob & Hubert also ends with a harm reduction message:

Well you know I'm gonna stick with my reefer,
Ain't gonna be messin' 'round with no cocaine.

The audience seemed to really enjoy those lyrics too.

An early work-in-progress version of the tune from an August 1978 live performance has a different ending, forgoing the cocaine warning for more information on the medicinal benefits:

“You won’t have no high blood pressure, people you know that ain’t no lie”.

[Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live, Muddy Waters, 2003, Legacy Recordings 86559]

With African-Americans more prone to high blood pressure than the general population, Muddy was sharing some valuable information. Cannabis offers a natural and nontoxic means of lowering blood pressure. It is also useful in treating other conditions like glaucoma and diabetes, and protecting the brain from stroke. Marijuana prohibition continues to keep what could be an inexpensive herbal remedy easily cultivated anywhere, out of the hands of numerous populations lacking access to good health care.

Later, at the High Noon Saloon’s “Orton After Dark”, I had a chance to thank Bob for playing Champagne and Reefer, and talk a little more about Muddy. He told me Muddy really loved his cannabis, but kept it private. His decision to share that love through this song apparently came late in his career, with Muddy passing in April 1983, two years after Champagne & Reefer’s release on the King Bee album.

Thanks also, to the organizers of this fine neighborhood festival for a great night and weekend of entertainment. May I suggest Brewer & Shipley for the 2007 festival?