· Question #5 in MC, p128
Do you agree with Werner’s opinion about “what drives so many jazz men and women to drugs”? Is his theory accurate? What else do you believe could account for drug use?
I highly disagree with this theory for a number of reasons. It is evident that drug use in the music industry is common among many artists, without discrimination. The strongest argument against Werner’s opinion is truly that. I do agree though that it does tie well into his opinion’s when only focusing on the specific topic of Jazz and African Americans. If one factors in all other variables then anyone can see that drug use among Jazz and the African American seems to be too loosely stated, especially when drug use is common to all ethnic back grounds in the realm of super stars. This theory, again, is accurate only when excluding the broad spectrum of reality. If this happens to be true, and we say that jazz men and women do drugs because they cannot relate to their audience on a level that satisfies them only takes credit away from the artist that do surpass this great yearning. There are many artists that reach the great height of reaching their audience in the ways they intended and it is not fair to them to be categorized in such a negative way. If the artist then began using drugs it could be for an endless amount of reasons. For one, fame could be a key factor in turning to drugs. Secondly, the pressure may be too burdensome and they may use drugs as an escape. Lastly, for other artists perhaps they perceive drugs as a creative tool and like those who are not artist themselves, get addicted to the drugs too. Werner’s opinion is too firm and exclusive, not very accurate. There are too many variables to consider when determining this theory. Drug use tempts and addicts jazz men/woman and any other artist from different genre’s just the same as any other Joe or Jane. To be a super star must be intense and there are those who may feel invincible, another variable to keep in mind when discussing drug use among artist. So many issues arise when discussing this topic, therefore, be careful when stereotyping Jazz artists into a category of such firm beliefs. Jimmy Hendrix happens to be an extreme example. What I meant by extreme, is that there was not anyone like Jimmy Hendrix nor will there ever be. His music and his views were very unique. It is impossible to base his experience as a standard for many other Jazz artists when relating to drugs. Jimmy Hendrix had masses of white fans, whereas, other jazz artists did not have the same experience. Also mentioned in Warner’s article, James Brown, another unique legend. These musicians that cannot be compared, therefore impossible to be them in a type of category that relates to reasons why “most” jazz African American artists turn to drug use because of the disappointment of relating to their audience in ways that they dream of.
I had taken a completely different view on this question. I did not think of Werner’s opinion as being generic but as something that all artists of every ethnicity go through. In my blog I had stated that since jazz was a beginning genre for women and men to become successful during the 1920’s and 1930’s, people had a hard time becoming musicians. I especially focused on women because they were the ones who were criticized the most for trying to do others things in their music career that was not related to playing the piano. I also mentioned the fact that when on tour they would have gigs back to back and so to stay focused they would resort to drugs. But this reason goes for any artist trying to make it in the music industry. But I do agree with you that it is wrong to categorize things just because they are a musician and also that the drug allure is the same for every person. I liked reading your blog and getting the different perspective on this topic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you stated when you said that we should not just discriminate on one type of music genre when it comes down to drug use. As you pay attention to the music industry and artists, there are many of them that turn to drugs when they become very popular, and there are those few that have done drugs in the past even before they made it big in the music world. I think once the artist has hit fame, the pressure becomes even worse, so to deal with all the life-changing moments that occur when they become well known artists, they turn to drugs and/or alcohol to mellow them out. To say that it is just one type of genre or one type of race that will do or is doing drugs is just wrong. You have to look at the entire music industry and analyze each individual artist and get the facts straight to make such comments. If an inexperienced person was reading the review, they might just believe the author’s thoughts, and they will base their judgment on that unfair review. You must analyze the author and the artist to be able to properly judge them, and you should not prejudice against an entire genre of music.
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