Heroin and the great guitarists

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salem

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It's hard not to notice that many of rock's greatest guitarists were heroin addicts. Keith Richards, lead guitarist for the Rolling Stones, wrote many of his greatest songs while on horse. He created Sticky Fingers, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, and Exile on Brown Sugar.

Eric Clapton wrote Layla while addicted to the sweet opiate. During the Concert For Bangladesh, Clapton spent much of his time coming down in a bleak hotel room. Clapton played one of his most beautiful solos on George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Johnny Thunders, NY transvestite, was a famous shooting star and wrote some of the most beautiful country and western ballads while floating. He did his best album, So Alone, on China White. Thunders was known to nod off on the floor of his friends apartments, guitar in hand. On stage, the NY Doll could either be brilliant or incoherent.

Jimmy Page was a British blues artist who not only embraced the needle, but dabbled in the occult as well. He became skeletal while on tour with his band, Led Zeppelin, and could be seen dancing with his sunburst Les Paul. For Page, heroin use may have been synomymous with sorcery.

Billie Holiday, Charlie "Bird" Parker, and Layne Staley were other famous artists who did their best work on heroin. What is the connection between heroin and great music? Does it open a dangerous door to creativity?

 
Not guitar players but definitely under the influence and looked a mess.

Last time I saw Layne Staley was MTV Unplugged which was a kick ass concert but if you saw it, you would notice that he opened his eyes maybe once the entire concert. He's dead now of course. I have everything by Alice In Chains even the EP's and it was sad for me to hear that he died.

Have you seen Scot Weiland lately? He's lucky to be alive right now.

 
Or you could sound like Tommy Bolin on Last Concert In Japan (Deep Purple):-

Like a complete fucking talentless (and soon to be dead) idiot!

 
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I don't condone heroin use, I've never done it myself and I'm not likely to ever do it, but it certainly didn't hurt my music collection. I guess that everybody has a drug to help them get over whatever hard times they go through. Some peple use speed - or caffeine, that explains the Starbucks pushers on every corner - other people use Prozac or Budweiser or even some religious & dialectic theory drug. Whatever works, I'm not the one to judge.

 
I don't condone heroin use, I've never done it myself and I'm not likely to ever do it, but it certainly didn't hurt my music collection. I guess that everybody has a drug to help them get over whatever hard times they go through. Some peple use speed - or caffeine, that explains the Starbucks pushers on every corner - other people use Prozac or Budweiser or even some religious & dialectic theory drug. Whatever works, I'm not the one to judge.
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Great post.

 
Without passing any judgement, it is easy to say that Heroin hurt your music collection. Imagine what could have been if Heroin didn't disable some of your music heroes. How many MORE classic riffs would Keith Richards kick out? I saw Clapton perform in 1974 while he was still addicted -- one of the WORST shows I ever sat through, he had no energy for himself, the record company, or the audience for over a decade. Johnny Thunders - now THAT is a stretch. Jimmy Page dabbling with the needle and the occult - neither one was very productive. Name any artist and the answer is the same. Heroin is an ugly period of life. Don't be fooled by romanticising artists who managed to stay alive... they are the minority.

 
Name any artist and the answer is the same. Heroin is an ugly period of life. Don't be fooled by romanticising artists who managed to stay alive... they are the minority.
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+1. Kurt Cobain was very talented.......but also very troubled.

 
Heroin is heartbreak. Always.

There are better ways to lose weight too -- try a tapeworm.

 
Seems like there's a bit of cause & effect being played with in this thread. Great musicians are the personality types who look over the edge and then step off to see where it leads. In their music this can lead to pushing through boundaries and going someplace totally new. They wouldn't shy away from any element that *might* bring them closer to the flame. Heroin does not = great musicianship. Great musicians simply play hard on every front. I always avoided the stuff. I was sure if it took so many strong souls, it must be a hell of a high (at least at first.)

 
Yes, many of these great musicians were great allready before they used heroin so it's not about heroin, but heroin may give you an inspiration, it brings a new world for you. The Beatles used a lot of LSD when they made their best songs, but it's still not worth trying out. /emoticons/default_smile.png You might instead try if you can get your inspiration when sleeping /emoticons/default_smile.png and drugs might just be an escape from reality to those "real geniuses."

 
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at the beginning opoid euphoia does add some degree of steady hand to tha hand as also evidenced by archers and sharpshooters feeling inspired whan the individual begins using herion, morphine, oxy, diludid, etc. but over time one just begins to revel in the tremendous euphorphia produced by these substances and at that point they begin to accomplish nothing although their mind believes otherwise. at which point dependency has evolveld into addiction and all productivity is nutralized. trust me. nick

 
Just got done playin' a gig. NO dope!

edit...I may have done something illegal, but I didn't get caught. Does that count?

 
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don't worry about trivial healthy things like weed or an occaiosaional drink . you will know when your'e playing with fire. nick

 
sending the message that heroin or any hard drug is a conduit to creativity is terribly irresponsible and the only people who might think it is cool are those who have not been down the hellish road. if any of you choose this road you may find that you might not even have a guitar let alone a hamer or nice amp. the typical celebrities usually start these things after they have had some success and their managers and hangers on are unscrupulous and get them started down the road on a habit that makes cigs look like quitting cutting the grass in the summer. all for their owm benefit, not the artists. i may not be the worlds formost authority on anything, but believe me on this one. please, and if any of you know me you know i am far from a bible thumper, really to the contrary and i still struggle. as do many or the so called know it alls msny of you might look up to. as a matter of fact, i am a doctor, Phd. mathematics-statistics myself which just goes to show you. nick, and i can play a pretty fair guitar myself.

 
Traggic losses like Layne and Kurt are definitley just that. Traggic. Heroine is an extremely addictive and life sucking drug. BUT, there is no doubt that when certain artists are on heroine they create some of the most intense music. For me G'n'R "Appetite for Destruction" era was there most bad ass years while they were dabbling with 'Mr. Brownstone'. Dave Mustaine wrote some incredible dark and vicious albums on the stuff. AICs Dirt is probably one of darkest, intense, angry albums of all time. Written while Layne and Jerry were into heroine. Do I need to mention "nevermind'?

I wish the stuff never existed. But I cannot deny that some of my all time favorite music was written while the artists were on the junk. The music entered another realm, so it seems to me. Once they broke the habit the music wasnt as dark and compelling. So I think that heroine does alter the creative process in that way. I've been tempted to try the stuff a few times, being the singer/guitarist/songwritter in a hard/heavy band with mathy/progressive parts. But in the end, the price isn't worth the reward. I'd rather live a clean 'normal' life than go down that dark path.

Thomas

ps- some of the greatest poets of all time took a form of opiate. It was considered THE thing to do by the great early 19 century poets.

 
What if these great talents had their true abilities hindered by drug use instead?

I'll be judgemental and say that they were great players, but wasted their talent by messin' with that junk. True, I can't understand the pain associated with being a millionaire rock star and having hot chicks throw themselves at me, but that's just the way I see it. /emoticons/default_smile.png

It's funny how if you rise to fame then lose it all because of drugs, VH1 will do a documentary about you; especially if you make a comeback. If, on the other hand, you stay away from that crap all your life people treat you like you're some kind of prude.

VH1 "Behind the Music" Formula:

If you beat drug addiction, you're a hero.

If the drugs kill you, you're turned into a "tortured genius" icon; elevate to god-like status

If you say "No" to drugs, you're a loser. We'll do a different show about people like you.

WTF? /emoticons/default_smile.png

 
If you beat drug addiction, you're a hero.If the drugs kill you, you're turned into a "tortured genius" icon;  elevate to god-like status

If you say "No" to drugs,  you're a loser.  We'll do a different show about people like you.
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Lol, that's exactly how it goes, at least the two first one, third is not so true, but then again I'm sure that was somekind of a joke or sarcasm. I appreciate musicians who don't use drugs many times more than those who use it. I've never used drugs, don't even smoke or never even used to do that. Not going to use drugs either, it's just so stupid, I think.

 
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