[Dixielandjazz] Doctor Jazz - Jelly Roll Morton.

[John Farrell]

Steve Barbone is trying to convince us that the lyric of the tune Doctor
Jazz has a drug connotation. He quotes :

> JRM talking about Storyville:
>
> "Something that nobody has ever seen before or since . . .The chippies
> in their little-girl dresses were standing in the crib doors singing the
> blues . . . Music was pouring into the streets from every house . . .
> Prositiutes, some very happy, some very sad. some with the desire to end
> it all by poison, some planning a big outing, a dance, or some other
> kind of enjoyment. Some were real ladies in spite of their downfall and
> some were habitual drunkards and some were dope fiends as follows:
> opium, heroin, cocaine, laudanum, morphine, et cetera. I was personally
> sent to Chinatown many times with a sealed note and a small amount of
> money and would bring back several cards of 'hop' --opium."

I fail to see how the above snippet proves his point. In that extract -
which in view of JRM's well documented penchant for embroidering the facts
should be taken with a large pinch of salt - where is the connection with
Doctor Jazz? Is it perhaps that "Doctor Jazz" was a slang expression for a
drug runner? If so, I've never heard of it. The words of the song sound
perfectly innocent to my ear - it is a story of somebody who finds that when
he is feeling unhappy jazz music cheers him up, nothing more than that.
There is no detectable double entendre. At this rate somebody will be
claiming that "She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain" is really about sex.

How about some hard evidence in support of your argument Steve?