In the jazz world of the 1920s and 1930s, musicians spoke about drugs with a casualness that seems almost unbelievable today. Marijuana was called “reefer,” “tea,” or “jive.” And audiences understood perfectly.

This compilation gathers 14 tracks from the golden age of jazz and blues, all centered around the same theme: Ella Fitzgerald with Wacky Dust, Bessie Smith with Gimme a Pigfoot, Cab Calloway with Kickin’ the Gong Around, and Fats Waller with The Reefer Song.

Marijuana remained legal in the United States until 1937, when the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 changed everything. Many of these songs disappeared from the radio almost overnight, suddenly considered dangerous and immoral. This album is a time capsule from an era when jazz did not ask anyone for permission.

Recommended track: When I Get Low, I Get High (1936)