Quote Blog
250-273
Up to this point in the book, I have followed Stevie's career up to his break down. Stevie since the beginning of his career got very involved with all sorts of different drugs and alcohol. One of his favorite drugs was cocaine as it allowed him to stay awake and gig with more intensity. It was unfortunate that Stevie decided to use drugs and not the method of simply sleeping as it wore his health down until he had a breakdown. In the middle of his European tour of 1987, Stevie had a mental breakdown where, "I woke up one day in very bad shape. Woke up crying, scared to death and didn't know why. Physically, I was a wreck. Mentally, spiritually and emotionally it was chaos." I had heard this quote a while ago when I was really deep into Stevie's music. After reading this section of the book, it makes so much sense now! In this section, Stevie stated that he had been using forms of cocaine since he was six years old. According to Stevie, through his abusive touring, he felt exhausted constantly. In order to combat that, he would stay jigged for as long as he could. Being jigged means to be drunk and on cocaine at the same time.
During his European tour of 1987, he woke up in the middle of the night and had a mental breakdown. From there, he made his way to a German hospital and began his detox. He then continued the tour and went home. One of the most notable parts about this, aside from just how awful drugs are for you, is how the public took the news. After getting clean in Germany, Stevie fell off the stage due to a wardrobe malfunction not allowing him to see where the end of the stage was. When this happened he was clean, yet because the public new that he had been taking drugs and drinking, they all assumed that it was because he was a mess. Even after his large detox and commitment to numerous programs back in the United States, his image was still tarnished.
"I hit rock bottom, But thank God my bottom wasn't death" (238)
I personally can not relate to this story as I have never used any form of drug besides caffeine in my morning cup of coffee. But one thing that I can take away from this story is the huge effects that drugs have on the live of a human being. Not the personal life of one, but the social life. Stevie's story really shows how drugs can ruin ones social life as well as personal life. He lost his wife and tarnished his career. If he had kept going, he could have lost ability to play music, or worse, his life. One of the side effects of being a musician is that there are a lot of drugs in the music industry. The fortunate thing about knowing and understanding the stories of people like Stevie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and others is that the reason why one avoids drugs is EXTREMELY clear. I have been offered drugs before in a few different musical situations. I have always said no, not just because my parents and those at school have advised against drugs, but because I have heard the horrific stories about what drugs do to peoples lives through musicians that I know and musicians that I have heard about. The destruction of Stevie's life is just another example of this. So is the life of Jimi Hendrix!
Here are two pictures that are hanging up on my wall. They were both given to me by Joe Louis Walker. Joe told me about when he use to hang out with Stevie and how bad he was before he got clean. The picture on the bottom is Stevie on drugs. The picture ontop is after Stevie got clean. You can see just how much better and how much happier he looks clean!
Up to this point in the book, I have followed Stevie's career up to his break down. Stevie since the beginning of his career got very involved with all sorts of different drugs and alcohol. One of his favorite drugs was cocaine as it allowed him to stay awake and gig with more intensity. It was unfortunate that Stevie decided to use drugs and not the method of simply sleeping as it wore his health down until he had a breakdown. In the middle of his European tour of 1987, Stevie had a mental breakdown where, "I woke up one day in very bad shape. Woke up crying, scared to death and didn't know why. Physically, I was a wreck. Mentally, spiritually and emotionally it was chaos." I had heard this quote a while ago when I was really deep into Stevie's music. After reading this section of the book, it makes so much sense now! In this section, Stevie stated that he had been using forms of cocaine since he was six years old. According to Stevie, through his abusive touring, he felt exhausted constantly. In order to combat that, he would stay jigged for as long as he could. Being jigged means to be drunk and on cocaine at the same time.
During his European tour of 1987, he woke up in the middle of the night and had a mental breakdown. From there, he made his way to a German hospital and began his detox. He then continued the tour and went home. One of the most notable parts about this, aside from just how awful drugs are for you, is how the public took the news. After getting clean in Germany, Stevie fell off the stage due to a wardrobe malfunction not allowing him to see where the end of the stage was. When this happened he was clean, yet because the public new that he had been taking drugs and drinking, they all assumed that it was because he was a mess. Even after his large detox and commitment to numerous programs back in the United States, his image was still tarnished.
"I hit rock bottom, But thank God my bottom wasn't death" (238)
I personally can not relate to this story as I have never used any form of drug besides caffeine in my morning cup of coffee. But one thing that I can take away from this story is the huge effects that drugs have on the live of a human being. Not the personal life of one, but the social life. Stevie's story really shows how drugs can ruin ones social life as well as personal life. He lost his wife and tarnished his career. If he had kept going, he could have lost ability to play music, or worse, his life. One of the side effects of being a musician is that there are a lot of drugs in the music industry. The fortunate thing about knowing and understanding the stories of people like Stevie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and others is that the reason why one avoids drugs is EXTREMELY clear. I have been offered drugs before in a few different musical situations. I have always said no, not just because my parents and those at school have advised against drugs, but because I have heard the horrific stories about what drugs do to peoples lives through musicians that I know and musicians that I have heard about. The destruction of Stevie's life is just another example of this. So is the life of Jimi Hendrix!
Here are two pictures that are hanging up on my wall. They were both given to me by Joe Louis Walker. Joe told me about when he use to hang out with Stevie and how bad he was before he got clean. The picture on the bottom is Stevie on drugs. The picture ontop is after Stevie got clean. You can see just how much better and how much happier he looks clean!
It's great that you are so proactive about meeting these people and having these tough conversations early on so you aren't unprepared for them when you're out more on your own!
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