TOBACCO TALES
VA - Puff, Inhale, Exhale - Tobacco Tales (A Butterboy Compilation) (4 x CDs)
Music has long reflected cultural habits, desires, and vices, with smoking serving as both an aesthetic and thematic element in countless compositions. Whether it’s the rhythmic blues, introspective jazz, rebellious rock, or melancholic folk, smoking often appears as a symbol of escapism, rebellion, sophistication, or self-reflection.
Tobacco imagery in music is frequently tied to the idea of contemplation. In lyrical narratives, the act of lighting a cigarette or watching smoke curl into the air is often used to depict solitude, nostalgia, or deep thought. The slow-burning nature of a cigarette mirrors the unraveling of emotions, turning it into a powerful metaphor for waiting, yearning, or acceptance. In the realm of jazz and blues, smoking is synonymous with mood and ambiance—creating an atmosphere of smoky clubs, hushed conversations, and raw, heartfelt expression.
Rock music has embraced smoking as an emblem of defiance and recklessness. Within its rebellious tones, smoking has often been paired with themes of excess, indulgence, and counterculture. It complements tales of living fast, breaking rules, and rejecting societal norms. The image of a cigarette between fingers, accompanied by a raspy vocal delivery, adds to the rugged, untamed persona often celebrated in rock compositions.
In folk and country music, smoking frequently carries an element of storytelling. It becomes a detail of personal history, evoking images of small-town life, heartbreak, or contemplation under the night sky.
There are 3 versions of "Tobacco Road" in this set. Despite its title, "Tobacco Road" isn't really about tobacco itself. The song uses Tobacco Road as a metaphor for a tough, impoverished upbringing in a run-down area. In reality, Tobacco Road was a term used to describe poor, rural communities, especially in the southern United States, where the economy was historically tied to tobacco farming. Here, tobacco serves as more than just a habit; it is a connection to memories, places, and emotions that linger like smoke in the air, reflecting the hardship of growing up in poverty and dreaming of leaving difficult circumstances behind living a better life.
Despite shifts in public perception, tobacco continues to hold a place in music as a cultural artifact. Whether romanticized or criticized, its presence remains a lyrical and visual tool for exploring themes of identity, nostalgia, and rebellion. (B)
Enjoy these 84 Smokin' tracks.
Warning: expect mild feelings of defiance, even if the most rebellious thing you do is stay up past bedtime.
No actual smoking required. Listen responsibly!
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Track lists
CD1
01 Winston - Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should 0:34 1989
02 Rig - Have A Cigar 3:25 1970
03 Insomniacs - The Long Cigarette 3:06 1996
04 World Entertainment War - Marlboro Man Jr 4:16 1989
05 Majority One - A Cigarette, A Cup of Tea 2:46 1971
06 Joe Cocker - Long Drag Off A Cigarette 2:31 1984
07 Lilac Time - Candy Cigarette 2:48 2023
08 Jacques Higelin - Cigarette 4:21 1976
09 IV and The Strange Band - Cigarette Ends 3:32 2022
10 Eternity's Children - Cigarette 3:07 1968
11 Allusions - 97 Cigarettes 2:22 1966
12 Golden Earrings - Smoking Cigarettes 2:19 1967
13 Herman's Hermits - One Little Pack of Cigarettes 2:00 1967
14 Brownsville Station - Smokin' in the Boys' Room 2:58 1973
15 Hawksley Workman - Jealous of Your Cigarette 2:25 2001
16 Roulettes - The Long Cigarette 3:02 1965
17 Son Volt - Highways and Cigarettes 3:54 2007
18 Nou & - Like My Dear Cigarette 1:51 1967
19 Pink Floyd - Have A Cigar 5:08 1975
20 Jet - Cigarettes and Cola (Demo) 2:08 2003
21 Eric Burdon & War - Tobacco Road 13:03 1970
CD2
01 Tex Williams - Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) 2:55 1947
02 Squeeze - Cigarette of A Single Man 3:30 1987
03 Ty Richards - Going Out for A Cigarette 3:23 2017
04 Ringo Starr - Lipstrick Traces (On a Cigarette) 3:00 1978
05 Kim Jung - Mi Cigarette Butt 3:04 1972
06 Ben Lee - Cigarettes Will Kill You 3:47 1999
07 Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk 4:40 2001
08 k.d. lang - Love is Like a Cigarette 4:45 1997
09 Joe Nichols - She Only Smokes When She Drinks 3:24 2003
10 Jason Aldean - Back in This Cigarette 4:34 2007
11 Jimmy Conwell - Cigarette Ashes 2:13 1966
12 Jayhawks - Last Cigarette [B-side] 3:26 1995
13 Marika Hackman - Cigarette 2:37 2017
14 Freddie Wadling feat. Fleshquartet - I Can Dig You When I Smoke My Cigarette (A Tribute to Don Van Vliet) 4:28 1990
15 Blue Rondo - Smoking Dynamite 5:15 1984
16 Wonder Years - Cigarettes & Saints 5:02 2015
17 Toasters - Marlboro Man 2:50 1994
18 Lonely God - Marlboro Nights 1:08 2018
19 Cactus Black - The Lone Ranger vs. The Marlboro Man 4:44 2017
20 Blue Haze - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 3:13 1972
21 Nashville Teens - Tobacco Road 2:26 1964
CD3
01 May Blitz - Smoking The Day Away 8:14 1970
02 Jethro Tull - A Small Cigar 3:37 1976
03 Marble Sounds - Smoking Was A Day Job 3:41 2010
04 Nick Nicely - 49 Cigars 2:49 1982
05 Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol 4:49 1994
06 Chicory Tip - Cigarettes Women and Wine 2:28 1973
07 King's X - Cigarettes 5:52 1994
08 Boston - Smokin' 4:21 1976
09 Bill Nelson - Buddha Smoked My Cigarettes 3:56 2002
10 My Bloody Valentine - Cigarette in Your Bed 3:27 1988
11 Guided By Voices - Cigarette Tricks 0:18 1995
12 Jane's Party - Cigarette Buzz 3:16 2016
13 Mia Dyson - Cigarettes 4:57 2012
14 City Boy - Cigarettes 5:31 1978
15 Hollywood Rose feat. Teddy Zigzag - Last Cigarette 4:08 2007
16 White River Junction - One Last Cigarette 4:55 2011
17 Less Than Jake - Portrait of A Cigarette Smoker at 19 3:16 2003
18 Caitlin Rose - Shanghai Cigarettes 3:40 2010
19 Kinky Machine - Wet Cigarettes 3:58 1994
20 Robert Fripp - You Burn Me Up I'm A Cigarette (vocals Darryl Hall ) 2:23 1979
21 Frank Zappa - Twenty Small Cigars 2:17 1970
CD4
01 Jimmy Martin - I Can't Quit Cigarettes 3:11 1966
02 Reverend Horton Heat - Crooked Cigarette 2:53 1996
03 Slim Harpo - Cigarettes 2:12 1959
04 Toledo - Fishnets & Cigarettes 5:14 1995
05 Scud Mountain Boys - Cigarette Sandwich 2:58 1996
06 Five Larks - Coffee, Cigarettes & Tears 2:32 1950
07 Joe Walker - Homemade Cigarette 2:52 1966
08 Country Side of Harmonica Sam - I'm Down to My Last Cigarette 2:21 2015
09 Ry Cooder - Fool for A Cigarette, Feelin' Good 4:26 1974
10 Katey Sagal - Roses and Cigarettes 4:41 2013
11 Fred Eaglesmith - Cigarette Machine 4:31 2012
12 Roger Hubbard - Cigarette Blues 3:02 1971
13 Chet Faker - Cigarettes & Loneliness 7:52 2014
14 Zeb Turner - Chew Tobacco Rag 2:40 1951
15 Popa Chubby - My Last Cigarette 6:42 2002
16 Tanger - Parti Chercher Des Cigarettes 4:26 2008
17 Red Ingle - Cigarettes, Whusky & Wild Wild Women 2:40 1948
18 Patsy Cline - three cigarettes in an ashtray 2:31 1957
19 Ray Phillips - Twenty Cigarettes 2:11 1960
20 Marty Robbins - Smokin' Cigarettes and Drinkin' Coffee Blues 2:41 1963
21 John D. Loudermilk - Tobacco Road 2:45 1960
22 Sound Clip - Cough 0:04 2025
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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You really should add Ken Boothe singing "Swinging King." A great rocksteady number about the "Swinging King [who] smokes Embassy Kings." It was recorded as an add for a British cigarette marketed to former colonies like Jamaica and Kenya.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion, Max.
DeleteI have a bunch of Ken Boothe tracks/albums. I was not aware of the track you mention.
Cheers.
Hi BB
ReplyDeletemany thanks for your site - that keeps on giving !!! (Fats Waller, George Jones, Otis Redding, Steve Winwood, Linda Ronstadt etc etc etc)
really enjoying the cigarette compilation - may I suggest Roger Miller "Dad Blame Anything A Man Can't Quit" as an addition I think would fit in nicely
ps. when you get round to re-ups - please Dave Van Ronk, Janis Joplin
pps. any chance of some Waylon Jennings ??
MANY THANKS again
Thanks Baz,
DeleteIt's always a joy to know the music I share resonates with listeners.
Reuploads are never a problem; if you ever need one, just drop a note in the comments of the original post and I’ll take care of it.
And thank you for your thoughtful suggestion for future volumes of Puff, Inhale, Exhale, much appreciated.
Cheers
Hand on heart I've never had even one cigarette - so I missed out on the wild, wild wimmin' - but thanks for the collection BB.
ReplyDeleteTobacco was always the bread where the green got inbetween. Don't bogart that joint, my friend, Pass The Kouchie
ReplyDelete