| Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 16 May 1994 | |||
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| Studio | Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire | |||
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| Length | 42:54 | |||
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| Producer | Tchad Blake | |||
| S. E. Rogie chronology | ||||
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Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana is the final album by Sierra Leonean highlife and palm-wine musician S. E. Rogie, recorded at Real World Studios, Wiltshire, England, in 1993–94 and released in May 1994 by Real World Records. Production was carried out by American producer Tchad Blake, who worked in an intimate fashion. In addition to Rogie's three-piece backing band, the album also features the English double bassist Danny Thompson and guitarist Alfred Bannerman. The album is characteristic of Rogie's palm-wine material, with his syncopated folk songs, finger-picked acoustic guitar playing style, sulky baritone vocals, often in the Krio language, and African call-and-response vocals.
Beyond the album's central West African musical style, further influences are provided by Thompson's double bass, blues guitar licks, and African-inflected inspiration from Rogie's early influence, American yodeller Jimmie Rodgers. The songs on the album were all written by Rogie, who believed he subconsciously created songs out of catchy expressions he had thought of. The album was released one month before Rogie's death in June 1994, and received positive reviews from music critics, who complimented the album's soothing, mellow sound. The album has been considered by some writers and authors to be among the finest examples of palm-wine music.