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114 8 1950–55—Into The Shadows In the Call and Post article of July 1, 1950, Tadd Dameron presents his dream of what might have been, had he stayed in England or France. Perhaps the article would not be quite so disturbing if Dameron’s comments, which have so little connection with reality, had been addressed to a community where he was not very well known. One has to wonder what he was thinking when he was telling the Call and Post interviewer about his travels, his career with the BBC and other European radio stations, his planned return to England with Margo, and their intention to go to Brazil. It is not clear why he did not stay in France as an alternative to England—his intention as told to an interviewer from the English magazine Music Fare. It may have been too complicated to get an extension on his French visa, or it may have been because French law was not particularly tolerant of heroin users. Various observers have suggested that Dameron was drawn to England because of a more lenient policy toward drug addicts. So far, Tadd Dameron’s use of drugs had been discreet, making little discernible impact on his activities. However, he does seem to have been playing around with drugs for a few years. Gene Ramey recalled that“when Bird got to New York and was hanging out with Tadd Dameron, they were experimenting with everything.”1 Ramey seems to be referring to the fall of 1942, after Parker left Andy Kirk and before he joined Earl Hines, but it could have been later in 1943 or 1944. Orrin Keepnews recalled that at the time of their meeting in late 1947,Tadd was part of a group of“well-dressed junkies.”2 Still, the general sense of Dameron’s heroin use is that he was not, at first, an intravenous user, and it is not entirely clear if one can really say that he was an addict until the late 1940s. Stan Levy, who would know an addict if he saw one, said,“When I knew him in 1950–55—Into the Shadows 115 1945 he wasn’t using any drugs—maybe smoking a little marijuana.”3 As noted before, Levy’s contact with Dameron at that time was not just limited to the Diz and Bird rehearsals: they socialized after work and were on the road together with Georgie Auld. Dameron’s affliction seems to have been part of a more general compulsion to intoxicate himself.One friend,who could speak with authority on the matter, felt that Tadd had a bigger problem with cocaine than with heroin.4 Considering this, it is interesting to note that the British musician Denis Rose once said that he and Tadd “did coke together” during Dameron’s London sojourn.5 Several people also reported witnessing Tadd drink to great excess on various occasions, although he was not thought to be an alcoholic. Still, it is clear that by 1950, heroin had taken a firm hold on him. By the time Dameron returned to Cleveland in the summer of 1950, it also appears that his relationship with Margo was about to end, if it had not ended already. We do not know if she was a drug user herself or if Tadd’s indulgences were just something she tolerated. If the latter is the case, it is worth considering Tadd’s addiction as a factor in the collapse of this relationship. John Collins, guitarist with the“Big Ten” band, recalled, I don’t know when Tadd would have started taking drugs but it was before the Paris trip. I never saw him“take off,”Tadd wasn’t like that, but it was fairly obvious to anyone who knew him. I kept well clear of it. I remember once I was at his home when there was a knock at the door. Tadd went to the door and came back with [someone Collins knew to be an addict]. Well, I was straight out of there. I knew what they were going to do.6 Not surprisingly, Miles Davis was also a visitor to Tadd and Margo‘s apartment .7 Davis said that after his return from Paris,“Some of the younger guys like Dexter Gordon, Tadd Dameron, Art Blakey, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and myself—all of us—started to get heavily into heroin.”8 Dexter Gordon, with whom Tadd had worked in various...

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