New Orleans trumpeter and vocalist Kermit Ruffins put it succinctly during a 2011 interview<\/a> with cannabis magazine High Times: \u201cI need two things to have a perfect show: reefer and people.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruffins\u2019 affection for reefer \u2014 his preferred term for cannabis \u2014 is well known among locals who might catch sight of a stray pipe or bong hanging around the Mother-in-Law Lounge. Reefer and jazz have long gone hand-in-hand, as Ruffins puts it, and his sets often include a couple of \u201creefer songs,\u201d like \u201cIf You\u2019re a Viper,\u201d<\/a> first recorded in 1936, and his own \u201cHide the Reefer,\u201d written about a neighborhood wanderer who often got too enthusiastic with Ruffins\u2019 joints.<\/p>\n Ruffins<\/a> grew up in the Lower 9th Ward and attended Joseph S. Clark Sr. High School in Treme, where he co-founded the Rebirth Brass Band<\/a> in the early-\u201980s. During Ruffins\u2019 years with Rebirth, promoter and Jazz Fest co-founder Allison Miner<\/a>, who managed the band, gave the trumpeter a copy of \u201cReefer Songs,\u201d a compilation<\/a> of music from the \u201920s to the \u201940s mostly focused on cannabis \u2014 among other illicit substances. With songs like \u201cIf You\u2019re a Viper,\u201d \u201cAll the Jive is Gone\u201d and \u201cReefer Man,\u201d the album left a lasting impact on his music, Ruffins says.<\/p>\n Gambit spoke with Ruffins about reefer, writing \u201cHide the Reefer\u201d and his thoughts on cannabis becoming more popular. An edited transcript of the conversation follows.<\/p>\n Gambit: Could you tell us about \u201cHide the Reefer\u201d? When did you write the song?<\/strong><\/p>\n Kermit Ruffins:<\/strong> There was a guy that was in the service, he was a veteran, and he was the guy that walked through the neighborhood. I think he was homeless and was a little schizophrenic, and his name was Creeper. Everybody called him Creeper.<\/p>\n I\u2019d be standing on the corner, smoking reefer in front of Joe\u2019s Cozy Corner, and every time he passed, he\u2019d be like, \u201cHey you, Kermit, let me hit the weed.\u201d I would just give him the whole joint because we would slobber all over it. Then one day, I\u2019m standing on the corner and thought, \u201cHide the reefer. Here come the Creeper.\u201d<\/p>\n It was time for me to write some songs, and I normally write my songs maybe a week before the recording because I get real motivated when it\u2019s time to go in. But I ride around with a tape recorder in my truck, and I started singing \u201cHide the reefer. Here come the Creeper.\u201d That\u2019s how it came about.<\/p>\n