Quincy Jones appeared as a guest on the Awards Chatter podcast with Scott Feinberg and was very candid per usual. This time, Jones opened up about his brief battle with heroin addiction which he developed while playing jazz clubs at the ripe age of 15. However, the kicker in this story is who helped spawned this addiction. According to Quincy, the late Ray Charles got him hooked on the drug.
"He got me hooked for five months at 15, [...] After we finished at the Washington Social Club and a couple of other ones, we'd all go down to Jackson Street to the Elks Club. That's where all the bebop jam sessions were. Nobody got paid. We didn't give a damn. [...] When they finished playing they'd go over in the corner and they had it on their thumb, [...] I just snuck in the line and got me a little hit."
Jones said that he was able to kick the habit after falling down a flight of stairs kept him away from the jazz clubs and effectively shielded him from getting more of the drug. "The mistakes are what help you grow and learn," Jones said. He believes if he hadn't of fallen he "would have been in New York, where I was hanging out with Charlie Parker. I would have been a junkie forever. Bird was always high. Thank god we did it and got it over with."
Source: hollywoodreporter.com
