Quincy Jones Says Ray Charles Got Him Hooked On Heroin, Copped From Malcolm X

Source: Celebrities attend 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Sunset Plaza. Featuring: Quincy Jones Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 02 Mar 2014 Credit: Brian To/WENN.com

Quincy Jones is spilling all types of tea this year. He is now claiming Ray Charles is the reason he had issues with heroin.

As HipHopDX notes the iconic producer is making his promotional rounds for his upcoming Netflix documentary Quincy. He recently made an appearance on the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. While he discussed the movie and a host of other points of his storied career, one particular story is raising eyebrows.

When talking through his early days as a musician he noted how the late great Ray Charles introduced him to the white girl. “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” he explained. “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 added how if he had not gotten injured he would have probably been strung out for the majority of his life. “The mistakes are what help you grow and learn,” he reminisced. “That was a big one. [If I hadn’t fallen.] I would have been in New York, where I was hanging out with [jazz musician] Charlie Parker. I would have been a junkie forever. Bird was always high. Thank God we did it and got it over with.”

The confession became even more fascinating when he detailed that he would buy his drugs in Harlem from a hustler named Detroit Red; the man who would later become Malcolm X.

Quincy is available now on Netflix. You can listen to the podcast here; the drug talk starts at the 26 minute mark.

Photo: WENN.com

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