It just shows how times have changed doesn't it gillymor? When I was young (late forties, early fifties) the 'n' word was perfectly acceptable, and used with no intention to insult anyone.
I've told my husband he must never use it in public, not even about himself. He finds this hilarious.

And isn't it strange that singing gaily about one's cocaine habit wasn't taboo either?

I don't know what it is about these Memphis Jug Band songs; I heard them for the first time on a BBC TV programme last week, and I seem to be getting obsessed. There's just something about them that I absolutely love! I think it's because they're raw and real. You can hear and feel the toughness and the poverty, plus the effervescence of the men determined to make the best of their difficult lives. It's very African, as well as American.