I agree with nearly every word here. But then we have certain wonderful exceptions. I am thinking if Lightnin' Hopkins, who ran on artistry and Fleischman's gin. He never, ever seemed drunk -- but trying to keep up with his nipping was not a good idea. And what a singer!...God, he was good.

A similar situation is that of Jimmie Reed, who was usually so pickled that his wife had to sit behind him at recording sessions to whisper the words in his ear. (You can hear her on some of his cuts.) But Mike Bloomfield had a theory that you could not get Reed's totally unique harmonica sound without being wa-aay under the influence.

But to get back to the original point -- with some very special exceptions, which I can safely guess nobody here is, it never helps. Even when I was drinking, I knew this and held off until the end of the evening. I'm sure our closing sets stunk as a consequence.

And the musical landscape is littered with very gifted musicians who lost the respect of their fellow professionals and finally their audience because it gets to the point where putting up with it just ain't worth it.