the label's other albums bear the credit "A WOMAD Production." The album was produced by Tchad Blake, whose production style on the album was described by The Beat as intimate and profoundly felt, transcending "mere record production" and instead resembling "a more sentient form of portraiture." The album features new collaborators Danny Thompson on double bass and Alfred Bannerman on lead guitar in addition to Rogie's band, who include keyboardist Simon Clarke, guitarist and backing vocalist Emile Oogo, and Zozo Shuaibu, who contributes electric bass, percussion and backing vocals. Recording for the album began at Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire, England, throughout September 1993. He then took a break from recording throughout the rest of 1993, returning to Sierra Leone to play a series of benefit concerts whose money raised was used to purchase food and medicine for Sierra Leoneans that had been dislocated by the rebel war which prevailed the Eastern and southern provinces. It was while in Sierra Leone that he was diagnosed with a serious heart problem. In early January 1994, he returned to London, and after taking a short rest, he returned to Real World to record the remainder of the album throughout that month. On 16 February 1994, shortly after the album's recording but prior to its release, Rogie underwent successful heart bypass surgery. Music and lyrics Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana contains "sweet," syncopated folk songs in Rogie's distinctive palm-wine musical style. The record is dominated by his acoustic guitar work and singing but also backed up with the subtle percussion, double bass and keyboard work. Bret Love of AllMusic noted the atmospheric feel to the music and described the album's musical style as a fusion between the "back-porch vibe" of rustic blues, the laidback rhythms of reggae and the devotional style of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Rogie's gentle acoustic guitar playing is in a rolling, picking style, and possesses a roots-tinged folk blues feel. While the album exudes a West African musical style, it also boasts a wider range of influences due to the rolling guitar work, the "loamy bottom" of Thompson's folk double bass, as well as guitar licks taken from iconic blues musicians such as John Lee Hooker. Rogie wrote all of the songs on Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana. According to West Africa magazine, Rogie explained that the songwriting "was done in his head. The songs formed there in the dark,