Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana is the final album by Sierra Leonean highlife and palm-wine musician S. E. Rogie, recorded at Real World Studios, Wiltshire, England, in 1993–94 and released in May 1994 by Real World Records. Production was carried out by American producer Tchad Blake, who worked in an intimate fashion. In addition to Rogie's three-piece backing band, the album also features the English double bassist Danny Thompson and guitarist Alfred Bannerman. The album is characteristic of Rogie's palm-wine material, with his syncopated folk songs, finger-picked acoustic guitar playing style, sulky baritone vocals, often in the Krio language, and African call-and-response vocals. Beyond the album's central West African musical style, further influences are provided by Thompson's double bass, blues guitar licks, and African-inflected inspiration from Rogie's early influence, American yodeller Jimmie Rodgers. The songs on the album were all written by Rogie, who believed he subconsciously created songs out of catchy expressions he had thought of. The album was released one month before Rogie's death in June 1994, and received positive reviews from music critics, who complimented the album's soothing, mellow sound. The album has been considered by some writers and authors to be among the finest examples of palm-wine music. Background and recording Sooliman Ernest Rogie was born in 1926 in the town of Fonikoh, Pujehun District in southern Province Sierra Leone, and later became one of the country's most popular performers, achieving a hit single with "My Lovely Elizabeth". His musical style was rooted in the country's highlife music, but, having been influenced by country music as a child, he combined western pop and folk influences with his smooth baritone vocals and subtle, finger-picked, acoustic guitar-played melodies to create his take on palm wine music, which he named in reference to the alcoholic drink made using the naturally fermented fap from palm trees in Sierra Leone. Rogie has been credited with bringing the genre to an international audience. Seeking to escape his politically troubled country, he emigrated to England in 1973, creating the record label Rogiephone, who issued his first album, African Lady, in 1975, although in 1988, he moved back to his native Sierra Leone. Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana was Rogie's final album, and was recorded for the British world music record label Real World Records. Given that the label is affiliated with the world music-celebrating WOMAD arts festival, Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana and