The Beatles and Heroin
The Beatles’ first exposure to heroin is believed to have taken place in 1965. While filming Help! on Huntington Hartford’s estate on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, director Richard Lester witnessed two women attempting to introduce Paul McCartney to the drug.[Lester] accidentally overheard two of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, dressed in identical, stunning black swimsuits, try to coax Paul into taking heroin. The combination of their sexual come-on and the enticement towards hard drugs was one of the most chillingly evil moments Lester has ever encountered … His sense of relief when Paul rebuffed the twosome was profound.
In a 2004 interview with Uncut magazine, Paul McCartney described how he did take heroin, albeit unwittingly, in the 1960s.
I tried heroin just the once. Even then, I didn’t realize I’d taken it. I was just handed something, smoked it, then found out what it was. It didn’t do anything for me, which was lucky because I wouldn’t have fancied heading down that road.
Uncut, 2004
The account contradicts a passage in McCartney’s authorised biography, in which he recalls snorting the drug with art dealer Robert Fraser.
I was very frightened of drugs, having a nurse mother, so I was always cautious, thank God as it turned out, because I would be in rooms with guys who would say, ‘Do you want to sniff a little heroin?’ and I would say, ‘Well, just a little.’ I did some with Robert Fraser, and some of the boys in the Stones who were doing things like that. I always refer to it as walking through a minefield, and I was lucky because had anyone hit me with a real dose that I loved, I would have been a heroin addict.Robert Fraser once said to me, ‘Heroin is not addictive. There’s no problem with heroin addiction, even if it is addictive, you’ve just got to have a lot of money. The problem with heroin is when you can’t pay for it.’ Which of course is absolute bullshit! You’re a junkie, of course you are. This was the way he put it to me and for a second I was almost taken in but then my northern savvy kicked in and said, ‘Now don’t go for all of this. This is all very exotic and romantic but don’t go for all of it.’ There was always a little corner, at the back of my brain, that ‘knock! knock! knock!’ on the door – ‘Stop!’
A lot of his friends messed around with heroin. A lot of his lords and ladies were heroin addicts and had been for many many years. And give Robert his due, he knew I wasn’t that keen. He knew I wasn’t a nutter for that kind of stuff. So I did sniff heroin with him once, but I said afterwards, ‘I’m not sure about this, man. It didn’t really do anything for me,’ and he said, ‘In that case, I won’t offer you again.’ And I didn’t take it again. I was often around it when they’d all be doing it. They’d repair to the toilet and I’d say, ‘I’m all right, thanks, no.’ One of the most difficult things about that period was the peer pressure to do that.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
From around the middle of 1968 through to the latter months of 1969, John Lennon was addicted to heroin. While never made as explicitly public as The Beatles’ use of LSD, it found its way into his songs, chiefly ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’ (“I need a fix ’cause I’m going down”) and ‘Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey’ (“The deeper you go the higher you fly”), both on The Beatles (White Album).
He was getting into harder drugs than we’d been into and so his songs were taking on more references to heroin. Until that point we had made rather mild, oblique references to pot or LSD. But now John started talking about fixes and monkeys and it was harder terminology which the rest of us weren’t into. We were disappointed that he was getting into heroin because we didn’t really know how we could help him. We just hoped it wouldn’t go too far. In actual fact, he did end up clean but this was the period when he was on it. It was a tough period for John, but often that adversity and craziness can lead to good art, as I think it did in this case.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Lennon’s heroin addiction peaked during the protracted sessions for Let It Be, which saw him largely withdraw creatively from the band. In 1970 he put his usage down to the treatment Yoko Ono received from the others in The Beatles’ circle.
Heroin. It just was not too much fun. I never injected it or anything. We sniffed a little when we were in real pain. I mean we just couldn’t – people were giving us such a hard time. And I’ve had so much shit thrown at me and especially at Yoko. People like Peter Brown in our office, he comes down and shakes my hand and doesn’t even say hello to her. Now that’s going on all the time. And we get in so much pain that we have to do something about it. And that’s what happened to us. We took H because of what The Beatles and their pals were doing to us. And we got out of it. They didn’t set down to do it, but things came out of that period. And I don’t forget.
Lennon Remembers, Jann S Wenner
Lennon later admitted he was addicted to heroin at the time of the Plastic Ono Band’s performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival on 13 September 1969.
We were full of junk too. I just threw up for hours till I went on. I nearly threw up in Cold Turkey – I had a review in Rolling Stone about the film of it – which I haven’t seen yet, and they’re saying, ‘I was this and that.’ And I was throwing up nearly in the number. I could hardly sing any of them, I was full of shit.
Lennon Remembers, Jann S Wenner
It has been suggested that heroin withdrawal was one of the reasons behind Yoko Ono’s miscarriage, which she suffered on 12 October 1969.
In her June 2007 appearance on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs, Ono suggested that the low purity of their heroin or lack of regular supply made it easier for them to kick the habit.
Luckily we never injected because both of us were totally scared about needles. So that probably saved us. And the other thing that saved us was our connection was not very good.
‘Cold Turkey’, released in October 1969, detailed the couple’s experiences of withdrawal. It had previously been rejected by Paul McCartney as a potential Beatles single, and so was released by the Plastic Ono Band. Recorded and released before The Beatles had officially split, it featured Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voormann on bass and Ringo Starr on drums.
Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs
If you enjoyed this feature, don’t miss the full story! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs charts the Beatles’ extraordinary odyssey from teenage drinking and pill-popping, to cannabis, LSD, the psychedelic Summer of Love and the darkness beyond.
Available as an ebook and paperback (364 pages). By the creator of the Beatles Bible. Click on the image below for more information or to order.
Well done. Fascinating.
Wow! Great article indeed. I wasn’t aware of the details provided within this piece. I thought that John & Yoko were using needles and they didn’t. Didn’t know about Paul & coke.
But still, there’s a graveyard with drug wasted rock ‘n roll players but you won’t find any one of the Fab Four lying there.
Very interesting article, I completely enjoyed reading it…. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to try Preludes or Preludin before they were taken off of the market or discontinued…. Atleast as far as I know the original ones are no longer available ? Me & my best mate came across a bottle of them back in the early 90’s, they were actually his moms who was a huge pill head & one of my first introductions to the world of pharmaceuticals, an intro that’s turned into a lifelong love & lifestyle in itself…. Carol was a wonderful lady & friend, I miss her & she’s always in my heart & thoughts… Like I was saying we lucked into these & I’ve only seen them a couple other times & never in quantity & or free like before. When you’ve been involved in the pill game for over 3 decades & grew up having everything given to you or if there was a payment involved it was always a buyer’s market. Friends don’t take advantage of friends & being the buyer you were always assured a deal, 10 for $10 or a bottle of something for a really good price… It’s not like things are today, a $1/a mg, WTF ? People peddling Oxy 80’s for over or around a $100/ apiece…… Yeah, I know ! How can or could you afford to get on them ? You can’t which is probably for the best but back to the Preludin real quick, we got a bottle for next to nothing, I think it was 100 for $50 which is how it should be bht people are greedy assholes now days….. Oh well, those are the breaks, anyway thanks for the information & take care……. ?
What the hell kind of comment is that
He’s obviously a dope head
Figured it out. The reason paul disappeared all those years. He was in a car accident. Needed several face plastic surgeries before he felt comfortable to return after the accident. One of his friends, Tara died in accident. One big cover up. The look alike paul guy was probability a stand in. Then the real paul came back. After several surgeries to look like the stand in was the best doctors could do. Play “let it be” in reverse and you will figure it out. He was either being haunted by Tara, maybe feeling guilty or maybe both. Paul came back then john was gone. Remember always, you reep what you sow. Thats a promise. You recieve what you have ,gaven opon with others without a notice, in the crazy mixed up Gods little bootcamp world called life as it is to be. Cant you see, wish i could name my band after the name on the wall where all our drums were hauled. Or make a number one record off a bathroom stale, thats the spirit I see. Amunks us all, paul is the only one that can tell it to you all, that is a promise, words of wisdom. We turn our heads never against us. Goodnight
Umm when did Paul ‘disappear’ for a ‘couple of years’ exactly?
He was “amunks” the missing.
Great article. However, Paul is well known as a pothead – or at least he used to be. I’d be curious to read a bit more on that…
I can’t help giggling – sorry…
I have TREMENDOUS respect for Paul moreso than the rest of the Beatles, I have to say. And yet, you are probably correct. He WAS indeed fond of the Weed, and even known to publicly defend it as he (claims that he) was able to control the effects of the weed and never really experienced withdrawal associated with its disuse.
And to be fair, it was probably true for Paul. He might have indeed been proud of the fact that he could use Marijuana at will, and not missing it nor having any withdrawals when he didn’t.
Pothead and Proud of it? Or should we make it Proud Pothead Paul…? ::giggles::
That doesn’t diminish my great admiration of the man – HONEST!
Nobody ever has withdrawal when they stop smoking pot man. I do it all the time, and so does everyone else who smokes. I doubt Paul was unintelligent enough to think that weed was addictive, when he clearly realized other drugs, such as heroin, are the ones that lead you down the wrong path.
The point is, everyone knows grass is docile and harmless, including Paul, and if someone smoking pot has a chance of diminishing your image of someone, you are simply ignorant.
Not true. I smoked weed 3 times a day for 6 months. Had constant anxiety and paranoia, and symptoms of schizophrenia emerge. I was high 24/7, I didn’t care about anything anymore, life felt meaningless, and I would get stuck in my head with these long inner monologues. I felt like every day was a fight to keep my consciousness from dissolving. And even when I quit cold turkey, I had wicked bad withdrawals. I craved it as much as it tortured me.
I don’t think cannabis is entirely bad or good. I just think it’s really ignorant to claim that it’s great for everyone, or not great for everyone. It effects everyone differently. And it is possible to have terrible trips on weed and withdrawals. I think people with already thin boundaries of self and delicately formed egos can’t handle something that really puts your mind to the test.
Very sensible. For me, it’s penicilin; that stuff almost killed me three times, but neither I nor my doctor realized it. Marijuana I like. And I don’t think you can get addicted to it–not in the same way as alcohol, tobacco, heroin, barbituates, cocaine, speed, caffeine, sugar, television, sex, power, or chocolate. Marijuana: I can smoke it or leave it alone. I’d rather smoke it, and I did off and on–mostly on–for 32 years, but I finally got so fed up with having to be a criminal, and hassle to find it and afford it WHEN IT IS A WEED THAT CAN GROW FOR FREE!, that I just gave it up. Someday, I profoundly hope, the power-addicted people will get the hell out of the way, and leave people alone, and then I’ll smoke it legally. Hurry the day.
truly agreed with ya man… desperately waiting for that day, hope its near!
nope not at all
Odd, nobody even condems the dentist for his criminal actions…he should have at least been threatened with a lawsuit.
I truly hope you’re alive and living in a state where it’s legal now. Your dream has come true.
I’m affraid that you fly in the face of ALL medical opinion.
You my friend are too wrapped up in yourself.
Don’t be ignorant. There is ample evidence that marijuana can exacerbate latent mental issues and even induce psychosis.
Yep, i have been suffering mental illness for 21 years, which i firmly blame on cannabis use in my mid to late teens.
Show your sources!
medical opinion is for the doctor fraternity I have been smoking since 73 and when i go on my hols or anywhere else for any lenght of time I put my so called drug use on a back burner and completely forget about it untill i get home … you can give 2 aspirin to some folk and they think it a session, people who get affected by weed so alarmingly should not even drink alcohol because i drink half bottle of whisky and a few cans inside 3-4 hours regulary the (friends) who occasionally drink with me sometimes get so drunk they are either sick or pass out and those same folk can’t handle it . some folk can some folk can’t if they dont like/want it they should stay away from it and let the likes of lennon or anybody else like myself do their thing.
I took two aspirin once, had a severe allergic reaction, ended up in hospital with an asthma attack. Evil drug. I think I’ll stick to the whisky. Different strokes etc..
I was chronic, heavy marihuana/hashish user for 12 years. While I sort of managed my life to a certain extent, going to work and paying the bills – though almost never being on time with either -I did have periods where I was straight. I had obvious withdrawal symptoms every time I went clean, most notably hefty mood swings and crazy night sweats that would last for several weeks, but also problems with digestion and loss off appetite. Once back on cannabis all withdrawal symptoms disappeared, replaced by a constant daze and social isolation.
To claim that there is no withdrawal issues with daily, heavy cannabis use is utterly ignorant and ridiculous. It doesn’t affect everyone equally hard, but it certainly is extremely common and well documented. Google “marihuana withdrawal” . In my case night sweats were so severe that I would wake up in a soaking wet bed every night, sometimes shivering cold because the duvet lost all insulation properties. If I were to smoke before bedtime shortly after going “THC cold turkey” I would not wake up in a pool of sweat that night, so I was of course well aware of withdrawals existing long before I ever read about it. During the worst periods I had to alternate between my regular and my guest duvet because hanging my duvet to dry off in the morning would not be enough for it to be dry in the evenings. After a few weeks they would gradually disappear, though psychologically the after-effects would last even longer – and personally I do believe some cognitive issues probably will never wear off.
Today I am clean and have been for several years.
As Mike Love, lead singer of the Beach Boys once put it (referring to Brian Wilson), “To some people, pot is no biggie. To other people, it gives them psychotic episodes, makes them paranoid, or schizophrenic. To this day he still has a lot of paranoia.” As Love points out, however, there ARE some people can handle it fine and, I would add, appear to receive much benefit from it if using it for a medical condition.
I think indeed that the personal psychic structure predisposes whether weed makes you psychotic. I think that a suppressed youth can result in this. Lennon and McCartney were both men whose mothers died at young age so they had to rely on themselves. They were not suppressed. It is an ambivalent realisation that a father can suppress your creative potential. Because you have the feeling you have to “obey” mostly because of a father. And when you start to use weed the loosening reaction of the weed after suppression can be very confusing because you missed the tools to act on your own..
I’m definitely addicted to pot. Look up Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome on Wikipedia. It’s a real thing.
you don’t have “pot withdrawals” I see you aren’t a regular user.
On the contrary, anyone who thinks withdrawals aren’t real must not be a regular user.
Ringo said on The Beatles Talk Drugs {FROM A DOCUMENTARY OF SOME SORT} that when they took more than just a little pot there music was shit,and theyd be happy withit till they came in straight the next day
Anyone know which documentary this was?
Joe watch this clip beginning at 4 minutes – that where Ringo says it. Looks like an Anthology interview to me.
Great – thanks for that!
He was talking about LSD then not pot
He was talking about pot. They did use it in the studio at various times, got silly, and the music was “sh*t”.
Listed as Beatles talk drugs clip from another interview
OK. That doesn’t answer my question in any way, but never mind.
This discussion sounds like the Beatle Anthology series.
My understanding is that John’s heroin addiction continued on and off into the mid seventies. Can’t site my source, just remember hearing/reading this many times.
Anyone else ever this?
I believe Yoko has said they had four separate periods on heroin. She also said the hardest to kick was methadone, which they’d heard was like heroin but non-addictive. So they started taking it, not as a substitute to heroin, as they weren’t addicts at the time. After finally kicking that she said they never became addicted to anything again.
I too heard this – far from baking bread and being a househusband (as told to Andy Peebles Dec 1980), don’t ask me where, but at LEAST two, maybe three sources have John hanging out with Uncle Henry, and especially heavily during the period when Jack Daniels and Harry Nilsson were his other constant companions.
Personally, when I first became acquainted with Henry, it was mid-70s and greyish-white, water soluble, very strong stuff from Thailand, with the brandname “Double Globe” on every compressed slab wrapped in clear plastic with red printing, each a little more than 250g. From 1981, all that could be had in UK was this brown, adulterated, much weaker stuff from Afghanistan, paid for by the CIA & US Govt; a result of their allies like Osama bin Laden maximising the millions given to them to aid their anti-Soviet campaign.
I had developed a reaction to cannabis which made it unpleasant and often frightening. And just as I was thoroughly enjoying the best H made, this USA funded Afghan brown arrived, and has been with us ever since. I pray for the day I find a containerload of Double Globe (which is still, even post- Khun Sa, still available, grown and processed by the same hill tribes.
Heroin is benign. It does no damage to the body and vital organs, unlike any other social relaxant. It clears my mind and aids my thinking; other drugs screw it up. Fraser was correct in that the only real problem is running out when you have a habit on. Great for physical and emotional pain, it is obvious to me that John would be the most likely Beatle to indulge. And “Cold Turkey” (whilst being the worst way possible to break a habit) SOUNDS LIKE IT FEELS!! That painful descending riff tells the eight-day horror story perfectly.
Well said, I agree with you.
Love from Liddypool…
Yes, likely on the H question circa 70s re: John. And sadly, Yoko as well may have been “flirting with the White Horse” during the ’70s, and at least up until John’s passing. That is, if you believe some of the rather dubious bios. But the evidence does look fairly solid. Paul is a different story. As far as I’m concerned Paul totally stopped doing drugs in the 1970s, because natural green comestibles are of course nothing but food.
I have read most of the books on Lennon and both him and Yoko are on H during this timeframe/show.
You can see the paper of lyrics he’s reading from on “Cold Turkey” as it was a new song.
Overall Paul takes a diplomatic approach talking about drug use excluding LSD and Ganja because he doesn’t want kids thinking this something synonymous with writing great songs, which I respect.
They all tripped, and took pills at the cavern/uppers
George-LSD, Cocaine
RINGO-Alcohol
John-Any and all, by far the one who cosumed the most drugs.
Paul-Cocaine for 1 year at beginning of Sgt Pepper and LSD
I listened to a interview where John said he literally tripped 300 times over the course of his lifetime, most notably the 60’s Hippy era
The reason you can’t cite any source for Lennon’s ‘heroin addiction’ is because Lennon was never a heroin addict. That is total BS and another urban myth. It was never reported in any British newspaper at the time unlike Lennon’s use of LSD or amphetamines earlier on. You can’t keep heroin addiction a secret for people as famous as Lennon. And if he had been a heroin addict the news media would have been full of it, just like in the case of Keith Richards or Eric Clapton.
Mark Lewisohn has expressed similar skepticism, in a recent podcast interview. However, I’m pretty sure Lennon himself did explicitly refer to his heroin use in several interviews. The big question is how deep he got into it.
He was addicted to heroin, hence his song Cold Turkey. Imagine releasing that as a Beatles single? McCartney and the other two baulked at that suggestion, so Lennon formed The Plastic Ono Band and carried on regardless. It’s been said Lennon had issues with the drug right upto his death
Lennon used smack. If you have read Keith Richards’ autobiography, Richards talks about it extensively. Richards was very close to Robert Fraser, who was in John an Yoko’s circle as well. John just never got arrested. He kept his addiction quiet. Keith was busted a zillion times, and Clapton publicly talked about his heroin usage in interviews. He also hid himself in his mansion for 4 years and disappeared from the music industry. The Rainbow Concert was put on to get Eric out of his seclusion to smack. And Patti Boyd talks about it a ton in her book. But the greatest evidence of Lennon’s heroin addiction is this video clip.
Forward to the 16:10 mark. You can see John start to get sick because he is either undergoing withdrawal or has taken to too much heroin. They had to stop the camera so that he could throw up. Yoko is stoned too. Both sound high as hell. You don’t sound like this after smoking a joint.
that’s how I remember it as well. And this went into the mid-seventies.
I often wondered if this was partly behind the 18 month separation – they had to get away from each other in order to get clean.
Interesting how all four ex-Beatles had their own preferences, drugwise: Paul liked weed, booze for Ringo, heroin for John and apparently George was quite fond of coke for a time, something I only learned recently and found somewhat surprising.
(Fun druggie nicknames/memory aids: Pothead Paul, Junkie John, Rummy Ringo, and I can’t think of one for George.)
::giggles::
I LOVE your druggie nickname! I’d make it Proud Pothead Paul – since he was known to defend the use of the substance and throughout the 80s he constantly maintained that he could use and discontinue using at will, with no effect nor withdrawals whatsoever.
Potheaded – and Proud of it. ::giggles::
There’s no withdrawal from marihuana.
Please don’t believe the hype.
I’m a huge advocate for legalization. In fact, I’m in favor of ending drug prohibition and The War On Drugs entirely (as there is ample evidence this does more harm to society than good.) And further, I believe that marijuana is the safest of all the recreational drugs, and I agree that it also has some wonderful properties which make it useful as medicine, as well. HOWEVER, that being said, your comment is untrue.
You need to understand that everyone is different. Both in terms of their specific neurochemistry, and their psychology. Addiction and habituation are both physiological and psychological phenomena. In a physiological sense, if you use something daily, for a period of YEARS, your body and mind are going to become used to it. There is no way around this (that we know of, yet). This is why a new user can take a few puffs and get so stoned it’s almost psychedelic, and someone who has been smoking daily for years, can smoke a joint and then take an exam.
When one smokes for so long that the normal effects of the substance are muted, abrupt cessation CAN cause some issues, for some people.
And in a psychological sense, a person can become “addicted” to anything. While very different than, say, the physiological addiction that opiates cause, this psychological addiction can still have a powerful grip, making cessation challenging. And you need to understand that a person’s PROPENSITY for addiction is a very important factor, and will vary considerably from person to person.
Have you never known “that person” who could smoke a cigarette, or take a drink, once in a blue moon… then stop and not touch it again for many weeks, or months? I’ve known a small handful of these people over the decades. They exist, and they annoy the bejeezus out of easily-addicted types such as myself. (I say that playfully, of course. I wouldn’t wish addiction on anyone.) Then of course there are the people who seem, if they touch it once, will want to keep going forever. Far too many of us fall into this category.
I have seen some of the worst that addiction can bring. And even for someone with a propensity for addiction, stopping long term marijuana use is a walk in the park compared to quitting an opiate addiction. But it is still challenging. And if it’s not for you, then you are one of the LUCKY ones. Some people have a hard time quitting POTATO CHIPS, or SODA, let alone a powerful mind-altering substance which calms our nerves and helps us relax.
And I understand that people like yourself just get upset to see something you enjoy slandered, made to look bad. And there has been so much ridiculous anti-drug propaganda for so long, that there seems to be a tendency among advocates to swing toward the other extreme– as if the stuff is the Salve Of The Gods and could “do you no harm.” I think the truth, as with most things, lies somewhere in between. Most adults can use cannabis safely. Used once in a while, its effects seem to be mostly positive and pleasant. More frequent use increases likelihood of negative effects, or possibly habituation in some individuals.
Just try to understand that everyone is different, and not everyone is like you. Hopefully you understand where I’m coming from.
I am so much like “that person” it’s crazy!
I’ll borrow a cigarette from somebody maybe once every 4-5 months, and never have the need to go but my own pack or bum another one.
Things that people normally get addicted to, I don’t ever get the addiction.
But then I’ll get addicted to the internet, soft drinks, and just crazy stuff that people would be like, “woah, THATS what you’re addicted to?”
And then there’s marijuana, which I’ll crave for a few weeks and then with a snap of a finger I’ll suddenly go a few weeks sober simply because it’s just not appealing anymore and I continuously go back and forth from wanting it, to not even caring about it.
There most certainly are withdrawals from Marijuana. My boyfriend’s sister was addicted for nine years, smoking everyday all day and she had one hell of a time getting off it. Rehab didn’t even work. But my boyfriend was also on it for a few years and if he went a few hours without any, he would get awful cramps and have uncontrollable mood swings, sometimes he would throw up. He was cold one minute and hot the next, if I touched him it hurt. Not to mention the paranoia, anxiety, dulling of the mind.
This simply isn’t true.
Yeah, total BS. Nice try tho Tipper Gore
When you have no real argument, call names. ……
Er hash man Harrison obviously and to the ” no I freaked out on canabis and got paranoid ” we’ll on sorry to sound harsh but you argument holds no water only 1.5 people on 10 have that sever of a traction the rest of us don’t hide in a closet and stab everything that comes. Near you we just feel calm and relaxed and we can stop and start at will with no adverse affects
It would just be “Joint George” or “Joint Man George”. As such since, like Paul, George was rather well-known as a hashish fan and hash comes from pot. Use a bit of liberal imagination and the J/G lettering conflict seemingly inherent within “Joint George” will disappear like Magical Dragons in a Puff of smoke! 🙂
White Horse Harrison?
Absolutely awesome article. A few spelling mistakes, but still very good. Some great quotes in it. I think that one of George’s saying that its all about your acceptance of the world really struck me. Like really struck me.
But bloody good article.
Could you please let me know where the spelling mistakes are? This site is written in UK English, incidentally.
Don’t take it personally – the American English writers don’t even agree on some spelling conventions on our own at times.
GREAT article, Man!
I wondered myself. I can pick up on written mistakes easily, although English is my second language, and couldn’t see one.
This is a fascinating intro into their experiences with drug abuse. I was suprised to hear how a doctor actually helped Paul use Benzedrine. Its interesting to see the parallel’s with today’s society since parents also get caught providing their kids with drugs and alcohol.
Is there any information out their regarding Paul’s first LSD trip with Tara Browne? I can’t imagine it to have been good if he never really got back into it.
Interesting article though maybe it has too few sources albiet impeccible ones. People can get addicted to water let alone pot. That said pot is one of the least harmful things you can take including cigarettes and booze. While I do think people can abuse it, it in itself is a farily docile drug.
Wow probably the longest article about Beatles in this site is about… drugs? :DDD
That’s who they were mainly about. Weren’t they? The fact that they were a “legend” to many doesn’t take away who they intrinsically were. Just my personal opinion.
What about George’s cocaine addiction in the 70s?
Yes, I was rather curious about the cocaine aspect, myself. Any strange ‘Charlie’ stories, my dears?
As someone who prefers their early albums and believes that they peaked at A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack this is very interesting information. I knew a good deal of this history but now I feel much better educated. I love many types of music but the genres I know best and hold dearest are 70’s British punk and 50’s rock n roll. That being said, it’s easy to picture why I would prefer a band on uppers as opposed to a band on psychedelics or downers. Best option of course is to avoid the lot of em altogether.
I have LONG suspected it was John’s heroin addiction that actually did in the Beatles- brought on by Ono’s introduction of heroin to Lennon. I think the lyrics to the song “Too Many People” on McCartney’s Ram album spells it out in a not so cryptic fashion.
“Too many people going underground…
Too Many People Sharing Party Lines
Too Many People Never Sleeping Late
Too Many People Paying Parking Fines
Too Many Hungry People Losing Weight
That Was Your First Mistake
You Took Your Lucky Break And Broke It In Two
Now What Can Be Done For You
You Broke It In Two”
I have been listening to the Beatles for years and suspected John Lennon of heroin abuse, but until the Internet came around with great articles like this, I never really had any sources to confirm my suspicions.
Honestly, the more I read about the darker side of the Beatles, the more my adoration and respect for McCartney and his talent has grown. While I really like a lot of Lennon’s solo music, it REALLY becomes apparent McCartney was the driving force behind the Beatles and their best music from a little before the mid-point of their collaboration. His control just kicked into high gear at the Pepper album.
I’ve read in several places Lennon started to withdraw from the partnership and resent Paul and his talent when it became apparent to him that he could no longer keep up with him creatively.
I, personally, think Ono was a rock around Lennon’s neck, but he did himself and the Beatles in all by himself.
I agree Bryan – and I have stated so on different spots on this site – the single greatest issue leading to The Beatles’ breakup was John’s heroin addiction. As Paul has said and others have intimated – it made John impossible to deal with – they couldn’t communicate with him (FYI – I’m more a Lennon fan than McCartney fan).
Remove the heroin and I assert that they would have stayed together a few more years, amicably have wound down, and remained friends with probable reunions from time to time.
Yes it’s conjecture but it’s my conjecture. But it’s heroin that did them in – and yes that was Yoko’s doing.
John Lennon contributed to the last 3 albums the Beatles made while on heroin. He did quit the habit in July 1969 (at least for awhile) and wrote Cold Turkey as a result while continuing to work on Abbey Road until the sessions ended.
The biggest reason for the break up IMO was the revelation that Paul had been buying shares of Northern Songs behind John’s back. At the same time Paul was trying to get his in-laws to become the Beatles’ manager. John was outraged at this betrayal and walked out of the meeting.
Therefore their Northern Songs negotiations fell apart. Paul to this day has never commented on his actions.
After their last tour, there still would have been Beatles music, including the overrated Pepper, whether Paul was the leader or not. But Paul’s great” ideas” such as the Magical Mystery Tour movie fiasco and the Get Back sessions (while being filmed) were also big nails in the Beatle coffin.
The entire concept and most of the songs on Pepper and the albums which followed were from Paul. It’s well documented. To say there would have been a Pepper without Paul is flat out wrong. There would have been no Beatles without Paul holding them together the last few years.
Most of the songs which followed Sgt. Pepper were from Paul?
On Abbey Road half of the songs were written by the combination of the other three Beatles.
More than half of the songs on the White Album and Let It Be Naked were written by the same combination.
Paul was the main person behind Pepper but without the contributions of the other three the album would not be the same.
Please quote the documentation which you say proves that Paul wrote most of the songs which followed Pepper.
Tony Sanchez, who wrote Up and Down With The Rolling Stones, told a story of Lennon waking him up one evening needing heroin. Tony was Keith’s go to guy. It pissed him off because of the hour and he ended up crushing up an aspirin and selling it to him for a good price. He ran into Lennon some time later and asked him how it was. He said, “Oh, it was good stuff!” Now, if John was really addicted, he would have gotten dopesick, not getting his fix. You have to wonder whether he was just psychologically dependent or physically dependent. Anyway, I believe Lennon embellished a bit on his habit in the press. I may be wrong, however.
Regarding Yoko being a “rock around Lennon’s neck”, I’m afraid I never met her and so I can’t speak to that. When did you meet her, by the way?
It’s your opinion, then, that one must meet a well-known person before assessing them? Thousands of history professors (and history lovers) disagree.
My name is Mickey Fischer. I traveled with led zep at 18 yrs. old. Royston Ellis was on the tour and got me on it too. All he would say is” These guys are always high on something”. And the last thing I would have ever thought is that he first gave the beatles benzedrene!! He actually stopped taking me to Jimmy Pages house In plumpton England because he said I idolized them too much and he was worried I would consume drugs like them.
Cynthia: “Within weeks of his first trip, John was taking LSD daily and I became more and more worried. I couldn’t reach him when he was tripping, but when the effects wore off he would be normal until he took it again.”
What is that woman talking about? Apparently not LSD. If LSD is taken daily, the effects wear out very quickly, after one week, at the latest, you feel precisely nothing. I’d presume that’s but a made-up declaration during their divorce proceeding.
I agree. In my experiences, you have to drop more and more LSD each subsequent day you take it to feel the effects. For me, a hit or two one night can blow my mind – the next night, anything I take is pretty much a waste of good acid. Furthermore, i typically have to wait a week between doses for my natural brain chemical levels to restore to really feel the effects to their maximum potential. So I also find it hard to believe John was dosing every day for that long. Although, I do remember hearing or reading somewhere that he admitted to it as well. So who knows…
Also gotta remember no drugs today are like they were back then. Everything is a lot stronger nowadays
Very old thread, but if anyone sees this, let it be known that acid blotters in the 60s were actually about 3 times stronger than most today. This is mostly irrelevant because acid is very convenient to consume and I’m sure John had plenty of it — he could just take more. The effects do diminish, yes – but LSD is such a powerful psychedelic that you could easily take it every day with effects if you had enough. The same probably could not be said of, say, mushrooms or peyote. But just imagine how burnt out you would get taking LSD every day…
I was reading this article at 10 at night and then I went to sleep and had the weirdest dream ever.
amazing article! I needed to read this 😀 thanks
The beatles were the real deal their music streched accross the globe and their music will stand the test of time.As for the drugs were what inspired them to write the most incredible music that moves eachone of us like it was written for Me thanks pot,herion.booze but coke and george he was too spiritual for that i always thought of mr harrison as a opomium or payote.anyways thanks guys this is a good site with alot of good articles about my fav band of all time
I agree the Beatles music will stand the test of time and they will be known as one of if not the best of all time for eternity. Regarding Johns heroin use I read somewhere Yoko stated they were lucky they had a greedy dealer who put so much cut in it he made it very weak. She also said they never injected only snorted because they were both afraid of needles. How true that is I could not swear on it but I have read similar statements in what appears to be legitimate publications. I always thought John was really into LSD. Before his last album he said he would mix endless types of drugs and lie in bed constantly flipping the remote to the tv for months at a time until “all the color washed out of my eyes”. Regardless of what drugs they did or didn’t do I will listen to their music until I leave this world.
“Before his last album he said he would mix endless types of drugs and lie in bed constantly flipping the remote to the tv for months at a time until “all the color washed out of my eyes”.”
Do you have a source for that? I’d like to read the interview it comes from.
I would like to know more information on Pauls other 3 LSD trips that were not talked about. I think it would be interesting to read about. If you have information please share.
Marijuana does have an artistic effect on me which is profound. I feel that marijuana has improved my quality of life and offers me a recreational substitute to alcohol or prescription pills to which I was quite addicted.
Being as john lennon paid ausley stanly an undisclosed amount of money for lsd for life I have no doubt he had enough to trip as many times as he claimed. He talked about total ego loss by 68 when he got with yoko. Ego death is a side effect from long term experience with lsd.
Hey cold turkey 1987, where did you read about this ( Lennon’s undisclosed money for lifetime supply of LSD, talking about ego loss)
I’m very interested
It’s quite possible john was in denial about not injecting heroin. If you believe Pete Shotton in his book “In my life”, he wrote that in late 68, he saw syringes at montagu square where John and Yoko were living at the time. But who are we to judge anyway?
Dark Horse Harrison could have been his nickname
Hello hello. I don’t know why you say goodbye I say hello…..as an Old Beatles fan, I have read all of your remarks. I am astounded by all of the things you know.as far as the Beatles music was concerned, anytime they recorded when they were high the next day they went to the studio only to discover that what they had recorded was realllllly Bad.of course, I believe Paul McCartney had most to do with alllllll of the fixing up of john and yokos stupidity. I will never understand how a very talented genius like Lennon would allow a crazy lady like Yoko to run his life…. unless it was of course as you guys have said was because of drugs. but I believed he craved a mommy more then drugs. So here was good old Yoko ughhhhh. Thanks you guys I was very happy do see that people still love the beatles as much as I do…. of course Sir Paul will always be my favorite. Will I wait a lonely lifetime, if you want me to I will….The cute beatle:-) 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Interesting to think what might have happened if Paul had agreed to have ‘Cold Turkey’ released as a Beatles single . Any thoughts on this ?
Does anyone know, did they continue to use amphetamines (or speed, Preludins, ~any uppers~ other than Paul’s reported cocaine use) in the mid-to-late sixties? Like, in addition to pot/LSD?
I’m wondering, if during their psycheadelic period they continued with the uppers, using them for the concentrative creativity boost they are known to have.
Thanks to anyone who can offer some information!
: )
Absolutely they did. It was a way for them to keep going on the road during the heights of Beatlemania. When they came off the road they probably slowed down a little, and drug fashions changed, but they still had ready access to uppers. In fact, when John accidentally took LSD during a Getting Better session (1967) he thought he was taking stimulants:
I’m just reading up on the lyrics to Come Together, and the line “He shoot Coca Cola” is about cocaine, not the soft drink.
The song being about each of the four members, one verse each, that verse is generally believed to be about Harrison.
I have been a Beatles fan for decades now, but feel very sad that they ruined their lives because of drugs. If it didnt cloud their thinking and egos they could have carried on for another ten years.Just look at what Drugs took away from us.
As a so called “beatles fan” you should not be as focused on what drugs took away from us as you should be about what drugs actually gave us. Drugs helped/inspired the beatles from the early days and even changed their creative direction and sound in the mid sixties (when they started trying more exotic stuff).
If it was not for drugs, The Beatles music you know and love would have been completely different. Fact.
Even the goofy pop stuff they did in the early sixties was fueled by amphetamine use
Your mind is too binary. To suggest that drugs were negative and that’s that is incredibly short sighted.
The drugs helped them create the music you love, the product would have been rather different should they not have taken any
Would anyone be able to tell me when this article was published and who wrote it?
Cheers.
Hi Kris. It was written by me (the site owner), and was published on 7 April 2008.
There are two sides to every story. John Riley told me what happened that night and he did not spike their coffee.
So did he tell you his side of the story?
So what was his side of the story?
I bought this book for my editor/proof reader to read before I do. She is very picky (my pages come back from her drenched in red ink.) That said, she gives the book an enthusiastic ‘five-star both thumbs up’ rating. She said that it is well written, and cites the many sources that you drew upon as research. I cannot wait to read it.
Thanks Ben! I worked really hard on the book, and the editing took weeks. I’m sure there are some mistakes here and there, but I’m glad it passed your editor’s test! I hope you enjoy reading it.
Interesting take on the ‘Dentist’ incident from the dentists wife https://web.archive.org/web/20190922122235/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/revealed-dentist-who-introduced-beatles-to-lsd-28096738.html
What interests me is how innocent the Beatles are as they dip their toe into what would becomes a wild ride ride called the 60s. I’m not a huge fan, as the Doors are the most intelligent and interesting band in a decade that produced a great many, a lot of them more compellling than the Beatles. The Stones, Hendrix, Velvet Underground, The Who, Zepplin for fuck’s sake. However, no band was ever as truly innocent as the Fab Four. There is also an inherent growth in the course of experience, which the is the other thing the Beatles embrace emphatically as they are hurled into Magical Mystery Tours, Helter Skelter, Apple Records, Yoko, different drugs, different ideas and paths that eventuallly allowed them to explore themselves as individuals, which most music minded mutants had to be somewhat aware of given the ubiquitous and distinctive nature of each Beatle’s formidable talents. I’ve always been fondest of George and if you watch his son, Tom Petty, Prince and a few other rock and roll heroes do “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in a tribute to the spiritual Beatle, you’ll understand how profound his influence really is on American Music. Or could it be be America, it’s music and more influencing George? My guess is that both are true. With the 70s then the 80s, the Beatles saw changes but in a way, fate dealt each exactly the sort of musical and familial life we could’ve guessed had we been aware of the lads as such. Google it. It’s on Youtude.
It’s. No surprise Paul begged off on the uppers, given his more controlled and dare I say cunning nature?
Marrying into money, allow Eastman , Paul’s father in law, to oversee Apple, which was clearly out of control but might not have been if the bus were communicating. A young woman who worked in those offices writes an intelligent yet intimate account of her relationship with the band and its entourage. Miss Odell’s story is Tyne sort that bridges the gaps in ways biographers can’t. It’s her own life story and the Beatles are a large part of her life. She is great friends with Georges wife. She is the woman who inspired Layla and infamously inspired to great musicians in her way. She and Miss O Dell note that George may be doing coke one day and chanting soberly, serenely and strangely as he went to the garden in his palace all day long.
Though she never makes any comment or even phrases it to sound biased, one senses that Paul’s restraint is as obnoxious as John’s excess. Neither is very approachable. Paulo’s the idealist, invested in promoting musicians like Leon Russell, James Taylor, Bad Finger and Billly Preston. Ringo, a bit older and wiser, is merely making the best of things and enjoying his fortunate life. According to ODell even Ringo and George become estranged when George falls in love with Ringos wife Maureen.
Ahh..Experience. I don’t think many people will disagree that Paul turned out to deliver the lesser of the four. Perhaps it’s because of marketing, an eagerness to please, greed… It’s hard to say. Maybe music didn’t engage him the way it did when he was younger. It’s funny. I was talking to an old red neck. I mentioned that many of my friends are muscians. He noted that muscians, especially the aging variety still stubborn enough to keep playing were likely dope fiends. Music and dope do go together I guess. Throw in some sex and well all have a lot of fun.
Whatever you’re on, it has obviously fried your brain. You can’t write, have visions of grandeur, and give harmful advice. You are a liar and you don’t know what you are talking about. Please please me and go away.
I’m a bit confused about their usage of pot. There are about four different accounts written here of when they “first tried it.” One account is around 1960 or 61, another is 1962, and the other is in 64 with Dylan. So which is the first time?
Hi George. It’s on page two of the feature, 1960 in Liverpool.
Personally, I’ve never cared one whit about celebrities’ private lives (except assault/murder, pedophilia, and such). Drugs, fashion, political beliefs, infidelity, etc. – these aren’t the people I would look to for such ideas or direction.
The music…..that’s ALL it’s about to me.(And no, I didn’t read this article, just for the record)
This has been posted a million times, but here is an interview with John & Yoko during the “Let It Be” recording sessions where they are high on heroin. Majorly high. If you forward to the 16:10 mark, John starts to get sick because he is kicking or because he took too much junk. Eventually they had to stop the video to allow Lennon to vomit. Yoko is also stoned. You do not sound like his if you’re taking LSD or smoking pot. These are two people on opiates.
In 1980, a few days before dying, John told to the Rolling Stone magazine he was under heroine influence when he gave that infamous interview for the same magazine in 71. That is the interview it was printed in book format receiving the title John Remembers included here. Fans should ignore this book for good. John was alive when the magazine had this idea and he refused. He didn’t want it because he had regretted doing that interview for being on heroine all the time, not responsible for what he said. He told lies all the time. He said in 1980 he told lies because he was angry at that time. And yet, as son as he died, it was released with Yoko’s approval, She even wrote something for the book What a shame.
Here we see one of his lies: he talked about as if he had stopped doing it. ( and put the blame for his addiction to the other people even Peter Brown! ) But it was not true. He was under influence while saying shit.
In 1992 in Take a Break Magazine, Paul said that he was sniffing heroin in the aftermath of the Beatles breakup and his depression. Here’s a quote: “I let myself go, grew a beard, and started drinking heavily and sniffing heroin.” It’s the least ambiguous I’ve seen him be about this. Here’s an image of the magazine interview: https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f5ba498dfad29b86ce52fea3f8d16ac/12a3d2dd3829e3f1-8e/s1280x1920/ba7a035a7c4a78b43eba9a93ec453d3468b8fe1b.jpg