Bob Dylan Introduces The Beatles To Cannabis, 1964

Rockapedia | 25th August, 2023 Bob Dylan Beatles Pot

On the 28th August, 1964, while on a short tour of the US, The Beatles were introduced to Bob Dylan for the first time. Both artists had mutual respect for each other, especially in the case of The Beatles.

Dylans album Free Wheelin, and the ability to sing about topics that related to his own generation in the real world had a major impact on Lennon and McCartneys approach to writing lyrics.

Dylan who had yet to go electric had built a reputation singing folk songs, along with songs about the civil rights struggle in the US at the time. Until then, RocknRoll was about finding a girl and falling in love, not a genre to preach.

While The Beatles had been impressed by Dylans ability as a lyric writer, the American songwriters admiration for Lennon/McCartney was slightly mistaken.

When talking about The Beatles music, Dylan would say, They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid.

Dylan was also impressed that The Beatles had the courage to sing about getting high. Dylan was part of a scene that revolved around smoking herb over other forms of drug. However, not only had The Beatles not smoked weed, there was no reference to getting high in any of their songs at this point.

The Beatles single I Want To Hold Your Hand seemed to get lost in translation with Dylan mishearing the lyrics.

Dylan was under the impression that The Beatles were fellow pot smokers when he heard the lyrics...

Unknown to Dylan, the correct lyric was I cant hide, so when the two musical greats crossed paths for the first time Dylan was under the impression they could hang out and get high.

Following a performance at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, New York, The Beatles returned to their suite at the Hotel Delmonico at Park Avenue & 59th Street in Manhattan, where they met with Dylan. Music journalist Al Aronowitz had put the two acts in contact with each other.

Dylan produced a sizable bag of weed and asked the Fab Four whether they wanted to get stoned with him. A joint was rolled and passed to Lennon, who, in turn, swerved the advance and passed it quickly aside to Ringo Starr, allegedly saying, with classic caustic wit, the drummer was his royal taster.

Starr would begin smoking the joint to himself unaware that conventional spliff politics required him to pass it on.

Extra joints were rolled and passed with every member partaking. McCartney would later recall how in a stoned fog he asked road manager Mal Evans to follow him around with a pencil and paper, writing down everything he said, believing he’d found the meaning of life.

While The Beatles had already experienced drugs before meeting Dylan, their relationship with cannabis from that point onwards would be reflected in their music, in particular the albums Help and Rubber Soul.

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