Paul McCartney and the media’s glamourisation of drug use
Arriving on the scene at a time when the British media had more outlets than ever before, The Beatles – comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – became some of the first major celebrities of a nation addicted to the small screen. While this no doubt aided their success, it also posed significant challenges.
By 1967, The Beatles had been making references to drug use for some time. The Liverpool quartet were introduced to the world of mind-altering substances by folk singer and fellow countercultural icon Bob Dylan. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr subsequently became fascinated with the world of psychedelics, adopting the psychologist Timothy Leary’s belief that hallucinogens could be used to revitalise one’s inner world and, by extension, transform the outer world.
The Beatles’ mind-bending explorations greatly affected their work on 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released just a year after Leary gave his famous “turn on, tune in, drop out” speech to 30,000 hippies in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. By the time the Summer of Love kicked off, The Beatles were becoming increasingly associated with LSD, having already crafted several acid anthems with Revolver tracks like ‘She Said, She Said’.
Initially, The Beatles were happy to discuss the benefits of LSD, but it quickly became apparent that they were being burdened with responsibility for an entire generation of young people taking their first steps into the world of hallucinogenics. During one particular interview, Paul pointed out that, in asking The Beatles detailed questions about LSD, they were inadvertently publicising the drug. It was the press, not The Beatles, who were introducing thousands of young people to drugs. Reacting to the suggestion that he should feel responsible for introducing young fans to drugs, Paul McCartney told a TV reporter in 1967: “I don’t think it’ll make any difference…it’s up to the newspapers and it’s up to you on television. I mean you’re spreading this now at this very moment. This is going into all the homes, you know, in Britain and I’d rather it didn’t. But you’re asking me the question. You want me to be honest. I’ll be honest.”
Lennon would later concur with Paul’s sentiment. Speaking to Hunter Davis that same year, John said: “I never felt any responsibility, being a so-called idol. It’s wrong of people to expect it. What they are doing is putting their responsibilities on us, as Paul said to the newspapers when he admitted taking LSD. If they were worried about him being responsible, they should have been responsible enough and not printed it, if they were genuinely worried about people copying.”
Many years later, Paul would reveal that he’d tried to convince the interviewer not to put a sensationalist spin on his experiences with LSD before the interview: “I did talk to him beforehand and I said, ‘Look, you do know what’s going to happen here? I’m gonna get the blame for telling everyone ‘I take drugs’ but you’re the people who are going to distribute this thing’. I said, ‘I’ll tell you, but if you’ve got any worries about this having an effect on kids then you don’t show it.'”
Of course, the press knew they’d snapped a good story and ran with it, leaving The Beatles to take the blame.
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