A WONDERFUL WORLD delisergical reflections January 1977 -Beatles and Stones-

The Beatles, a group so reverse snoob... that they turned away from drugs

Revolver was the first Beatles album composed and recorded under the influence of drugs, essentially LSD, which was the main one, the one that was in vogue back then.  Like many other groups, the Beatles tried drugs as an experience and became fond of them as a means of creation and escape; but they were one of the few groups smart enough to distance themselves from them, although in the following years they still had some experiences and legal skirmishes for that reason.  However, drugs hold extreme importance in the Beatles' world, not only because "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was recorded under their influence, but also because, alongside the birth of individualism in the four band members, one must consider the role that drugs played in their personal relationships.  Far from causing an interdependence as pronounced as that of being part of the same adventure or the same core, drugs fundamentally contributed to creating the first formal split between them.  They are still a common force; but, just as Indian music, through George's effort, came to interest the rest (only interest), drugs are also a first illusion that will fade more quickly for some than for others.  The influence of hallucinogens had opposite importance for Paul and John; and, being the driving forces of the group with their songs, the result could only be a gradual dissociation... which would reach its peak in 1968, with the appearance of women in the Beatles' lives.  First it was Yoko Ono and then Linda Eastman.

Traveling around the universe

The emergence of drugs as a connection with music is fundamental throughout 1966. The first "trips" are not exclusive to this year, but the acceptance of drugs by the main rock music groups that emerged between 1965 and 1966 is indeed something 100% belonging to this time. Until 1966, the prophets of the underground, Kerouac and Ginsberg among others, preached drugs as a form of rebellion and as part of the struggle for life itself, or as a response to the routine, alienating, and bourgeois society. When the groups use and defend drugs, and when the public uses them, it is directly related to music, to escape reality and travel, the true link that has since united both phenomena: drugs and music, is established. Thus, psychedelia and the pop scene environment emerge, with the creation of light shows and the public-artist spectacle; starting from 1966, they will present a wide range of variations around a single point. These variations will enrich music, but from this moment on, the long series of drug-related casualties will not only become inevitable, but will also become part of the rock music legend: Hendrix, Janis, Brian Jones... A list that is too long. But specifically, victims of psychedelics and schizophrenia are a separate category: Syd Barrett, Peter Green, Roger Whale, Arthur Lee, Brian Wilson, Spence Davis, or Marty Balin from Jefferson Airplane

The Amazing Madness Stone

The Rolling Stones will have many more problems than the Beatles with drugs because they got into heroin. Brian Jones will die; and even before that, in 1967, he, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richard will be imprisoned. For the Stones, 1966 is also the final contact with that not always clear beyond. Many musicians, and the Stones are among them, take drugs, hallucinogens, and other stimulants to keep up with the demands of their greatness and fame. You have to compose, record, perform, present yourself in public, be on the edge, always on the edge, at the forefront, "Stopping is allowing others to surpass you." Stopping is dying. The Stone year, in 1966, is a testament to this: crucial singles like "19th Nervous Breakdown," "Paint It Black," and "Have You Seen Your Mother..," the LP "Aftermath," and, like the Beatles, at the end of the year, a compilation album "Big Hits." The Beatles' one was titled "A collection of Beatles oldies... but goldies." A dense program, without rest. For many groups, drugs represent a break, a mental oasis. Unfortunately, what for some will remain just that, for others will be total distortion. In the summer of '66, the Stones went on tour in the United States. Fourteen hotels refuse to accept them as undesirable guests. The fame of their orgies, their excesses, their devastating apocalypse that wipes everything out, precedes them. The group will sue these hotels for damaging their good name. The Stones remain the great leaders of rebellion. And they continue to fascinate

The world of drugs, travel

Hallucinogens made their appearance in 1966 to become part of the future musical life of both The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. They plunged into the turbulent seas of this sensation, seeking stimuli and also novelty. In some cases, the trend would be fleeting; in others, it would lead to the fusion of experiences with the creation of fantastic songs: and in other cases, in its most extreme and also most dramatic aspect, it would reach the very shores of death