240: The Beatles on Drugs: Riding So High

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8 responses to “240: The Beatles on Drugs: Riding So High”

1. August 17, 2022

   Rob

   I blame John’s heroin use as the number one factor in the Beatles demise. I also blame drugs for the destruction of his first marriage. I don’t subscribe to the notion that he was completely unhappy with Cynthia. The photos support this. I love John but the Yoko/John perfect love affair is a myth to a certain degree in my very humble opinion.

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2. August 17, 2022

   Neal

   I am an old guy so I guess it really does not matter for me, but I feel sorry for those who just have to insert the F-bomb into any and all conversations. It just, in my very humble opinion, diminishes the discussion.

   I know that many claim this is a sign of the passion for the topic, but I would prefer to hear that passion channeled into a trenchant remark vice a profanity.

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3. August 18, 2022

   JJ

   I wish you would have a “do over” on this subject as its very relevant to the band.
   This guest was a Very odd choice.

   Did you say this guy has a Ph. D in Anthropology?
   How does he NOT know about North american natives taking Tobacco?
   i’m sure cannabis was widespread as well. The Indian peace pipe had a variety of things in it to smoke, some called it kinnikinnick.
   This guy insists they had nothing. very strange dude. OK Drugs are bad, thanks dude….

   I love your show, just more interested in information than opinions. Shame the “Riding so High” author cannot come on for a deeper conversation.
   Your thesis about the bands drug use and how their music was shaped by it deserves more conversation on a bigger table. gonna look for that previous show you mentioned…

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4. August 18, 2022

   Jane

   Really interesting conversation and a lot of points that I hadn’t thought about before. Thanks for all the work you put into the podcast, Robert.

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5. August 23, 2022

   mike

   Thanks Robert for digging into this with your knowledgeable guest. Another piece of puzzle brought to light… So it sounds like The Lennons were not hardcore junkies here, but still struggling for a decade with kicking it … and it all shows the truth of the fame and success they all reached: full of suffering. I heard Lennon had applied to be an office clerk (if Quora is to be taken seriously) and a guy on Quora was a close relative to the office guy who interviewed young 1961 era Lennon for the job, and Lennon mentioned to him that he was in a band, but it was not going to succeed. After hearing this episode I’m not sure he was lucky for not getting the job and sticking with the band

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6. August 24, 2022

   Terry Zobeck

   Tobacco, while addictive, does not typically produce a psychoactive effect. And while cannabis, as a weed, would have been available it would have been what is known as “ditchweed”, with a THC content well below one percent, which would not have produced much of a high, if any at all. I am not familiar with any archaeological research that indicates that any North American native culture, prior to European contact, consumed cannabis for its psychoactive effects. Moreover, the striking aspect of North American native cultures, prior to European contact, was the lack of any alcoholic beverage (i.e., beer, wine or spirits).

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7. August 27, 2022

   nedhoey

   For any discussion about humans to have value, perfect can’t be a standard for behavior. The Beatles drug use is not to be judged in long distance hindsight by a career civil servant whose job it was to “minimize” use. So much about government enforced prohibition did greater harm to many individuals than their use did.

   It isn’t possible to separate what their use did for their creative work from how it may have also did them harm. Moderation, balance, are always what people seek and what is so hard to achieve. The creative benefits came from those moments when the elements came together successfully. Your guest seems to have expected that the work they did all could have happened without any of the hit and miss of their use. Just what is he on that allows him to hold that fanciful notion?

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8. August 31, 2022

   paul62

   Some groups of Native Americans were known to have consumed peyote from ancient times, though. John Lennon even mentioned (in one of his last interviews) that he’d been gifted peyote buttons (and other drugs) from fans in his house-husband years.

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