The Beatles were adventurous in every sense and receptive to new ideas which could push their minds to foreign territories. This could occur in innocent ways, such as discovering a new artist that inspired them to adapt their songwriting style, but it also included their well-documented experimentation with drugs.

Even before The Beatles became linked with drug use during the later stages of their career, narcotics had been a persistent presence in their journey. From the early days in Hamburg in 1961, when drugs were initially used out of necessity to endure gruelling performances, their relationship with substances evolved over the years. Each era of their career seemed to reflect the influence of their drug of choice at the time, shaping both their music and image.

Initially, they turned to amphetamines because they were playing live to audiences half a dozen times a day, which was challenging before they discovered a way to make it all a breeze. From that point, they remained curious, which benefitted their music by expanding their horizons.

During a visit to the United States in 1964, a cultural turning point occurred when they met Bob Dylan for the first time. This encounter not only influenced Lennon to enter his self-proclaimed “Dylan period“, but it also introduced the group to cannabis. The remnants of that evening with Dylan were audible for all to hear on Rubber Soul. However, they soon moved on from cannabis to psychedelics, which naturally lent itself to the band adapting their sound on Revolver.

Their use of psychedelics reached new heights during the creation of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the group made little effort to conceal the role narcotics played in shaping the album’s revolutionary sound. In Paul McCartney’s view, this landmark record—featuring iconic tracks like ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’—simply would not have come into existence without the influence of drugs.

The seven deadly sins of Paul McCartney
(Credits: Far Out / Alamy / Album Cover / Pixabay)
While McCartney was no stranger to substances before taking psychedelics, his first trip remains a vivid memory. “A couple of guys came to visit us in LA, and it was them that said, ‘Man, you’ve got to try this.’ They had it in a bottle with an eye-dropper, and they dropped it on sugar cubes and gave it to us. That was my first trip,” he once revealed.

It was a mind-altering experience, and for a time, McCartney felt it would last forever, explaining, “It was with John and George and Neil and Mal. Neil had to deal with Don Short while I was swimming in jelly in the pool. It was a fabulous day. The night wasn’t so great, because it felt like it was never going to wear off. Twelve hours later and it was: ‘Give us a break now, Lord’.”

Although his first experience wasn’t the most pleasant, it didn’t put McCartney off experimenting with LSD on plentiful more occasions. However, it wasn’t just psychedelics that shaped Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, as the album is also filled with references to cannabis and heroin.

The Beatles didn’t attempt to hide the influence of drugs on the record and wore it firmly on their sleeve. Examples include the lyric, “I get high” from ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, a mention of “Henry the Horse” in ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite’, and “Take some tea” in ‘Lovely Rita’. The most overt was the title of ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds‘, a not-so-subtle reference to LSD.

Due to the lyrics and imagery attached to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, it’s blatantly apparent drugs shaped the record. However, one person who didn’t know this was George Martin, despite producing the album. McCartney once revealed: “When (George Martin) was doing his TV program on Pepper, he asked me, ‘Do you know what caused Pepper?’ I said, ‘In one word, George, drugs. Pot.’ And George said, ‘No, no. But you weren’t on it all the time.’ ‘Yes, we were.’ Sgt. Pepper was a drug album.”

While substances influenced almost every album by The Beatles to some degree, they deliberately made a statement with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by incorporating it overtly into the record. Not only was it true to who they were as people, but it also showed they had grown up and matured from the clean-cut boys who initially took the world by storm. Although excessive drug use can often ruin bands, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the exception to the rule.