Entertainment
Paul McCartney on ‘the ceiling moving down’ as he recalls The Beatles’ first time getting stoned with Bob Dylan
Picture: Getty
Sir Paul McCartney has revealed that he and his Beatles bandmates got stoned for the first time with Bob Dylan.
The singer, 78, recalled trying drugs alongside Bob and the rest of the group – Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison – while at an afterparty in New York in 1964.
Speaking in the latest issue of Uncut magazine to celebrate Bob’s upcoming 80th birthday, Sir Paul explained: ‘It was at the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue and 59th in New York City in August 1964. We were in a hotel room, all being good old lads having our Scotch and Coke – it was an afterparty, I think.
‘Dylan arrived and he went into the bedroom with his roadie. Ringo went along to see what was up. So he finds Dylan, rolling up, and he has a toke. He came back in and we said, “What was it like?”’
He added: ‘So Ringo says, “The ceiling is kind of moving down…” We all ran into the backroom going, “Give us a bit, give us a bit!” So that was the very first evening we ever got stoned!’
Sir Paul later became a regular cannabis smoker, and was notably arrested in 1980 while touring in Japan after customs officials discovered half a pound of the drug in his luggage. He spent 10 nights in prison, before being released and deported from the country without charge.
However, he ultimately gave up his smoking habit in 2015 due to his parental duties as a father and grandfather.
He told The Mirror at the time: ‘I don’t do it anymore. Why? The truth is I don’t really want to set an example to my kids and grandkids. It’s now a parent thing.
‘Back then I was just some guy around London having a ball, and the kids were little so I’d just try and keep it out of their faces.’
The rocker has just dropped his latest musical effort, McCartney III: Imagined, which contains reworked version of the tracks from his most recent studio album, McCartney III, which was released last December.
A multitude of artists feature on the new versions of the songs, including Beck, Phoebe Bridgers and Anderson .Paak.
The latest issue of Uncut magazine is out now, covered by Bob Dylan in celebration of his 80th birthday next month.
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