Drugs in Rock Music -- 1955-1966 Much

Drugs in Rock Music -- 1955-1966

Much is made in the media about rock history and drug involvement by rock stars, particularly in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. The deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and others were apparently due to drug overdoses. But illegal drugs and prescription drugs were in use by rock and roll bands and individual stars before the psychedelic era in the late 1960s. This paper reports on some of those drug use situation in rock music between 1955 and 1965.

There was indeed evidence of drug use (and abuse) in rock music between 1955 and 1965 -- notably drug use by Elvis Presley, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Bob Dylan.

Elvis Presley, probably the biggest rock music superstar in history, was involved with drugs in the 1950s, according to an article in Rolling Stone magazine. In the Elvis Presley biography, the article states the widely known facts that Presley was involved with "barbiturates, tranquilizers and amphetamines…during the last years of his life"; he in fact was involved with "mainly amphetamines" while he served in the U.S. Army.

Presley entered the Army in 1958 and was discharged with an honorable discharge in 1960. "…It seems clear that Presley was taking drugs…while in the service (and perhaps even before), Rolling Stone explains. By the time Presley entered the Army, he already had several hit records beginning in 1955 with "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" and in 1956 he hit it big with "Heartbreak Hotel" and the hits continued for many years.

The Beatles' book, The Beatles Anthology goes into great detail as to the drug use of band members -- in their own words. In 1960, according to Ringo Starr. "This was the point of our lives when we found pills, uppers. That's the only way we could continue playing for so long" (Roylance, et al., 2000, p. 50). Starr mentioned Preludin, and asserted that this drug could be bought over the counter. "So with beer and Preludin, that's how we survived" (Roylance, 50). John Lennon admitted (p. 50) that the first drug he ever took was Benzedrine from the inside of an inhaler." George Harrison explained that the band in its early days had "…all these hours to play and the club owners were giving us Preludins, which were slimming tablets… they were uppers" (p. 50). John Lennon (p. 50) said that the band had to work "…all these incredible hours" in an "all night place" so the waiters would see the musicians "falling over with tiredness or with drink," and "…they would give you the pill… you'd sober up, you could work almost endlessly -- until the pill wore off, then you'd have to have another" (Roylance, p. 50).

Meanwhile, the Beatles came to the U.S. For a tour in 1964. While in New York, in a hotel, Bob Dylan came up to visit them. "Vocally and poetically Dylan was a huge influence," Paul wrote (Roylance, 2000, p. 158). "One thing [Dylan] did introduce us to was pot…. [he] came round to our hotel and he said to us, 'Here, try a bit of this'." Paul went on, "It is very indiscreet to say this, because I don't know whether Bob is telling people he turned the Beatles on to marijuana. But it was funny" (158).

On the subject of Bob Dylan, the superstar rock artist gave a candid account of his preferred drugs in the book Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. Said Dylan (in 1965), "It's fine if they use pot and LSD and heroin… everything. I mean, that's groovy… to know pot -- or to know any drug -- is find; and it's not gonna fuck you up… I mean, LSD is a medicine. You take it and you know [that] you don't really have to keep taking it all the time" (Heylin, 2003, p. 231).