John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s LSD Bond that led to creativity

A positive result of his substance use, as noted by author Leslie, was how the Lennon made ‘calmer, more beautiful and more childish’. Instead of spiriting anger in alcohol, he became more openly.

Lennon’s new clarity from Zuur was at the expense of his songwriting skills. As Leslie noted: “He had never found it so hard to make new songs.”

Only four songs on Sgt. Pepper Came from Lennon, where McCartney had to draw them softly.

Leslie wrote: “Nobody, even John, no longer believed in John’s talents than Paul, or was invested deeper in him and made the best of them. McCartney also wanted his friend to be happy.

“He could see that John was calmer and in a better mood than before, but he also saw that John was a drift. When he didn’t work, he stumbled. Left without a focus, he would completely lose himself.”

Lennon usually reserved his psychedelic experiences after hours and avoids traveling when working on new music with The Beatles.

However, that changed on the evening of March 21, 1967, when the band was in Emi’s Abbey Road Studios who was preparing for a marathon session to record the backing harmonies for Improve.

To prepare for the long night, Lennon took his portable pharmacy – a small silver snuff box – looking for an “upper” to stay awake.

Instead, he accidentally took LSD.

In the beginning the musician did not know that something was wrong when he took singing, but soon felt waves of paranoia and fear.

He remembered in an interview from 1970: “I thought I was crackling.” Then it told him that he had accidentally taken sour.

“They rushed up the stairs, hoping that John did not decide to see if he could fly before they arrived.”

The session was imposed for the night and the band went their own way. Because Lennon’s driver does not arrive for hours, McCartney took him to his nearby Regency Townhouse, just a few minutes from Abbey Road.

“Once there,” wrote Leslie, “Paul decided to take an LSD himself.”

McCartney’s decision to try LSD was an important one because he had been the last member of the band to experiment with the medicine.

He was initially anxious, thinking that it would permanently change his life, in contrast to Lennon, who was excited by the prospect.

McCartney gave in to “fear pressure” in December 1965 and tried acid with Socialite Tara Browne instead of the Beatles.

Despite his restraint and disturbing experience, he later took acid with Lennon to make contact again and to strengthen their bond, he had been weakened since the tour stopped.

The experience was extremely memorable for them both.

Leslie wrote: “That night John and Paul did something that they practiced a few times during this period: they stared intensely in each other’s eyes.

“They liked to keep their faces close together and stare, not blinking, until they felt solved, so that every feeling of themselves was almost destroyed as individual individuals.”

McCartney would describe it later, with classic understatement, as “a very freaky experience … John had hanging around very enigmatically, and I had a great vision of him as a king, the absolute emperor of eternity. It was a good journey.”

Leslie emphasized the importance of eye contact in music, because it enables musicians to communicate without words.

“All Beatles make a lot of eye contact, but the frequency and intensity of the ocular communication of Lennon and McCartney is striking.”

After his night with McCartney, Lennon said to biographer Hunter Davies: “I have to see the others to see myself. Then I realize that someone like me is, so it’s reassuring.

“We need a lot.”