Influence on popular culture

Lifestyle

The Beatles' lifestyles were greatly altered by their success and the income they earned. The availability of the first oral contraceptive and illegal drugs changed many people's opinions — including The Beatles' — about life, marriage, and sexual relationships.





Recreational drug use

In Hamburg, The Beatles used prellies (Preludin) both recreationally and to maintain their energy through all-night performances. McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five. Bob Dylan introduced them to cannabis during a 1964 visit to New York. McCartney remembered them all getting very high and giggling. The Beatles occasionally smoked a joint in the car on the way to the studio during the filming of Help!, which often made them forget their lines.



In April 1965, Lennon and Harrison were introduced to LSD by an acquaintance, dentist John Riley. Lennon in particular became an avid tripper, claiming in a 1970 interview in Rolling Stone to have taken LSD hundreds of times. McCartney was more reluctant to try the drug, but finally did so in 1966 and was the first Beatle to talk about it in the press, saying in June 1967 that he took it four times.



The Beatles added their names to an advertisement in The Times, on 24 July 1967, which asked for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma, and was signed by 65 people, including Brian Epstein, Graham Greene, R.D. Laing, 15 doctors, and two MPs.





Meditation

On 24 August 1967, The Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton. A few days later they went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference. There, the Maharishi gave each of them a mantra. The Beatles learned of the death of Brian Epstein while in Bangor with the Maharishi. Their time in early 1968 at the Maharishi's ashram in India was highly productive from a musical standpoint, as many of the songs that would later be recorded for The Beatles and Abbey Road were composed there by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison.