New book names infamous doctor who dosed the Beatles with LSD
In a new book about the Beatles, the infamous London dentist who dosed John Lennon, George Harrison, and their wives with LSD has finally been revealed. The Beatles' whatgoeson.com fan website reported that in the new book, titled In The Gospel According To The Beatles, author Steve Turner interviews two of the late Dr. John Riley's wives and shed new light on the Beatles' early 1965 psychedelic experience.
Lennon and Harrison, with their then-wives, Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd, were attending a dinner party at Riley's house in a London suburb, when he dosed the foursome with LSD which had been dropped onto the sugar cubes used in their coffee.
According to various interviews over the years, both Lennon and Harrison pinpoint the early 1965 acid trip as turning point in their music and lives, which eventually spearheaded a psychedelic revolution.
Riley died in 1986.
Cynthia Lennon was interviewed for the book and was quoted as saying, "When you go for dinner with your dentist you don't imagine a professional man would do something like that. He could easily have killed us."
Ringo Starr tried LSD during the summer of 1965. Paul McCartney was the lone hold out, not taking the drug until nearly a year later.
In other Beatles news:
The group's record company, EMI, is said to be launching an appeal against a New York State Supreme Court ruling that the Beatles' company, Apple, can proceed with a December 2005 suit against the label, seeking nearly $60 million and total ownership of their studio masters.
Britain's The Telegraph reported that the Fab Four are suing for damages and lost royalties of nearly $60 million, and are seeking to reclaim rights to all the band's master recordings. The suit claims, among other things, that EMI and its U.S. subsidiary Capitol Records repeatedly classified Beatles recordings as "destroyed, damaged, or scrapped," yet went ahead and sold them, and also under-reported sales for albums.
The Beatles and EMI/Capitol settled a similar lawsuit back in 1989, for an undisclosed amount. In the agreement, EMI/Capitol retained sole ownership of the Beatles recordings, yet could not reissue them in any manner without Apple's direct approval.
Lennon and Harrison, with their then-wives, Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd, were attending a dinner party at Riley's house in a London suburb, when he dosed the foursome with LSD which had been dropped onto the sugar cubes used in their coffee.
According to various interviews over the years, both Lennon and Harrison pinpoint the early 1965 acid trip as turning point in their music and lives, which eventually spearheaded a psychedelic revolution.
Riley died in 1986.
Cynthia Lennon was interviewed for the book and was quoted as saying, "When you go for dinner with your dentist you don't imagine a professional man would do something like that. He could easily have killed us."
Ringo Starr tried LSD during the summer of 1965. Paul McCartney was the lone hold out, not taking the drug until nearly a year later.
In other Beatles news:
The group's record company, EMI, is said to be launching an appeal against a New York State Supreme Court ruling that the Beatles' company, Apple, can proceed with a December 2005 suit against the label, seeking nearly $60 million and total ownership of their studio masters.
Britain's The Telegraph reported that the Fab Four are suing for damages and lost royalties of nearly $60 million, and are seeking to reclaim rights to all the band's master recordings. The suit claims, among other things, that EMI and its U.S. subsidiary Capitol Records repeatedly classified Beatles recordings as "destroyed, damaged, or scrapped," yet went ahead and sold them, and also under-reported sales for albums.
The Beatles and EMI/Capitol settled a similar lawsuit back in 1989, for an undisclosed amount. In the agreement, EMI/Capitol retained sole ownership of the Beatles recordings, yet could not reissue them in any manner without Apple's direct approval.
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