THE MOST IMPORTANT DATE in the history of rock music was August 28, 1964. This is the day Bob Dylan met the Beatles in New York’s Delmonico hotel and got them high. Obviously, a lot of people may want to disagree with this assertion, especially if they are teaching junior high health class. But the artistic evidence is hard to ignore: The introduction of marijuana altered the trajectory of the Beatles’ songwriting, reconstructed their consciousness, and prompted them to make the most influential rock albums of all time. After the summer of 1964, the Beatles started taking serious drugs, and
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