All you need is pot, says McCartney

CANNABIS, not LSD, was the creative force behind the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band album, Sir Paul McCartney revealed last night, writes Tarquin Cooper.

He disclosed the drug's role in an interview with the Independent on Sunday as it was announced that Sgt Pepper had been voted Britain's favourite album in a poll for Channel 4.

Sir Paul, a supporter of the Independent on Sunday's cannabis campaign, recalled how he broke the news of the influence of pot to the Beatles' producer, Sir George Martin. "When George asked me, 'do you know what caused Pepper?' I said, 'in one word - pot'."

The producer refused to believe him saying, "But you weren't on it all the time." Sir Paul said he had replied: "Yes, we were."

The album, featuring such hit songs as "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", "A Day in the Life" and "With a Little Help from My Friends", has sold more than 4 million copies world-wide since its release in 1967.

The poll results were: 1 Sgt Pepper, Beatles; 2 Stone Roses, Stone Roses; 3 Revolver, Beatles; 4 The Bends, Radiohead; 5 (What's the Story) Morning Glory, Oasis; 6 Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd; 7 OK Computer, Radiohead; 8 Never Mind, Nirvana; 9 Astral Weeks, Van Morrison; 10 The White Album, Beatles.

Cannabis campaign, page 17