McCarteney and Fela in 1973
While speaking in a candid interview with Marc Maron for the
podcast WTF, a former member of the Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney, who
revealed that he choose to record his 1973 album, “Band on the Run”, in Lagos, disclosed how he smoked the strongest marijuana with Fela Kuti.
It was gathered that when McCartney arrived in Nigeria, there were news headlines that Fela Kuti, accused him of “coming to steal the black man’s music”.
In a bid to make to smoothen things, McCartney invited Fela over to his studio so the Afrobeat legend could listen to his songs.
According to TheCable, the British music legend recalled that after he invited Fela to his studio, “he came over with his 30 wives and a studio full of ganja.
“He was one wild cat, he used to have a bottle of whiskey in
which was marinating a pound of pot… in the whiskey. We turned out to be
real good friends, he got it, he said ‘no you’re not doing that’
[stealing African music].
“Ginger Baker was there, he was his big friend. So, Fela
invites us to his club which was outside Lagos, the Afrika Shrine. This
was a few of us, little white people, me and a couple of friends. So we
go out there and I say, ‘let’s not smoke any pot‘. Cause it’s pretty
crazy, we’re out in the jungle and it’s pitch black.
“So we’re sitting there with Fela [at The Shrine] and one of
Fela’s guys comes up, he’s crouching and he’s got a packet of Rothmans
cigarettes. They’re all joints. He goes, ‘You want one of these?‘ I say,
‘no thanks‘, so he carries around and gets to Ginger Baker who says
‘Yeah man! Sure!’
“Then Fela shouts ‘Ginger Baker! The only man I know never
refuse a smoke‘. So I go, ‘A-ha! Ok, I’ll have one of those’. Man. I
tripped out. It was so strong. It was stronger than anything I’ve ever
had, I don’t know if there was something in it. But in the end, it was a
good night.”
The British icon was among international stars – such as James
Brown, Gilberto Gil and Hugh Masekela – who visited the Afrika Shrine
where Fela and his band thrilled music lovers.