Paul McCartney Narrates How He Smoked The Strongest Ganja With Fela At Afrika Shrine – Former member of the Beatles and British music icon Paul McCartney tell tales of his encounter with Afrobeat legend Fela.
The singer was among top international music stars like James Brown, Gilberto Gil and Hugh Masekela who came into Nigeria to visit Fela Kuti at his Afrika shrine. Amongst other things Paul McCartney narrated how he got to smoke the strongest marijuana with Fela and his friends.
“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.”