“I don’t smoke weed. But he had a big joint,” says Coyne, justifying the big smoke with McCartney
Flaming Lips band leader Wayne Coyne has reported having a particularly surreal experience smoking weed with Paul McCartney.
In fact, Coyne said in a conversation with The Guardian that he “constantly” has embarrassing encounters with celebrities. As proof of this, he told an anecdote in which the Beatles bassist played a role.
“When we first met Paul McCartney…. Well, he wasn’t there to meet us, he was at one of those festivals and came in through the backstage area,” Coyne said. “No one really knew he was there. He came in with his wife Linda and I just followed him on stage. He thought I was part of his entourage. Apparently he didn’t mind me being there.
And further: “But I was right behind him when he saw Neil Young play,” Coyne added. He estimates the story took place sometime around 1993. ‘I had seen Neil Young play. But above all I was there because of Paul McCartney.”
Coyne doesn’t even smoke weed
As the Flaming Lips singer stared at one of his idols, he couldn’t help but notice something. “I remember his ear was very crusty. I mean, you just see Paul McCartney as a human being, you know? You don’t have that very often. And I remember looking at his ear and – look, when you travel a lot, sometimes your ears get crusty.”
Then the two musicians became brothers. “I don’t smoke weed. But he had a big joint that he handed to me like I was part of his entourage. I took a big hit of it, which I shouldn’t have, but I thought, ‘Well, how often do you get a chance to smoke a joint with Paul McCartney?'” Coyne concluded. “It was incredible.”
Full of anticipation, Paul McCartney landed at Narita International Airport in Tokyo on January 16, 1980. An 11-city tour of Japan was planned with his band Wings; it was his first visit to the island since his performances with the Beatles in 1966.
Maybe he should have hidden his dope better. Half a pound of marijuana was discovered in McCartney’s luggage during airport security.
“He looked more amazed than I did”
“When the inspector pulled the stuff out of my bag, he looked more amazed than I did,” McCartney recalled. “I think he would have liked to have put it back straight away and forgotten the whole thing. But there it was in front of us.”
Although the singer was later able to assure the authorities that he was only bringing in the weed for personal purposes, the quantity was large enough for him to be arrested for the time being. McCartney briefly faced up to seven years in prison on suspicion of drug smuggling. And that had to be taken seriously: The Japanese authorities are known for their rigorous anti-drug policy, as well as for the fact that celebrities do not enjoy any special rights before the judiciary. So it is only surprising that the 38-year-old was released relatively quickly and not brought before a court.
When McCartney was released on the ninth day, countless Japanese fans were already waiting at the airport to pay respect to the singer, who had to involuntarily “shorten” his “tour”. In the departure hall, Macca took courage, picked up the acoustic guitar and improvised a melody, even in front of the camera. Then finally he began his well-deserved journey home.
There was even speculation as to whether McCartney had perhaps forced his arrest – to have a reason to break up the Wings. Which happened shortly after his return to England.
“How could you be so stupid?”
In 1990, McCartney returned to Japan for a tour. It is not known whether he was able to suppress a wink during baggage inspection at the airport. In 2004, he gave a reason for his careless actions at the time: “I just didn’t know if I would be able to get anything to smoke in Japan. And the stuff was too good to flush down the toilet.”