How did drugs effect Rock Stars in the 60’s?

lol, that’s easy, just listen to their music, its pathetic.

The did it for recreational purposes and to deal with the rock star lifestyle. However, some realized their minds were open to different types of songs and sounds and used that to create a different kind of music.

some drugs can make your brain more active, and when it comes to creating or performing music, it can give you an advantage… but there’s the down side, an ugly one!
Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix didn’t live to see their 28th birthday, but the gave us great music to inspire other musicians and listeners

It was the times. Everything was possible; nothing was held back.

In an interview about advice for Amy Winehouse, Mick Jagger said that now-a-days people are stupid for doing drugs – back then they didn’t know the long-term effects. It was a thing to do. Drugs heightened the senses, opened the mind, drew out the emotions, gave a better quality to their music, enabled them to be more creative with lyrics, etc.

It wasn’t so much a matter of needing them, it’s just the lifestyle of excess. Back then, there were no anti-drug campaigns and overall, very little understanding about the effects of certain chemicals. It was the beginning of many long years of experimentation and it showed in their music. Unlike the other responder to your question, I think it brought about some really interesting developments in music and I love a lot of it. Bands like Tool and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult would probably not be around without that influence from. Drugs in the end are as addictive as the heightened sense of creativity it provides for the artists in question. You can’t tell a junkie no and rock stars are often catered to untill the point of exhaustive death. It’s sad on one hand, but no one can deny the end results to their excess, some crazy-ass inspirational tunes.

No difference than it is today. Rock stars/bands make big money for record companies and concert promoters. You do what it takes to keep you prima donna’s happy. If Billy is sluggish and tired from the road trip, here, do some meth, it’ll fire you up. Too jittery to go on now, smoke a dube. Time goes by and you need stronger and stronger drugs, money comes in and you can get better quality drugs. If you’re doing a certain amount of heroin and suddenly get some really good stuff and do the same amount, it’s check out time. Back then we knew certain drugs were no good for you, but we were still young and immortal. It was a wake up call for a lot of us when Jimi and Janis and Jim died. Suddenly our idols were gone. The dark side of drug use started showing up. It was a wake up call for many of us. Unfortunately, the promoters liked having the control over their money machines and kept the drugs and the women pouring in. It may have started out as a mind expanding, artistic endeavor but it ended up being a mind control tool. Some folks like Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent figured it out and showed you can be straight and still rock and roll.

There was a professor named Timothy Leary…too long of a story for here. Maybe some research into what he was about would help, too. LSD was legal in the early 60’s.
I agree with most here that say teens have a feeling of immortality combined with a lust for thrills – thus all the deaths from speeding (as in a car), too much alcohol, etc.
Plus it was a stressful time, Lot’s of unrest in society so anything that helped relieve anxiety. Musicians lives were very stressfull and they didn’t start out making the money that today’s bands do. It’s so different now, it’s hard to explain or understand…

why does anyone need drugs? thats the real question. so much talent has been lost to drugs alcohol over the years, you’d think they would get the picture, but some people are just weak or whatever excuses are being used.how do you answer that question, we dont know what was going on in their heads!