The history of rock and roll is littered with amazing stories, and unfortunately for devout edge kids, a lot of them involve drugs. The explosion of mind-opening and mood-altering drug use in the late ’60s and ’70s was a huge part of rock culture, and resulted in a lot of strange meetings in backstage green rooms and venue bathroom stalls. Case in point, shock rocker Alice Cooper recently revealed the story behind the first time he smoked weed — with Jimi Hendrix.
According to a recent interview with the SDR Show (transcribed by Ultimate Classic Rock), Alice discussed his drug experiences (which are now a ways out for the guy, who’s been infamously sober for ages). While recalling his personal history, one story that came up was his first encounter with the Devil’s Lettuce — at the hands of the greatest guitarist of all time.
“I’m sitting there after the show,” says Alice. “I went to see [the Jimi Hendrix Experience]…We were just a little high school band, but they said, ‘Hey, come on up to the hotel room.’ And we were sitting on his bed, and Jimi goes, ‘Here, man’ [and held out a joint], and I went, ‘Okay.’
From that point on, the night only got weirder. “[Jimi] goes and puts a quarter in the bed – you know, the vibrating bed,” says Alice. “There was like eight people sitting on the bed. And he goes, ‘We’re on a spaceship!’ And I went, ‘Okay!’”
While this story sounds rad, it was only one of Alice’s drug experiences — and one of the good ones. Apparently, the Coop also had some lousy experiences with drugs which shook him pretty bad.
“It was Detroit, and I think it was crystal THC,” says Alice of his worst experience.. “It was like four in the morning. I kind of regained consciousness … I got up – I remember it was about 20 degrees below outside – and I walked outside just in my shirt on, just to wake up. And when I came back in, everybody was just kind of coming up. It was weird; it was like a Fellini thing. It was so strange that I really did believe that everybody was dead and that I was the only one that survived it.”
Check out the full interview below:
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Words by Chris Krovatin
