John Lennon ‘Instantly Revealed The Beatles’ Pecking Order’ by Bossing Ringo Starr Around In Front of Bob Dylan

In 1964, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr met Bob Dylan for the first time. The meeting was historic because two of the biggest acts of the decade were in a room together for the first time, but also because Dylan introduced The Beatles to marijuana. Before anybody tried it, though, Lennon gave a command to Starr that, according to journalist Al Aronowitz, immediately revealed the band’s power dynamics. 

The Beatles met Bob Dylan in 1964

Dylan met The Beatles at the Delmonico Hotel in New York City. While Dylan was also famous, he and his tour manager Victor Maymudes had never experienced anything like the mass of screaming fans outside the hotel. The band required heightened security in order to control the crowd. 

“We proceeded to the elevator and headed up to the top floor,” Maymudes wrote in his book Another Side of Bob Dylan: A Personal History on the Road and Off the Tracks. “There was a cop in front of every door going down the hallway, all sitting in chairs in front of the doors. It was like the president was staying on the floor — totally locked down.”

Maymudes took note of how different they were, with The Beatles looking clean-cut in suits and Dylan in a t-shirt and jeans.

“Of course, they were on tour and we weren’t, but the different styles went beyond that,” he wrote. “At that time, Bob wouldn’t have worn a suit like theirs, even if he played for the Queen of England. An ocean yawned between us, but it didn’t take us long to cross it.”

John Lennon gave a command to Ringo Starr

Aronowitz asked The Beatles, “You wanna get high?” They did. They’d never tried it, though, so when Dylan handed a joint to Lennon, he “commanded” Starr to try it first. According to Aronowitz, this move “instantly revealed The Beatles’ pecking order” (via the book Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr).

Starr seemed hesitant, but Lennon told him he had to be their “royal taster.” He took the joint.

“Soon, Ringo got the giggles. In no time at all, he was laughing hysterically,” Aronowitz later wrote. “His laughing looked so funny that the rest of us started laughing hysterically at the way Ringo was laughing hysterically.”

Once it became clear that Starr was enjoying himself, the rest of the band tried it.

John Lennon had ordered Ringo Starr around before this

This wasn’t the first time Lennon asserted dominance by ordering Starr around. At a show soon after the drummer joined the band, Lennon told Starr to get a set of maracas from the stage.

“He looked slyly to see if Ringo would comply,” drummer Tony Sanders of the band Billy Kramer and the Coasters said, per the book Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin. 

Starr said he had to go to the stage anyway and told Lennon he would get the maracas on his way back. This seemed to satisfy his bandmate. 

“That was Lennon showing them, and everyone else in the dressing room, who was boss,” Sanders said. “Which he always had to be.”