When the Illinois Crime Commission released their list of “drug-oriented rock records” in 1971, they weren’t technically banning radio stations in the state from playing the songs. Just before the ICC published its list, the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, issued a notice that stated all radio stations are responsible for the lyrical content in the music they broadcast. So, while they could play the songs on the ICC’s list, any public backlash would fall squarely on the station. DJs beware.
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On the heels of the Summer of Love and well within the psychedelic era, drug use was as ubiquitous in everyday life as it was in the music contemporary bands were creating. The Illinois Crime Commission list was an effort to impede the flow of drug-related songs to the general public. As you can see from this list of hits, their efforts fell flat.
“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was a prominent figure of the psychedelic rock movement on the West Coast. They had no qualms about expressing their interest and enjoyment of psychedelic drugs like LSD.
In fact, “White Rabbit” songwriter Grace Slick explained in a 2025 Guitar Player interview, “The lyrics were written at parents because parents kept asking us, ‘Why do you take all these drugs?’ So, the song responds with, ‘Okay, do you remember the stories that you read to us when we were little, like Alice in Wonderland? Alice takes at least five different drugs in that book. By the way, what’s that you’re having with dinner? Alcohol? Well, alcohol is also a drug. It just happens to be legal.”
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles
The Beatles helped usher in the psychedelic movement with albums like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the latter of which landed on the Illinois Drug Commission list for its track, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” The ICC (and many other critics) assumed it was a direct ode to LSD based on the main initials of the song title.
Paul McCartney refuted this idea, though. “What happened was that John’s son, Julian, did a drawing at school and brought it home. He has a schoolmate called Lucy, and John said, ‘What’s that?’ And he said, ‘Lucy in the sky with diamonds.’ So, we had a nice title. This Lucy was God, the big figure, the white rabbit.”
“Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul, & Mary
Like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” the songwriter behind the 1960s folk hit, “Puff the Magic Dragon,” insists the song was never about drugs. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the Peter, Paul, & Mary track from landing on the list due to the presumed references to smoking (puff, autumn mist, Jackie Papers, etc.). Peter Yarrow disputed the correlation.
“As a principal writer of the song, I can assure you it’s a song about innocence lost,” Yarrow once said. “It’s easier to interpret “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a drug song than “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” When “Puff” was written, I was too innocent to know about drugs. What kind of meanspirited SOB would write a children’s song with a covert drug message?”
“Hi-De-Ho” by Blood, Sweat, & Tears
Blood, Sweat, & Tears released their version of Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s “Hi-De-Ho,” also known as “That Old Sweet Roll,” on their third eponymous album, which they released in June 1970. Blood, Sweat, & Tears 3 topped the end-of-year Billboard Pop Albums chart, with singles like “Hi-De-Ho” and “Lucretia MacEvil” leading the charge.
The former single peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Singles chart. The following year, it landed on the Illinois Crime Commission’s drug-related rock records list for lyrics like Hi-de-ho, hi-de-hi, gonna get me a piece of the sky. Gonna get me some of that old sweet roll. These lyrics were interpreted to be celebrating the joys of smoking marijuana.
Photo by David Magnus/Shutterstock
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