George Harrison Collab | Dad Grass
As a Marketing Manager at Dad Grass, I had the immense pleasure of working alongside Dad Grass co-founders - Joshua Katz and Ben Starmer - and the George Harrison family estate to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of All Things Must Pass with a limited edition collection, playfully named “All Things Must Grass”.
In 1970, George Harrison released All Things Must Pass, his first solo album after the break-up of the Beatles. Just over 50 years later, Dad Grass is paying tribute to the man, the dad, his music and his enduring legacy by bringing the world some laughs and some grass.
We’d like to think that if George was still ‘drinking his tea’ today, he’d shy away from the high test blow-your-mind weed that the kids are into and opt for something mellower, something like the specially blended CBD + CBG hemp joints we’ve rolled up in his honor. We also reckon he’d have a little laugh over our All Things Must Grass Dad Stash, smoking accessories and merch celebrating his classic 1970 album. We certainly did. And we hope you do too.
Work: Brand Strategy, Go-To-Market Strategy, Project Management & Copywriting
Initial Research | George Harrison: A History Of Grass
Blog I | Introducing: Dad Grass x George Harrison
Blog II | The Dad Grass x George Harrison All Things Must Grass Dad Stash
Blog III | The Dad Grass x George Harrison Special Blend
Initial Research | George Harrison: A History Of Grass
The times that George Harrison was singing about back in the early 70s and the times we live in today are connected by an invisible thread of optimism, hope, and the faith that all things must (and will) pass. But when that optimism wears thin, we can always sit back, spark up a doobie and ‘have a laugh.” Just like George used to do.
George and the other members of the Fab Four found cannabis in their early days. As he remembers it, in 1960 “we first got marijuana from an older drummer with another group in Liverpool… but we didn’t actually try it until after we’d been to Hamburg.” Following their infamous stint in Germany, where they developed their musicianship and tightness as a band, they headed home and finally lit up in Southport and “learnt to do the twist”. Four years later they got a taste of American grass with Bob Dylan in the Delmonico Hotel in Manhattan. One by one, the band allegedly smoked weed “for the first time in their lives” once again. The rest, as they say, is history.
It didn’t take long for the band to lose the subtlety around their favorite muse. George recalls the Rubber Soul album as “the first one where [they] were fully-fledged potheads.” Largely credited to the band’s collaboration with marijuana, the band had finally paired light-hearted song-play with deep, emotional introspection.
Because of his public courtship with Mary-Jane, George often met unfair marijuna legislation (which he met with biting sarcasm). First in San Francisco at the pinnacle of the hippie movement and again on his Esther estate during a raid on the day of Paul McCartney’s wedding, George often responded to police with incredible logic. After an accusation made by the coppers saying they found a large clump of hashish in one of Harrison’s shoes by saying “I’m a tidy man, I keep my socks in the sock drawer and my stash in the stash box. It’s not mine.”
George Harrison imagined a better world through his lyrics. He also tried to make a better world. Through social advocacy and a booming voice, he set out to acknowledge that “the law against marijuana is immoral in principle and unworkable in practice,” and encouraged the world time and time again to “have a laugh.”
What George Saw (Cultural Context):
A lot has changed since George Harrison was a bouncing baby boy. But the gap of seventy years didn’t bring as many differences as a young optimist such as he would hope. In fact, George might have been exasperated by the familiarity of today’s social causes. Climate reformers continue to beg company executives to understand that bottom lines are not more important than the continuation of life itself. Women’s Liberation Movement members are still left without complete body autonomy. Civil Rights activists are still faced with the debate whether black lives matter. Stonewall rioters continue to fight for equal protection under the law for gay and trans citizens. It’s true. Things might not have changed as much as he hoped. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. The unfathomable amount of change demanded by George and his progressive peers in the 1960’s is only rivaled by the social consciousness of today.
The First Time (The Fab Four Meets Mary-Jane):
As George remembers it, in 1960 “we first got marijuana from an older drummer with another group in Liverpool.” It’s hard to think of the Fab Four as innocent beyond their chord selection, even harder to imagine them having a bag of grass and not dipping their hands into it, but we can’t forget that at one point they were a group of working class boys no doubt affected by the stigma of their parent’s generation. It didn’t take long for innocence to turn into experience, particularly once they headed to Hamburg.
He continued, saying “we didn’t actually try it until after we’d been to Hamburg.” Germany was enlightening for the Fab Four in more ways than one. In 1962, the wee wiley boys from Liverpool kicked off their collaboration with cannabis, honed their craft grinding out two or three sets a night and returned home as wordly-wise musicians. The boys turned to men by developing their musicianship and tightness as a band, all the while drawing inspiration through tokes in between takes and soaking in as many experiences as they could manage. George said “I remember we smoked it in the band room in a gig in Southport and we all learnt to do the Twist that night, which was popular at the time. We were all seeing if we could do it. Everybody was saying, ‘This stuff isn’t doing anything.’ It was like that old joke where a party is going on and two hippies are up floating on the ceiling, and one is saying to the other, ‘This stuff doesn’t work, man.’” Sixty years later, kids are still lighting up, skyrocketing to the moon, laughing their asses off and mumbling to their friends, “this stuff doesn’t work, man!”
The Right Time (Four Brits & A Yank):
George only had to wait three years and travel 3,308 miles from Liverpool to Manhattan to tune in and turn on properly to what would eventually become a gentle muse and travel companion. In 1964, in a room in the Delmonico Hotel on Park Ave. and 59th Street, Bob Dylan met the Fab Four and suggested they skip the pills and would “perhaps like to try something organic and green, grown out of Mother Earth’s sweet flowing breast.” Not only was this night one of the most pivotal in Rock n’ Roll history, it was also a night young George wouldn’t forget (and even if he did, journalist Al Aronowitz had quite the memory): “Dylan whipped out a plump joint, like the Pied Piper of drugs, and gave it to Ringo Starr, who smoked the whole thing like a cigarette, not knowing how to smoke it any differently.”
Beatles: “We’ve never smoked marijuana before,”.
Dylan (disbelieved, looking from face to face): “But what about your song? The one about getting high?”
Beatles: (stupefied): “Which song?” John managed to ask.
Dylan: “You know…” and then he sang, “and when I touch you I get high, I get high…”
Beatles (John, flushed with embarrassment): “Those aren’t the words. The words are, ‘I can’t hide, I can’t hide, I can’t hide…'”
One by one, the band allegedly smoked weed “for the first time in their lives.” It might have just been the first time they smoked it right, but even so, everything changed after that.
It’s All In The Music (Marijuana As Muse):
And so, The Beatles became stoners, known for their grass-seasoned lyrics and for their red eyes (particularly in their 1965’ Help! film). As George remembered the Rubber Soul album, he recalled that it was “the first one where [they] were fully-fledged potheads,” (thank the music gods for that!). Largely credited to the band’s collaboration with marijuana, the now-men had paired light-hearted song-play with deep, emotional introspection. George had begun his flirtation with the sitar and added a pre-Hippie vibe to John’s “Norwegian Wood.” George’s beloved contribution to the album-turned-love letter to potheads everywhere “If I Needed Someone” could be considered a precursor to our favorite toking soundtrack, “My Sweet Lord.” Without Dylan’s visit to that Manhattan apartment, we wouldn’t have had Rubber Soul - and who knows what All Things Must Pass might have been? And where would we be without it? George himself hit the nail on the head: "People who smoked marijuana and were into music, is that somehow it focuses your attention better on the music. And so you can hear it clearer.”
The Next Times (Harrison & Legislation):
Not only did George imagine a better world than the one he grew up in, he set out to make it happen. His lyrics imagined better days, his chords united generations alongside proclamations of peace and love, and his actions defended those wrongs and attempted to adjust unjust (and ridiculous) laws. When his head wasn’t in the clouds, George (along with his fellow bandmates) paid for a full-page advertisement promoting the legalization of marijuana in response to a nine-month prison sentence for possession. The ad appeared in The Times newspaper on July 24, 1967 and was signed by 64 of the most prominent members of British society (including The Beatles and Brian Epstein). It read in a familiar, modern way, “the law against marijuana is immoral in principle and unworkable in practice.” Honestly, this could be a headline today.
Within one week of the paper's publication, the advertisement led to a debate in the House of Commons and sparked public discourse which eventually led to the easing of laws against cannabis use in Great Britain. So if you ever “have a laugh” in London Town or along the Royal Mile, you can thank the wise words published in 67’ that boldly asserted that our favorite herb is “the least harmful of pleasure-giving drugs, and [...] in particular, far less harmful than alcohol.” We couldn’t agree more!
The Wrong Time (A Tale Of Two Busts):
During the summer of love in San Francisco, George and the rest of the Fab Four visited the epicenter of the hippie counterculture in all of it’s rainbow-hued and pot-smoking glory. While he was a bit put-off by the “horrible spotty drop-out kids on drugs,” he grew rather fond of a particular pipe. So much so that when he was later arrested for something or other, he said to a policeman, “Can I have my pipe back now, then?” It was the big Indian pipe with feathers and coloured strings that had been given to me in Haight-Ashbury."
We all love a sarcastic stoner, and that wasn’t the last time he’d bite back at the big man. Two years after his stint in The Bay Area, when his Esher estate was infamously raided in March of 1969 (a sting led by Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher, a notorious figure who had made a personal mission of pursuing high profile targets), George vehemently denied an accusation made by the coppers saying they found a large clump of hashish in one of Harrison’s shoes by saying “I’m a tidy man, I keep my socks in the sock drawer and my stash in the stash box. It’s not mine.”
Blog I | Introducing: Dad Grass x George Harrison
All Things Must Grass Collection
Pinch us. We must be dreaming. Our little weed brand is mixing it up with one of the most legendary artists ever. A musical icon. A loving dad. And in our books, the most classic bloke that ever did toke!
We’d like to think that if George was still “drinking his tea” today, he’d shy away from the high test blow-your-mind weed that the kids are into and opt for something mellower, something like the specially blended CBD + CBG hemp joints we’ve rolled up in his memory.
We also reckon he’d have a little laugh over our All Things Must Grass Dad Stash, smoking paraphernalia and merch celebrating his seminal 1970 album.
We certainly did. And we hope you do too.
Full article here.
Blog II | The Dad Grass x George Harrison All Things Must Grass Dad Stash
Hide Your Joints In Plain Sight
The Dad Stash is our revolutionary stashing system that lets you hide your grass in plain sight. If you're new to this signature move of Dad Grass trickery, you may want to check out our Stash that looks like a tin of sardines or the one that looks like a box of fireworks.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of George's seminal recording, we’ve created an “All Things Must Grass” 5 Pack Dad Stash that makes your pack of Special Blend Joints look like the double cassette boxes released back in the day.
If you’ve still got a dusty shelf of outdated media, slide this Dad Stash between the Boz Scaggs albums and disco compilations your mom bought you in grade school. Nobody’s touched those things for years. Your kids don’t even know what they are. You’ll be safe until you finally get around to the remodel.
George’s Stash
"I’m a tidy bloke. I keep records in the record rack, tea in the tea caddy, pot in the pot box," said George to the London Times, after being arrested for having of 570 grains (36.9g) of grass laying about the house.
Like most dads, George had a weed stash box. But way back in 1969, he obviously hadn't yet perfected the art of keeping his grass hidden in plain sight. Busted! We like to imagine that, if Dad Grass was around then, we would have had him covered.
All Things Must Pass
In 1970, George Harrison All Things Must Pass was released, his first solo album after the break-up of the Beatles. All Things Must Pass has only grown in influence and stature in the half-century since its initial release, including induction in the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame and inclusion on The Times of London’s “The 100 Best Albums of All Time” and Rolling Stone’s 2020 listing of “The Top 500 Albums of All Time.” Pitchfork declared it to have “changed the terms of what an album could be.” In 2021, the Harrison family released a suite of 50th anniversary editions which won the Grammy for ‘Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package’ category and pushed the album back into the Top 10s around the world upon its reissue.
Full article here.
Blog III | The Dad Grass x George Harrison Special Blend
A Classic Toke Meets A Classic Bloke
Crafted from a special blend of Organic CBD and CBG hemp flower. A perfect harmony for your smile and your heart. Nothing run of the mill. No cockamamie business. No extra texture. And absolutely no wah-wahs.
Low Dose, Full Toke, Like George Used To Smoke
We’d like to think that if George was still ‘drinking his tea’ today, he’d shy away from the high test blow-your-mind weed that the kids are into and opt for something mellower, something like the specially blended CBD + CBG hemp joints
we’ve rolled up in his honor . The low dose Organic hemp flower we use for these joints (and all Dad Grass products, for that matter) has less than .3% THC, which means that it won’t get you stoned to the bone. Instead, it’ll take you back to the good ol’ days when smokin’ a doobie helped you tune in, gave you a pleasant-but-manageable buzz and put you in a chilled out euphoric mood.
A Special Blend
Mixing it up with one of the most iconic musicians in history is humbling, to say the least. So for this collaboration, a blending of our modest little weed brand with George Harrison – the man and the dad – we had to come up with something truly special. George himself was a blend. A blend of cultures, styles, times…you name it. He was living proof that certain blends, of the right ingredients and in the proper proportions, do it better. So we set out to craft an all new kind of joint. A mix of Dad Grass CBD flower and Mom Grass CBG flower. CBD for physical harmony and CBG for mental clarity. A peaceful balance of our two favorite cannabinoids, all wrapped up in one perfectly rolled joint. It’s our love song to George and his beautiful dualities. Our tribute to him as a catalyst for creativity and connection. A special blend that we hope is worthy of George’s name and legacy.
CBD + CBG
If you’re already hip to the hemp, you’ve probably learned the ABCs of CBD and CBG. But for those of you that are new to Dad Grass and Mom Grass, we recommend you check out some of our educational blog posts to learn more about these two groovy cannabinoids, the parental units of the Dad Grass fam. To keep it simple, CBD (cannabidiol) is the active ingredient in our Dad Grass Joints, Flower and Classic Formula Tincture. We find that it’s great for winding down and that it makes us feel deeply and totally chilled out. CBG (cannabigerol) is the active ingredient in our Mom Grass Joints and Flower. Our friends tell us that they like it for creative inspiration because it makes them feel more calm, focused and present in the moment. Both cannabinoids have been proven effective in reducing anxiety, stress, pain, inflammation and even some chronic illnesses. What happens when you blend the two together? Well, there’s a growing body of scientific evidence (supported by our own unofficial studies, wink wink) that leads us to believe you get the benefits of each…plus some! That’s because of the entourage effect, which causes cannabinoids to work better together than individually. We’ll spare you the deep dive on the endocannabinoid system this time around. And we’ll avoid any band-versus-solo-albums comparisons for obvious reasons. But suffice it to say, our Special Blend combines CBD and CBG in a perfect harmony that’ll plug you in and turn you on.
Effects To Expect
The Special Blend is less a stop along the road between Dad Grass and Mom Grass and more of a vibration on its own frequency. We often say that Dad Grass is more of a head high. Mom Grass is more of a body high. And we’ve begun to affectionately refer to the effects of smoking the Special Blend as a “heart high.” Many of our friends have reported that, along with improving their mood and widening their smiles, the Special Blend chills them out and makes them feel more connected to the moment. We think George would be proud that his first signature weed product is known to have this effect, because he supported, “anything that (could) help mitigate stress and keep people out of their minds, in their hearts, out of the psychotic place and into the heart place.” George also often maintained that cannabis got his creative juices flowing, and that’s another effect that people can expect from the Special Blend. Perhaps it’s because the CBD brings us a sense of physical harmony while the CBG calms and grounds us. And when blended together, it helps us flow into that peaceful place of inspiration and creation.
What's In A Special Blend Pack?
Like our Dad Grass and Mom Grass 5 Packs, the Special Blend George Harrison Dad Grass Five Pack comes with five .7G joints. Each one is handcrafted using only the finest 100% Organic hemp flower, responsibly grown right here in the USA. No additives or pesticides. No nicotine or tobacco. No sticks, stems or seeds. No trim or shake. A simple paper filter. All wrapped up in 100% natural papers and folded at the end to keep the good stuff in.
We gave the design of the Special Blend pack a little “extra texture”. How could we resist? We’re mixing it up with George Harrison after all! It’s still the same familiar flip-top hard pack with our E-Z slide insert. But if you look closely you’ll see some tasteful nods to the man and his music. On the front, just below George’s signature, we snuck in one of the gnomes from the cover of All Things Must Pass. On the sides, we proclaim the of the collaboration, “Let It Roll” (an unintentionally apt joint-themed lyric borrowed from George’s Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp). And when you reach for one of your joints inside, you may just recognize the lush landscape of George’s Friar Park, also featured on the cover of All Things Must Pass.
Full article here.
