George Harrison invents the British hippie.

He probably didn’t mean to but that’s what happened after the release of Rubber Soul, probably my favourite Beatles album, 50 years ago yesterday. This track is one of the most influential pieces of popular music ever recorded, being the first to feature a sitar. George Harrison played it and that sound quickly came to define a certain aspect of the late 60s. The Rolling Stones were quick to copy (as they so often were) and included a sitar on Paint It Black a few months later. But the this original fusion of East and West was what spawned the “Hey Man” hippie culture with its penchant for meditation, mysticism and all things Indian. Even now, 50 years on, it’s still infused with the scent of joss sticks and “naughty smoke”