"Eight Miles High" also exhibits the influence of sitarist Ravi Shankar, particularly in the droning quality of the song's vocal melody and in McGuinn's guitar playing. However, the song does not actually feature the sound of the sitar, despite the Byrds having appeared brandishing the instrument at a contemporary press conference held to promote the single. In a 1966 promotional interview, which was added to the expanded CD reissue of the "Fifth Dimension" album, Crosby said that the song's ending made him "feel like a plane landing." An earlier version of "Eight Miles High" was recorded with Al Schmitt at RCA Studios in Los Angeles on December 22, 1965, but Columbia Records refused to release that recording because it had not been produced at a Columbia-owned studio. McGuinn has since said he believes this original version of the song to be more spontaneous sounding than the better known Columbia release. That opinion was echoed by Crosby, who commented, "It was a stunner, it was better, it was stronger. It had more flow to it. It was the way we wanted it to be." This original version of "Eight Miles High" was eventually released on the 1987 archival album "Never Before" and was also included as a bonus track on the 1996 Columbia/Legacy CD reissue of "Fifth Dimension". "Eight Miles High" was released on March 14, 1966, in the U.S. and May 29, 1966, in the UK, reaching number 14 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was also included on the band's third album, "Fifth Dimension", which was released on July 18, 1966. Following its release, the band faced allegations of advocating the use of recreational drugs in "Bill Gavin's Record Report", a weekly newsletter circulated to U.S. radio stations. This resulted in "Eight Miles High" being banned in a number of states within a week of the report being published, a factor which contributed to the single's failure to break into the "Billboard" Top 10. The Byrds and their publicist, Derek Taylor, countered by strenuously denying that the song was drug-related. Taylor issued an indignant press release stating unequivocally that the song was about the band's trip to England and not drug use. However, by the early 1980s, both Crosby and Clark were prepared to admit the song was not entirely as innocent as they had originally declared. Crosby said: "Of course it was a drug song!