In February 1967, two members of
The Rolling Stones, lead singer
Mick Jagger and guitarist
Keith Richards were arrested at Richards' home,
Redlands, West Wittering
Redlands is a Grade II listed country house estate in West Wittering, West Sussex, owned by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards.
In his Life (Keith Richards), autobiography, Richards describes purchasing the property in 1966:
''We just spoke to ea ...
, Sussex for drug possession. The raid had been preceded by a major campaign by the
tabloid
Tabloid may refer to:
* Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism
* Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size
** Chinese tabloid
* Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size
* Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft
* ''Ta ...
newspaper the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'', which Jagger was suing for
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
at the time, and which carried lurid stories regarding Jagger and his girlfriend,
Marianne Faithfull. Although convicted—and having spent a night in prison—a publicity campaign by their colleagues in the music industry encouraged popular support and criticism of the decision to prosecute them. Most notably, the traditionally-conservative newspaper ''
The Times'' published an
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
by
William Rees-Mogg asking ''
Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?
"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" is a quotation from Alexander Pope's "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" of January 1735.
It alludes to "breaking on the wheel", a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while tie ...
'', in which he criticised the prosecutions as unfounded and unnecessary.
Background
Drugs, the press and the music industry
By the late 1960s, drugs were common in the British music industry, and in 1966 the ITV documentary ''
A Boy Called Donovan
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' publicised his use of
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
to the wider world. Donovan later described how "this was the first time a British television audience had caught a glimpse of the lifestyle of the
beatniks and many were shocked". Other outlets did similarly. ''
London Life
''London Life'' is a 1924 play by Arnold Bennett and Edward Knoblock.
It ran for 36 performances at the Drury Lane Theatre in London's West End. It was produced by Basil Dean. The large cast included Clifford Mollison, Henry Ainley, Gordon Hark ...
'' campaigned against
Michael Hollingshead
Michael Hollingshead (?–1984?) was a British researcher who studied psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin and LSD, at Harvard University in the mid-20th century. He was the father of comedian Vanessa Hollingshead. He evangelized the use of LS ...
of
Harvard University, who researched psychedelic drugs and introduced many well-known individuals, such as
Timothy Leary, to LSD.
The increased focus of the police on celebrity drug use led, in author Peter Walsh's words, to "an unholy" alliance between the ''News of the World'' and
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
. In 1967 they began a campaign against many bands, including The Who, the
Moody Blues
Moody may refer to:
Places
* Moody, Alabama, U.S.
* Moody, Indiana, U.S.
* Moody, Missouri, U.S.
* Moody, Texas, U.S.
* Moody County, South Dakota, U.S.
* Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada
* Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South A ...
and
Cream. Walsh notes, however, that "for all the column inches devoted to handcuffed rock stars, the amounts seized continued to be trifling". The ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' was particularly well known for its prurient headlines and
exposés, such as "celebrity scoops and sex scandals", gaining it the nickname of "News of the Screws" on that account. By the late 1960s, argues Bingham, the paper had moved from traditional court reporting towards a more intrusive form of journalism based on the scoop as its centrepiece. Always, says journalist
Paul Trynka, "well known for its disapproval and comprehensive coverage of all kinds of sex and sleaze", the paper "fired the opening salvo of the inter-generational war on Sunday 29 January". Under the headline "Pop Stars: The Truth That Will Shock You", they revealed—and sensationalised—details from Pilcher's investigation and arrest of Donovan. Trynka argues that there was an increasing generation gap between musicians and the press, that where traditional performers had once had a symbiotic relationship with the press, by 1967 "The schism between traditional entertainers and the emerging rock aristocracy had become glaringly obvious".
The Stones
Keith Richards purchased the
Redlands estate in 1966 for £20,000 (£ as of ) and moved in with Ratbag, his dog. The house was a large thatched cottage, parts of which dated from the 13th century and was rumoured to have once been visited by
Anne Boleyn. It had been a
Grade II* listed building since 1958.
In his
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
, Richards describes purchasing the property in 1966:
''We just spoke to each other the minute we saw each other. A thatched house, quite small, surrounded by a moat. I drove up there by mistake...I took a wrong turn and turned into Redlands. This guy walked out, very nice guy, and said, yeah? And I said, oh sorry, we've come to the wrong turning. He said, yes, you want to go Fishbourne way, and he said, are you looking for a house to buy? He was very pukka, an ex-commodore of the Royal Navy. And I said yes.''
Events leading up to the raid
In early 1967, Jagger, Richards and Jones began to be hounded by authorities over their
recreational drug use
Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...
, after the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' ran a three-part feature entitled "Pop Stars and Drugs: Facts That Will Shock You". The series described alleged
LSD parties hosted by
the Moody Blues attended by top stars including
the Who's
Pete Townshend and
Cream's
Ginger Baker, and alleged admissions of drug use by leading pop musicians. The first article targeted
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
(who was raided and charged soon after); the second instalment (published on 5 February) targeted the Rolling Stones. A reporter who contributed to the story spent an evening at the exclusive London club Blaise's, where a member of the Rolling Stones allegedly took several
Benzedrine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used a ...
tablets, displayed a piece of
hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
and invited his companions back to his flat for a "smoke". The article claimed this was Mick Jagger, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity; the reporter had in fact been eavesdropping on
Brian Jones. Two days after the article was published Jagger filed a writ for libel against the ''News of the World''. It is likely, suggests Trynka, that by the time the paper published, the event was a month old, having probably taken place in January 1967. Jones, the paper said, had stated that he no longer did much acid "now the cats have taken it up. It'll just get a dirty name. I remember the first time I took it—it was on tour with Bo Diddley". Further, argues Trynka, Jones had been discussing marijuana, but the paper had deliberately misquoted him as acid had been illegal since the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1965 and thus strengthened the newspaper's story as to what rock stars such as the Stones' were assumed to be doing. Trynka suggests that the misidentification of Jagger for Jones may have been accidental, although acknowledges that "insiders like Marianne Faithfull believe that too was cynical and deliberate: as the figurehead of the Stones, Mick's celebrity would help sell more papers". These allegations were particularly important at the time as they could have adversely affected the group's visa status for touring the United States. Jagger also had an alibi, and the paper became concerned that it would face heavy financial
damages if the case came to court; Trynka suggests that the paper then set two of its "most reporters on the case in an attempt to discover culpability on Jagger's part. Members of the group were followed, vans were parked outside their houses at all hours and they believed telephone lines were bugged as they heard clicks and echoes when they made calls. On the evening of Saturday 11 February the paper's
news desk
A news bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate a geographic location or scope of coverage: a ‘Tokyo bureau’ refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; ' ...
received a call: "it was enormously fortunate”, recalled the editor later, "that it happened to be an informant.”
Attendees
David Schneiderman, under the alias David Jones, known as the "Acid King" usually carried a briefcase which acted as a mobile drug dispensary.
Robert Fraser was an art dealer and nicknamed "Groovy Bob" by
Terry Southern on account of the
gatherings he organised, which included celebrities such as
the Beatles, the Stones, photographer
Michael Cooper, designer
Christopher Gibbs
Christopher Henry Gibbs (29 July 1938 – 28 July 2018) was a British antiques dealer and collector who was also an influential figure in men's fashion and interior design in 1960s London. He has been credited with inventing Swinging London, an ...
,
Marianne Faithfull,
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...
,
William Burroughs and
Kenneth Anger.
Christopher Gibbs
Christopher Henry Gibbs (29 July 1938 – 28 July 2018) was a British antiques dealer and collector who was also an influential figure in men's fashion and interior design in 1960s London. He has been credited with inventing Swinging London, an ...
, an antique dealer, was known as the "King of Chelsea" and was a close friend of the band. Others were photographer,
Michael Cooper, who was to design the cover of ''
Their Satanic Majesties Request''. The party, says Trynka, was to be a "showdown between the straight world and the alternative world".
Brian Jones had planned to attend, but he was still working on the soundtrack for
''Mord und Totschlag (A Degree of Murder)''. Nicky Karmer, an associate of the band, also attended.
Redlands party
Trynka asserts that one of the intentions of the party to was to give Jagger his first acid trip. Schneiderman provided LSD to the house party goers around midday; Jagger was sick at first. They then drove around Sussex, Cooper photographing them as they travelled. In the evening Tony Bramwell—a Beatles' roadie—arrived, and was soon followed by
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
and his wife
Pattie, although neither stayed long.
Raid on Redlands
Following a tip-off from the ''News of the World'' on Sunday 12 February, Detective Sergeant
Norman Pilcher led a squad of 18 officers—including two female constables in case it became necessary to perform a body search on Faithfull—which had been tipped off by his chauffeur raided a party at Keith Richards' home, Redlands. No arrests were made at the time, but Jagger, Richards and their friend art dealer
Robert Fraser were subsequently charged with drug offences. Andrew Oldham was afraid of being arrested and fled to America. It was believed that Jagger, Richards and Faithfull were
coming down from an all-day
acid trip. In his autobiography, Richards later described how, "there's a knock on the door, I look out the window, and there's this whole lot of dwarves outside… I'd never been busted before, and I'm still on acid".
The police discovered little sign of illegality: a few
roaches,
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
pills from Jagger's Italian supplier, and Fraser was found in possession of
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
. It is likely that the pills were Faithfull's but that Jagger claimed them as his own to save her from arrest.
It was also rumoured that the party the police had interrupted was an
orgy and that Jagger had been caught eating a
Mars bar
Mars, commonly known as Mars bar, is the name of two varieties of chocolate bar produced by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in 1932 in Slough, England by Forrest Mars, Sr. The bar consists of caramel and nougat coated with mi ...
out of Faithfull's vagina. However, it subsequently emerged that the police entered what Faithfull describes as a quiet domestic scene; "How the Mars bar got into the story, I don't know... It shows you what's in people's minds". The News of the World reported "with particular gusto", says author
Fred Goodman Frederick (Fred, Skip) Goodman is Professor of Education Emeritus at the University of Michigan School of Education, Ann Arbor. He created the influential Master's of Arts and Certification (MAC) Program that pioneered the teacher training residenc ...
, that when the police entered Faithfull had just had a shower and had had to put a fur rug over herself. She later described how, as a side effect of their comedowns, they kept breaking into laughter while the police searched the house, "collecting sticks of incense and miniature bars of hotel soap". The police told Richards that, under the DDA, he was held responsible as the property owner for any drugs discovered, to which Richards said, "I see. They pin it all on me". Meanwhile, Jones had phoned to say he had finished his work on
''Mord
'' and was about to drive down; "don't bother", replied Richards, telling him "we've been busted".
Paranoia
Uncertainty as to the identity of whoever had informed on them—yet certain that someone had—increased Jagger and Richard's paranoia about those surrounding them. The latter suspected his chauffeur, Patrick; Nicky Kramer was beaten up in an effort to make him speak, to no avail. Gibbs calls this "very unpleasant, awful. I'm sure
ramer
Ramer may refer to:
; Places in the United States
*Ramer, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Alabama
*Ramer, Tennessee, a city in McNairy County, Tennessee
*Ramer Field, a stadium in River Falls, Wisconsin
; People
* Geor ...
had nothing to do with spilling any beans." By now Schneiderman—the "most likely suspect", argues Trynka—had "disappeared" to California. On the other hand, notes Trynka, some more recent commentators have argued for the grass being Keylock, as he had a brother in the
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
. In any case, he says, the fact that the ''News of the World'' somehow knew that Harrison had been at the party earlier in the day indicated to the Stones that it was them that the police wanted to catch, not the member of the more family-friendly Beatles.
Days following the raid
Internal band problems
Goodman describes the situation as "an obvious call to arms" for their manager,
Andrew Loog Oldham, noting that "It was his job to devise a strategy, hire the proper legal and public relations firms, and defuse the situation". In the event, Oldham travelled to the United States to avoid possible arrest himself. He believed, suggests Trynka, that having arrested the bandmembers, police would start coming after their management. His business partner
Tony Calder
Tony Calder (27 June 1943 – 2 January 2018) was an English record manager, impresario, talent-spotter, promoter and public relations agent. He was Andrew Loog Oldham's business partner from 1963 to December 1969.
During a career spanning o ...
later commented, "I never saw a man pack his bags so quickly. He was terrified." As a result, Oldham was mostly out of the country over the next three months: the Stones, says Trynka, "saw this as cowardice". Instead,
Allen Klein attended to the publicity surrounding the arrests, coordinating the group's defence, while the band went to Morocco to escape the press. Oldham later explained that "I was already not dealing with a completely full deck, but if you have five policemen in your house, you’ve got a good reason to think you're going to end up in jail. So I left the country".
The raid also worsened Jagger and Jones
' relationship, with the former increasingly blaming the latter for its occurrence. If Jones had not been overheard in Blaise's bragging about his drug usage, Jaggers reasoned, the ''News of the World''—and hence the police—would have had nothing to go on. Jagger ignored the fact that it had been Richards who had organised the party originally and who, argues Trynka had chosen to invite unknown outsiders such as Schneiderman into their close-knit group. Gibbs agrees, stating that, in his view, the bust had been "to a degree brought upon themselves by themselves. Obnoxious behaviour at one time or another. It was all in the stars. So there's no point looking for villains".
Coverage
The headline of the ''
Evening Standard'' was "Naked Girl at Stone's party". In the immediate aftermath of the raid, the ''News of the World'' did not name the celebrities involved, but on 18 March—a couple of days after the group returned from Morocco—the ''
Daily Mirror'' named Jagger and Richards ahead of their court appearances.
Morocco
To escape the press, the group decide to take a holiday in Morocco. The trip started in Paris, badly, when they were nearly arrested for attempting to leave their hotel without paying. Driving Richards' blue Bentley was his associate-cum-bodyguard, an ex-paratrooper called
Tom Keylock
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
. On the journey down through France, Jones, who had been chainsmoking, developed a persistent coughing fit that was not only discomforting but also triggered his
hypochondria
Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...
. The atmosphere, says Trynka, "was heavy, loaded with more than just the smoke from the cigs and the spliffs." Trouble followed them to Spain, where a
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
restaurant refused to accept their
Diners Club card leading to
Guardia Civil involvement. In
Tangier, Jones and Anita broke up, she beginning—or possibly already having begun—a relationship with Richards. As a result, Jagger, Richards and the rest abandoned Jones in the hotel, penniless.
Charges and sentencing
Although Jagger, Richards and Fraser were released the following day, it soon became clear, argues Goodman, that "the government was serious" about sending them to prison. Originally charged at Chichester Magistrates Court on 10 May, Jagger and Richards pled not guilty and availed themselves of their right to a
trial by jury.
The case was heard at Chichester Crown Court before Judge Leslie Kenneth Allen Block. They were
remanded
Remand may refer to:
* Remand (court procedure), when an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court or lower appellate court
* Pre-trial detention, detention of a suspect prior to a trial, conviction, or sentencing
See also
*'' Remando ...
to
Lewes Prison
His Majesty's Prison Lewes is a local category B prison located in Lewes in East Sussex, England. The term local means that the prison holds people on remand to the local courts, as well as sentenced prisoners. The prison is operated by His Maj ...
to await sentencing on 27 July.
The subsequent arrest of Richards and Jagger put them on trial before the
British courts, whilst also trying them in the court of public opinion. On 29 June 1967, Jagger was sentenced a £200 fine and to three months' imprisonment for possession of four amphetamine tablets. Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison and a £500 fine. Both Jagger and Richards were imprisoned at that point: Jagger was taken to
Brixton Prison in south London, and Richards to
Wormwood Scrubs Prison in west London. Fraser received a year and did not appeal. Both were released on bail the next day pending appeal. They were represented in court by the barrister
Michael Havers
Robert Michael Oldfield Havers, Baron Havers (10 March 1923 – 1 April 1992), was a British barrister and Conservative politician. From his knighthood in 1972 until becoming a peer in 1987 he was known as Sir Michael Havers.
Early life and m ...
.
Trial
The first trialthe only one involving a prison sentence – resulted from a February 1967 police raid on
Redlands, Richards's
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
estate, where he and some friends, including Jagger, were spending the weekend. Faithfull recalls the rug she had worn at Redlands being exhibited as evidence. She also thought that "one of the few pleasant things about the whole scaly business was that we got to see Mick and Keith wearing such beautiful clothes": the former wore a green velvet suit with a pink shirt while the latter wore black and grey silk and a white cravat. Faithfull believes that this choice—encouraging an impression of being
romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
figures rather than depraved—aided their publicity campaign.
Campaign
The case was a ''cause célèbre''. Goodman argues that "their eventual saviour" was one of the most surprising elements of the entire episode. On 1 July the traditionally conservative editor of ''
The Times'',
William Rees-Mogg—inspired by
Alexander Pope —wrote
an article critical of the sentences, which questioned whether "Mr Jagger received a more severe sentence than would have been thought proper for any purely anonymous young man". In her autobiography, Faithfull says that up until this point, they felt that "a mysterious and menacing enemy pursued us at every turn"; there was a degree of paranoia on account of Jones' bust the day of their release. It was only with the publication of Rees-Mogg's editorial that they began to feel positive about the outcome. The following month the ''Times'' carried a full-page advertisement stating that "The law against marijuana is immoral in principle and unworkable in practice", which, comments Barnes, "further outraged the establishment", to the extent that it was discussed in the House of Commons. The advert was signed by, among others,
Graham Greene,
David Bailey
David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties.
Early life
David Bailey was born at Wh ...
,
Jonathan Miller and the Beatles.
On appeal, Richards' sentence was overturned and Jagger's was amended to a
conditional discharge (although he ended up spending one night inside London's
Brixton Prison). Rees-Mogg "decry
dthe thinness of the case and the injustice and idiocy of the sentences" and portrayed Jagger's sentence as persecution. Public sentiment against the convictions increased. A month later the appeals court overturned Richards's conviction for lack of evidence, and gave Jagger a
conditional discharge.
The Who rush-released two Stones’ songs—"
The Last Time" and "
Under My Thumb"—which was intended to be part of a sequence of releasing their material "to keep their work before the public until they are again free to record themselves".
Release
Richards spent a night in jail and said that other inmates treated him respectfully. As a result, though, suggests Goodman, he "soon turned wryly philosophic. 'The judge managed to turn me into some folk hero overnight', he said. 'I've been playing up to it ever since.'" The day he and Jagger were released, Pilcher arrested Jones and his girlfriend for possession. Klein despatched his colleague, publicist Les Perrin, to bail them out; they all joined Klein for a party at the
London Hilton
The London Hilton on Park Lane is a hotel situated on Park Lane, overlooking Hyde Park in the exclusive Mayfair district of London. It is tall, has 28 storeys and 453 rooms including 56 suites and a Michelin starred restaurant Galvin at Windows ...
suite to celebrate. Klein became angry, however, when Marianne Faithfull produced some covertly-stored
hash
Hash, hashes, hash mark, or hashing may refer to:
Substances
* Hash (food), a coarse mixture of ingredients
* Hash, a nickname for hashish, a cannabis product
Hash mark
*Hash mark (sports), a marking on hockey rinks and gridiron football field ...
: incensed at the trouble he had gone to gain their release, he threw the container out of his window and flushed the drugs down the toilet. Comments Goodman, "'you people are stupid!’ he snapped. Marianne just pouted. ‘You didn't have to throw it away.’
We Love You
Six months after the arrest of Jagger and Richards, the Stones released the single "
We Love You", intended as a message of appreciation to their fans and other musicians for supporting them throughout the controversy. The single featured fellow musicians
John Lennon and
Paul McCartney on backing vocals and received positive reviews from music critics. It reached No. 8 on the UK charts and No. 50 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
A promotional film for the single, directed by
Peter Whitehead, depicted a reenactment of the 1895 trial of
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, with Jagger, Richards and
Marianne Faithfull portraying Wilde,
Marquess of Queensberry, and
Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carried a homoer ...
, respectively. It has been suggested that this was a satirical reference to their recent trial.
Aftermath
In December 1967, the band released ''
Their Satanic Majesties Request'', which reached number 3 in the UK and number 2 in the US. It drew unfavourable reviews and was widely regarded as a poor imitation of the Beatles' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
''. ''Satanic Majesties'' was recorded while Jagger, Richards, and Jones were awaiting their court cases. The band parted ways with Oldham during the sessions. The split was publicly amicable, but in 2003 Jagger said: "The reason Andrew left was because he thought that we weren't concentrating and that we were being childish. It was not a great moment really—and I would have thought it wasn't a great moment for Andrew either. There were a lot of distractions and you always need someone to focus you at that point, that was Andrew's job."
''Satanic Majesties'' became the first album the Rolling Stones produced on their own. Its
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
sound was complemented by the cover art, which featured a 3D photo by
Michael Cooper, who had also photographed the cover of ''Sgt. Pepper''.
Richards said in 2003, "When we got busted at Redlands, it suddenly made us realize that this was a whole different ball game and that was when the fun stopped. Up until then, it had been as though London existed in a beautiful space where you could do anything you wanted". On the treatment of the man responsible for the raid, he later added: "As I heard it, he never walked the same again".
The Rolling Stones continued to face legal battles for the next decade. Richards believed that he and Jagger had been "stitched up" by the ''News of the World'' and the establishment together, as the former's best defence in the lawsuit from Jagger was that they were all on drugs, which their conviction would imply. Rees-Mogg later commented on the case:
Faithfull believes that the trip they took at Redlands laid strengthened the bond between Jagger and Richards and laid the ground for their subsequent inseparableness. She also considers that it helped mould their image to their advantage.
Cultural impact
Anthony Barnes, writing in the ''
Independent'', suggests that "to some it is a defining moment in history, the point at which a moribund establishment started to disintegrate. To others, the Rolling Stones drugs trial was another nail in the coffin of old-fashioned British values." Either way, he says, very publicly "the establishment turn
don itself". It was the first "pop stars and drugs story" of the tabloid press. This image was enhanced by the role of Havers, who has been described as being, at the time, "the most expensive silk in the country and the pinnacle of the establishment". Trynka describes the case as "the defining moment of the decade".
In 2004, the BBC reported that
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
had commissioned a 2-hour-long film—provisionally titled ''Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?''—of the bust and the events that followed.
Nigel Havers was lined up to play his father in a script written by Nick Fisher. Ten years later,
Newshub reported that the film was "in the works", and that Nigel Havers—who as a child was sworn to secrecy about the case—had a script ready.
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External links
"She Had a Mars Bar Where?" Rolling Stones Redlands Bust
{{The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
1967 in London
October 1985 events in Europe
Drug raids