A Brief History
On February 12, 1967, British police raided the home of Rolling Stones member Keith Richards at Redlands, confiscating illegal drugs, a pistol, and a shotgun along with ammunition. Richards and bandmate Mick Jagger were arrested, along with singer Marianne Faithfull. Also present were Dennis Hopper, Polish Prince Jean Christien Stanislaus Klossowski, and George Harrison of the Beatles.
Digging Deeper
Richards was charged with 25 crimes and was sentenced to a year in jail with Jagger earning a six month stay in the slam. A prompt appeal resulted in charges against Richards being dropped and Jagger’s sentence being commuted.
Adding to the carnival atmosphere of the raid, Faithful was found naked rolled up in a rug, and Harrison was allegedly allowed to leave unmolested by the police due to his status as a holder of an MBE.
The raid was allegedly instigated by the tabloid, News of the World, which Richards was then suing for libel.
Note: In the wake of the incident, Richards and Jagger were paranoid about who the informant might have been, and allegedly had people beaten up in an effort to find the mole. A rumor about the bust was that Jagger had been munching on a candy bar place in Faithfull’s nether regions. Details of the incident vary with the source.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Blake, Mark. Stone Me: The Wit and Wisdom of Keith Richards. Berkley, 2009.
Lee, Matt. The Rolling Stones: Hot Stuff. Welbeck Publishing, 2020.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Ben Merk (ANEFO) of The Rolling Stones in concert on 15 April 1967, is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
