A new book has unearthed the dark side of drug taking at Keith Richards’ former home, Villa Nellcote on the Cote D’Azur.
The Rolling Stones were on the Cote D’Azur in 1971, escaping high taxes under Harold Wilson’s Labour government. Now a 2025 version of the book The Curious Chronicles of Villa Nellcote, reveals how heroin and cannabis were used by Keith Richards, his first wife Anita Pallenberg and The Rolling Stones’ late saxophonist Bobby Keys, while recording there.
Author Geir Hornes has seen a 1,000 page French police report claiming that a group of young French men – nicknamed Les Cowboys – delivered drugs to Nellcote each week.
Marshall Chess, former president of Rolling Stones Records, says in the book: “Drugs were part of the backdrop. Some nights, Mick Jagger was disgusted.”
Former model and actress Gretchen Parsons Carpenter recalls her summer visit to Nellcote. Gretchen, 73, whose husband Gram – a former member of The Byrds and friend of Keith Richards – died aged just 26 in 1973 following an overdose, says: “We did not think in terms of consequences. The concept of “rehab” hadn’t even been invented yet. The problem was, those fun drugs quickly turned into not-so-fun.”
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Author Geir says the French police report is still shrouded in secrecy, but tells of a police raid on December 14, 1971 – by which time The Stones had moved on to LA. Hornes says: “In the staff house, the police claim they uncover narcotics – enough to constitute a serious drug case.
“The detainees are young, aged between 19 and 24. Referred to as “Les Cowboys”, they are suspected of procuring, transporting, offering, and acquiring drugs for Keith Richards, Anita Pallenberg and saxophonist Bobby Keys. When Les Cowboys are released, Richards is warned about a trap awaiting him if he returns to Nellcote.”
Five French locals were later convicted for bringing drugs to Nellcote. Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, who died in 2014, was handed a four-month suspended sentence and fined for procuring hashish.
Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg were convicted in absentia for illicit drug use and received one-year suspended sentences plus fines. After an appeal, Richards, Pallenberg and Keys were handed a two-year ban from entering France.
It’s certainly not the first time that Keith Richards has been associated with drugs. In 2007, Richards confessed to mixing his father’s ashes with cocaine and snorting them, saying: “It was the strangest thing I’ve tried to snort. But it went down pretty well”.
And earlier this year a rock promoter revealed secrets about The Rolling Stones during their wild days – comparing sharing a private jet with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood to a chemical factory with an “endless” supply of drugs.
Paul Rappaport was senior vice-president of rock promotion at Columbia Records, and during his thirty-three-year career he played a big role in the careers of some of the biggest stars in the business.
Rappaport recalls doing lines of cocaine with Richards within minutes of meeting him, but things went up a notch when he flew on their private jet. Recalling those days, he says: “It was total debauchery.
“They would take these large chunks of coke, put them into professional green plastic laboratory grinders, and crush the stuff into extremely fine powder. A couple of tray tables could be seen piled high with weed, blow, and all kinds of liquor. Didn’t sleep much for seven days and nights straight.”
The updated version of The Curious Chronicles of Villa Nellcote can be purchased via www.nellcotechronicles.com
Source: Mirror
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