A newly updated book has pulled back the curtain on the notorious, drug-saturated summer The Rolling Stones spent on the French Riviera in 1971, revealing shocking details from a secret police file and firsthand accounts of rampant excess.
The Nellcôte Chronicles: A French Riviera 'Chemical Factory'
The band, including Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, had decamped to the opulent Villa Nellcôte in the South of France, partly to escape high UK taxes under Harold Wilson's government. According to the 2025 edition of The Curious Chronicles of Villa Nellcôte by author Geir Hornes, the villa became a hub for heavy drug use. Heroin and cannabis were reportedly consumed regularly by Richards, his then-wife Anita Pallenberg, and the band's late saxophonist, Bobby Keys.
Marshall Chess, the former president of Rolling Stones Records, confirms in the book that "drugs were part of the backdrop" of the recording sessions, adding that some nights even Mick Jagger was left disgusted by the scene.
The French Police Raid and 'Les Cowboys'
The book cites a 1,000-page French police report, still largely secret, which details a coordinated drug supply operation. A group of young French men, nicknamed 'Les Cowboys', allegedly delivered narcotics to the villa on a weekly basis.
This all culminated in a police raid on December 14, 1971, after the Stones had departed for Los Angeles. Officers searched the staff house and, according to Hornes, uncovered "enough [narcotics] to constitute a serious drug case." The detained 'Cowboys', aged between 19 and 24, were suspected of procuring and transporting drugs for Richards, Pallenberg, and Keys.
Legal Repercussions and a Lifetime of Excess
The legal fallout was significant:
- Five French locals were later convicted for supplying drugs to Nellcôte.
- Bobby Keys received a four-month suspended sentence and a fine for procuring hashish.
- Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg were convicted in absentia for illicit drug use, receiving one-year suspended sentences and fines.
- After an appeal, Richards, Pallenberg, and Keys were handed a two-year ban from entering France.
The revelations in the book are part of a long history of drug association for Richards. In a separate, more recent anecdote that underscores the era's culture, rock promoter Paul Rappaport recalled flying on the band's private jet with Richards and Ronnie Wood in later years. He likened the experience to being in a "chemical factory," with an endless supply of drugs processed with laboratory grinders and piled high on tray tables, leading to "total debauchery" and days without sleep.
Gretchen Parsons Carpenter, a former model and actress who visited Nellcôte that summer, reflected on the mindset of the time. Now 73, and whose husband Gram died of an overdose at 26 in 1973, she stated: "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."
The updated version of The Curious Chronicles of Villa Nellcôte offers a stark, documented look at the price of rock and roll immortality, set against the sun-drenched backdrop of the Côte d'Azur.
