In February 1967, two members of the Rolling Stones, the lead singer Mick Jagger and the guitarist Keith Richards, were arrested at Richards' home, Redlands, a country house estate in West Wittering, Sussex for drug possession. The raid had been preceded by a major campaign by the tabloid newspaper the News of the World, which Jagger was suing for libel 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 by William Rees-Mogg asking Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?, 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 publicised his use of marijuana 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 campaigned against Michael Hollingshead 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. In 1967 they began a campaign against many bands, including the Who, the Moody Blues 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 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.
Events leading up to the raid In early 1967, Jagger, Richards and Jones began to be hounded by authorities over their recreational drug use, after the News of the World 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 (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 tablets, displayed a piece of hashish 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 aggressive 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 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, Marianne Faithfull, Dennis Hopper, William Burroughs and Kenneth Anger. Christopher Gibbs, 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 (Degree of Murder). Nicky Kramer, an associate of the band, also attended.
Redlands party Trynka asserts that one of the intentions of the party 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 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—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 Loog 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 pills from Jagger's Italian supplier, and Fraser was found in possession of heroin. 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 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, 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 Richards' 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 [Kramer] 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 informant being Keylock, as he had a brother in the Metropolitan Police. 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 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".