What would Keith Richards do_ - Jessica Pallington West [69]
Summer 1969 – Moves to 3 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London,
just down the street from Mick and Marianne. The former residence of a Tory minister is refashioned with a psychedelic piano and tripping room. It won’t be long before it becomes another focal point of trouble.
August 10, 1969 – Keith’s son Marlon is born, and now Keith has a personal child roadie.
Marlon will soon be responsible for waking Dad for concerts and snarling “Fuck off” to suspicious adults, something he becomes adept at in his first seven years. His first words are reportedly “room service."
October 1969 – Goes to L.A., takes up with Gram Parsons.
November 28, 1969 – Let It Bleed is released,
includes “Gimme Shelter” and “Midnight Rambler."
December 6, 1969 – Altamont: The Era of Good Feeling officially ends.
The free concert is modeled on Woodstock but turns out to be the anti-Woodstock. Along with the Manson murders, it’s seen as the event that ends the “bullshit flower power” of the 1960s. There are four deaths at the concert: one murder, two automobile hit-and-runs, and one drowning. The wave of homicidal tension starts as the Stones play “Sympathy for the Devil,” inciting violence that escalates into the stabbing of eighteen-year-old Meredith Hunter during “Under My Thumb.” Keith: “It was just another gig where I had to leave fast."
May 26, 1970 – Charged with assault after altercation with an Italian tourist near Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
1970 – Gimme Shelter premieres in Cannes.
The film that documents the death and violence at Altamont gets celebrity and red-carpet treatment at Cannes. Keith and Anita attend.
July 1970 – Recording contract with Decca ends.
Told that they owe the company another single, the Stones write the pornographic “Cocksucker Blues,” which has no hope of release.
July 30, 1970 – Supermanager Allen Klein is dismissed.
The guy wasn’t as trustworthy as hoped.
August 1970 – Performance is released.
“The most disgusting, the most completely worthless film I have seen since I began reviewing.”—Richard Schickel, Time magazine
September 4, 1970 – Get Yer Ya-Yas Out (live album) is released.
March 14, 1971 – The Goodbye Britain tour.
With tax problems and pressures from the government, it’s time to get out. Say goodbye first.
End of March–April 6, 1971 – The Stones leave England, deemed tax exiles.
Claiming to be broke, they move to the south of France, an area W. Somerset Maugham called “a sunny place for shady people.” The house Keith chooses as his home, Nellcote, is a former Gestapo headquarters. Eight months later, Keith will pull an Errol Flynn and escape from France when it proves to be too much trouble.
April 6, 1971 – The Stones sign new record deal with Atlantic Records through Kinney National, an American parking-lot corporation; Rolling Stones Records is formed.
It’s at least an illusion of independence. Marshall Chess, who once answered the letters from kids in England asking for blues albums, is made president. In time, Keith will help Marshall become a heroin addict.
April 23, 1971 – Sticky Fingers is released.
Includes “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses,” and “Sister Morphine."
While recording, the band operates according to “Keith Richards time”—he’s now missing sessions, too stoned to appear.
May 14, 1971 – Mick marries himself,
aka Bianca de Macías, who has a suspiciously Micklike appearance. At the wedding, Keith reportedly passes out behind a sofa and hurls an ashtray through a window at the altar. “I think Bianca has had a bigger negative influence on Mick than anyone would have thought possible."
August 1971 – The Stones file suit against Andrew Loog Oldham and his associate Eric Easton on charges of fraud, withheld royalties, secret agreements with Decca, and coercion. In another action, they bring suit against Allen Klein.
October 1, 1971 – Guitar collection is stolen in France.
January 1972 – Thrown off stage by Chuck Berry at the Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles.
April 17, 1972 – Keith’s daughter