Paint it red

 

The success of the Rolling Stones — and their Beatles colleagues — famously sparked a bit of a cultural revolution in the Swinging Sixties. Which in turn became a socio-political one: the establishment, especially in their native Britain, was quite weary of the perceived negative impact these young musicians were having on the youth of the country. And so, Mick Jagger (who has since been knighted by the Queen herself, lest we forget), Keith Richards, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and friends had to routinely fend off police and/or authorities on their way to becoming global icons.

Which came at a price for the Stones in a particular way: more so than their Beatles counterparts, Jagger and the gang were associated with the era’s explosion of drug consumption. Which was not entirely unfounded, to be clear: the late Brian Jones passed away from alcohol and drug abuse, while Keith Richards miraculously survived even worse. The argument, however, that individual practices led to a social issue may have been overstretched. In any event, that issue leads us to today’s story: in the late 1970’s, as the band had become one of music’s mainstays, they were still effectively suffering from police harassment. The culmination of that came in 1977, when Richards was arrested in Canada with enough heroin to be charged for trafficking. Although that was not exactly the man’s first arrest, this one did come with the most serious charges — and could result in years spent behind bars…

But that, luckily, didn’t happen. For a couple of reasons:

1. As Richards’ lawyer later argued in court, the notion that a musician as successful as he was would feel the need to not only consume heroin but traffic said drug came out as somewhat ludicrous. The fact of the matter is, law enforcement had been overzealous in their attempt at curtailing this drug “problem” of theirs — and gone a little too far with their accusations against a rock superstar…
2. The other, perhaps even more relevant reason why Richards eventually got away with it has to do with the mother of current Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and her relationship with his father, the late — and former Canadian Prime Minister — Pierre Trudeau. As it happens, Margaret Trudeau had grown unhappy in her marriage by the late 1970’s and ventured into several documented affairs, including one with Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Apparently, the situation also extended to Mick Jagger, but who knows? Either way, Miss Trudeau was seen entering and exiting a hotel where the Stones were staying on tour…

The following then happened: Richards’ charges got reduced to heroin possession, a much more manageable situation; Margaret Trudeau separated from Pierre Trudeau; Pierre Trudeau lost the next federal election. On the bright side, Mr Richards is still very much alive and kicking while Pierre Trudeau’s son succeeded him in the country’s top spot… Long live Rock n’ Roll!