We can all probably agree that Keith Richards, in a way, is superhuman. The man is a walking scientific anomaly, a binder full of legendary stories, and a tried-and-true rock star. Arguably, one of the last living tried-and-true rock stars. Back in the 60s and 70s, musicians were just built differently, and the world was a bit more accepting of their high jinks. That being said, Keith Richards got away with a lot and has lived to tell the tale, and this story we are about to retell is just one of the many.
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Keith Richards and The Rolling Stones were arguably at their peak in the late 60s and early 70s. Consequently, they could seemingly go wherever they wanted, do whatever they wanted, and get a mere slap on the hand when that wasn’t the case. Well, that is what happened when Keith Richards took a visit to Hugh Hefner’s original Playboy mansion in Chicago.
How Fun Turned Into Fire for Keith Richards and Company
In 1972, The Rolling Stones were touring the United States and had a stop in Chicago. Invited to stay at Hefner’s Playboy mansion, Richards did what Richards was known to do: tie one on with booze and dope. So, Richards and The Rolling Stones’ saxophonist, Bobby Keys, locked themselves in one of the home’s many bathrooms and just started eating drugs like candy. Although inebriated to the utmost degree, they didn’t realize they nearly burnt the whole place to a crisp.
“Bobby [Keys] and I played it a little far when we set fire to the bathroom,” wrote Keith Richards in Life. “Well, we didn’t, the dope did. Not our fault. Bobby and I were just sitting in the john, comfortable, nice john, sitting on the floor, and we’ve got the doc’s bag, and we’re just smorgasbording.”
“Bong. And at a certain point, talk about hazy, or foggy, Bobby says, ‘It’s smoky in here.’ And I’m looking at Bobby, and can’t see him. And the drapes are smoldering away; everything was just about to go off big-time. There was a thumping on the door, waiters and guys in black suits bringing buckets of water. They get the door open and we’re sitting on the floor, our pupils very pinned.” Richard humourosuly concluded, “I said, ‘We could have done that ourselves. How dare you burst in on our private affair?”
A wake-up call for Richards, maybe? But it’s also just one of the many harrowingly epic tales the man has crafted incidentally. Nevertheless, in Richard’s fashion, he seemingly played it off like it was just another day at the office.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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