A series of intimate photos which captured the Rolling Stones as they hosted a ‘six-month house party’ inside a villa in southern France have gone on view in Paris.
The striking, mostly black and white images, taken by French snapper Dominique Tarle, show bandmates Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts – the latter of whom died last year – in their prime after they moved to the now infamous Villa Nellcote in 1971 to escape the ‘tax collector’ at home.
The Rock’n’Roll legends are seen playing guitars, smoking and partying in the stunning 16-bedroom property, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, Côte d’Azur – which had previously been owned by the Gestapo, the Nazi’s secret police force, in the 1940s.
The hedonistic rockers, of Satisfaction and Brown Sugar fame, are also seen recording their hit album Exile on Main St inside a recording truck, which they had imported from London before hooking it up to the mansion’s basement.
The six months they spent in southern France have become the stuff of legend among music fans, with stars such as John Lennon making regular visits to the 54-room mansion, which was rented by Sir Keith.
Actor Jake Weber, eight at the time, who is seen in one of the photographs, revealed in 2010 how he was taken to the villa by his drug-dealing father, who had secretly hidden packets of cocaine inside the boy’s shirt on a flight from Ireland.
Incredibly, the now-iconic photos from that summer remained locked in a drawer for 30 years after being rejected by publishers at the time, before selling like hotcakes when they resurfaced decades later in a photobook, simply named Exile, in 2001.
Tarle – who began photographing concerts at just 15 using his father’s camera, before capturing the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Kinks and others – spent the summer with the band after he was told he had to leave Britain as his visa was running out.
He told Blind Magazine this week: ‘The British immigration services told me to leave the country, and I was depressed.
‘But during their last concert, Bianca, the future Mrs. Jagger, let me know that the group was leaving England to go into exile in the south of France in order to escape the tax collector.’
Left to right: Anita Pallenberg, Keith Richards with his Telecaster guitar, Gram Parsons and Gretchen Burrell, while in the mirror, the reflection of French photographer Dominique Tarle, who spent six months at the Villa Nellcote with the Rolling Stones and their friends and lovers
Sir Mick Jagger takes a motorbike ride in Cote d’Azur in 1971, as locals on horseback watch on, in one of the few coloured photographs captured by Dominique Tarle, which are on show in Paris until mid-March
Mick Jagger smokes a cigarette as Keith Richards – cigarette in hand – plays his guitar while singing inside the grand Villa Nellcote in Cote d’Azur, southern France, in 1971
Mick Jagger is the epitome of 70s cool as he strums his guitar in Villa Nellcote, Cote d’Azur, while rocking a half unbuttoned shirt and long, wavy hair, in front of a pocket knife and two packs of cigarettes
Keith Richards beams as he sits cross-legged in a wicker chair under the sun at Villa Nellcote, in Cote d’Azur, which he rented
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger play their guitars as they hold an impromptu jamming session on the floor after moving to Villa Nellcote in the south of France in 1971
Anita Pallenberg and Keith Richards are captured in a loving embrace by photographer Dominque Tarle during the summer of 1971, at Villa Nellcote
Rolling Stones bandmates Charlie Watts and Keith Richards rock their emblematic 70s flared trousers during a recording session at the Villa Nellcote in 1971
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are photographed letting their hair down poolside at the Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat during the summer of 1971
He recalls how he photographed the band for one afternoon, expecting that to be the extent of his visit.
He added: ‘Around 5pm, I thanked everyone, and Keith said: ‘Where are you going? Your room is ready!”
Tarle would then spend six months at the villa, where he says he tried to remain invisible to capture the best moments possible – which Sir Keith praised him on years later.
He was taken on boat and car rides, family meals, Bianca and Mick Jagger’s wedding in St. Tropez, and witnessed the recording of Exile on Main St.
‘For the first three months, I was the guest of an English family on vacation in the south of France,’ he recalled.
‘The Stones then decided to get back to work, but there was no professional recording studio in the region.
‘We had to fetch their recording truck from London.’
The recording truck was connected to the basement of the property.
Tarle recalled how the pianist Ian Stewart had spotted a train line nearby and ran a huge power cable to the villa to supply them with enough electricity.
Keith Richards was renting the house with Anita Pallenberg and their son Marlon.
Tarle previously told the New York Times: ‘A carnival of characters paraded through: Terry Southern, Gram Parsons, John Lennon, even a tribal band from Bengal… dope dealers from Marseilles; petty thieves, who stole most of the drugs and half the furniture; and hangers-on, all of them there to witness what was happening.’
He previously said: ‘For me the whole of the game was to remain invisible and to have the least possible impact on what was going on around me.’
The photographs were initially seen as worthless, Tarle claimed this week, telling Bling Magazine that several publishers had no interest.
Amazingly, they remained locked in a drawer for 30 years, before being published in the sold-out photobook Exile in 2001.
Tarle said: ‘I had made a list of people still alive from that era. Eight days before going to press, the publisher contacted me.
‘Keith Richards wrote the preface, which opened: ‘Dominique is a member of the family and a member of the band.”
The full preface reads: ‘For me, Dominique possessed an almost unique quality (for a photographer!).
‘I realise, looking at these moments he captured, that he was a part of the family, the band, in fact.
Actor Jake Weber sits by a row of guitars as he watches Mick Jagger inside the Villa Nellcote in 1971 – Weber later said he was taken to the mansion by his drug-dealing father and that his main job was to roll marijuana joints
Keith Richards puffs on a cigarette in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in the summer of 1971 – after leaving the UK to avoid ‘punitive’ tax bills and debts
Charlie Watts caught in a pensive moment as he stares at his hand while standing next to a bizarre statue of a half woman, half lion creature at Villa Nellcote, in 1971
Keith Richards with his son Marlon during a boat trip in Villefranche sur Mer, southern France, in the summer of 1971
Keith Richards rocks a unique pair of sunglasses outside the Cappa restaurant in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, in the summer of 1971
Charlie Watts rocks smart brogues and flared trousers while playing the piano inside Villa Nellcote in Cote d’Azur, southern France, in the summer of 1971
Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman on the keys during a studio session at Villa Nellcote, during the summer of 1971
Keith Richards lays on a rug on the floor while rocking a floral cardigan and pinstriped trousers at Villa Nellcote in Cote d’Azur, 1971
Keith Richards rocks futuristic sunglasses while behind the wheel during a drive in Villefranche sur Mer, captured by photographer Dominique Tarle in the summer of 1971
Charlie Watts plays the drums at Villa Nellcote, Villefranche-sur-Mer, in summer of 1971
Charlie Watts is seen sitting at a long and set dining table inside Villa Nellcote, Cote d’Azur, in 1971
Keith Richards in circular sunglasses while smoking a cigarette in Villefranche sur Mer, 1971
‘He was also an EXILE, in his own country. That quality of blending into the furniture and fittings, I was rarely aware that he was working (WHICH IS RARE!).
‘We lived, worked, played together, and all that may imply! HE CAME, HE SAW, HE CAPTURED, Then he disappeared…UNTIL NOW! From one exile to another, ONE LOVE DOM.’
Taking part in the 2010 BBC documentary Stones In Exile, actor Jake Weber said the villa was filled with drugs, but that he and his brother, aged eight and six at the time respectively, were never harmed.
He said: ‘You would have to be blind not to see it. There was dope and lots of cocaine. People would be wasted but no one was ever unkind to me and my brother.
‘We were allowed to wander freely around. There was no such thing as “bed time” – you just took yourself off when you felt tired. The days were endlessly sunny. We had a series of chefs who would cook you anything you wanted.
‘My brother and I never drank or did drugs. We were too young. We would dance around the room to Brown Sugar while everyone else got stoned.’
The Rolling Stones released their first album, ‘The Rolling Stones’, in April 1964, achieving their first number one single with ‘It’s All Over Now’ three months later.
They went on to deliver eight number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dominique Tarlé, La Villa: The Rolling Stones 1971, is on view until March 16, 2022, at the Galerie de l’Instant, 46 rue de Poitou, 75003 Paris.
Dominique Tarlé began photographing concerts at just 15 using his father’s camera – before going on to capture Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and more
Dominique Tarlé with one of his most famous photos from his summer with the Rolling Stones in southern France
Dominique Tarlé is an acclaimed French photographer known for being associated with some of the greatest musical acts of this century.
Dominique’s interest in rock photography developed early in life.
At the age of fifteen he borrowed his father’s camera, walked into the Olympia music hall in Paris after school and from then on regularly took photographs in front of the stage.
It was the Sixties, a time when an enthusiast could do such a thing without the need for a photopass. He captured many of the main groups of the time on film, amongst them The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Animals, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones.
In 1968 he moved to London to have greater access to the exciting world of Rock & Roll that he had begun photographing in France the year before.
By the summer of 1971 however, Dominique was informed by the immigration department that he had to leave the country. As it happens, the Rolling Stones had recently come to the same conclusion, with the help of their tax advisors, to escape from a massive impending tax debt.
Dom contacted the Stones to let them know he was in the area and he was invited over to Keith’s for lunch.
That one meal became an overnight stay, which turned into practically an entire Summer of unfettered exclusive photographic access.
Dominique took thousands of photographs, covering possibly the most decadent house party in Rock & Roll history. His documentation of this period is a thing of beauty, and his images are highly coveted by Stones fans and art collectors.
The work was later published in the fine-art limited edition book ‘Exile’, (now sold out) which is filled with up close and personal shots of the Stones in various states of consciousness.
Keith Richards wrote in the foreword: ‘For me, Dominique possessed an almost unique quality (for a photographer!). I realise, looking at these moments he captured, that he was a part of the family, the band, in fact. He was also an EXILE, in his own country. That quality of blending into the furniture and fittings, I was rarely aware that he was working (WHICH IS RARE!). We lived, worked, played together, and all that may imply! HE CAME, HE SAW, HE CAPTURED, Then he disappeared…UNTIL NOW!
From one exile to another, ONE LOVE DOM’ — Keith
Source: Sfae.com
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk