ditional trousers and ties, writes racynand readable gossip. But a question atnonce arises: can an untrustworthy valetnbe a reliable witness? Three clues suggestnso. Much of what he reveals isnconfirmed by occasional interviews withnthe Rolling Stones themselves, by othernjournalistic accounts and by the proceedingsnof police courts. Mr. Sanchez,nsecondly, does not fail to confess his ownnsins. And, finally, he provides whatnmemory confirms to be an accurate picturenof a particular time and place,n”Swinging London” in the late 60’s andnlater, a period in which the late DesmondnDonnelly confided that his greatestnfear was that “Britain will sink,ngiggling, into the sea.”nA technical note, however, is in ordernhere. Although the Rolling Stones definednas a musical group numbered fivenmusicians, only three of them can benconsidered as a moral force in society:nMick Jagger, the group’s singer and inntime its acknowledged leader, KeithnRichard and the late Brian Jones. Outsidenthe concert hall and recording studio,nthe other musicians led respectablenfamily lives and pursued such unrevolutionarynhobbies as collecting U.S.nCivil War memorabilia. Their snarls atnsociety were like the groans and grimacesnof professional wrestlers—undertakennin the interests of “image” tonattract paying customers. But Messrs.nJagger, Richard and Jones saw themselves—andnwere seen by others—asnleaders of a social revolution both onstagenand off, defying Establishmentntaboos, pursuing happiness in the teethnof middle-class hypocrisy, inauguratingnthe new age of Youth.nEstablishment boobies are popularlynsupposed to ask of such enterprises,n”Where will it all end.'” It ended, innthis case, in drug addiction, physicalnsqualor, moral callousness, sexual promiscuitynand personal betrayal. Severalnepisodes stick in the mind. Mr. BriannJones abandoned his mistress and childnin order to set up house with Miss AnitanPallenberg, a German starlet. Whennthe discarded lady arrived on his door­nstep to seek assistance, the two loversnhid behind the curtain and giggled uncontrollably.nUnder Miss Pallenberg’snplayful influence, Mr. Jones took tondressing up in nazi uniform and wasnphotographed thus in the act of crushingna doll under his heel. But this idyll couldnnot last. Soon Miss Pallenberg was gigglingnin the company of Keith Richardnand Mr. Jones was forced to seek consolationnin alcohol, drugs, crashing hisnRolls-Royce, sharing his bed with twonLesbians and other distractions.nIt is doubtful, however, if he farednworse than Mr. Richard, whose relationshipnwith Miss Pallenberg survived.nIt was even blessed with children andnbecame an unofficial family. We knownthis because, when Miss Pallenberg returnednhome from a trip abroad once,nMr. Richard unceremoniously turfednout a temporary mistress with the loyalnwords; “Sorry darling, but my familynis important to me.” Yet family lifengradually changed into a black parodynof domesticity—a joint retreat from societyninto a private world of drugs,nphysical neglect and the occult. Thisndescent into the depths took place, paradoxically,nagainst a background of highnaffluence. On one occasion Miss Pallenbergnspent three weeks cloistered in anSwiss hotel suite, keeping maids andnoutsiders at bay, until finally Mr. Richardninsisted that they move from thenaccumulated squalor to fresh quarters.nMr. Sanchez does not fail to tell us thatnthe maids then fumigated the rooms.nIs it not desperately sad that youngnand attractive people should thus destroyntheir self-respect and any prospect ofnhappiness.’ Such lives, moreover, seemndoomed to be brief. Considering thatnMr. Sanchez is writing about youngnpeople, death claims an extraordinarilynlarge number of victims in his book.nBrian Jones himself, possibly under theninfluence of drugs, was drowned in hisnswimming pool; Talitha Getty, a friendnof the Stones and the daughter-in-lawnof Paul Getty, died of a massive heroinnoverdose; the author’s mistress, a nightclubndancer named Madeleine, killednnnherself by repeatedly battering her headnagainst the wall in a drug-inducednfrenzy; and many others in the closencircle of friends and hangers-on aroundnthe group died mysterious, untimelynor semiviolent deaths.nOnly Mick Jagger seemed immunenfrom these various consequences. Henindulged himself dutifully in all thenproper vices—but just short of the pointnwhere they might prevent him from arrivingnat rehearsals, or impair his songwriting,nor depress his earnings. Thisnsense of self-preservation was not confinednto his business life. “Marry menhere, and we’ll sail away in a big whitenyacht and spend our lives making lovenand looking after our beautiful children,”nhe appealed lyrically to his futurenwife, Bianca. Yet he was unsentimentalnenough to call off the weddingnuntil the lady agreed, after a struggle, tona marriage contract that stipulated separatenownership of property. It is a remindernthat successful hedonism requiresnself-discipline and a strong, evennruthless character. Not surprisingly, bynthe book’s end, Mr. Sanchez is dismissingnhim as “just another millionairenbusinessman” who has abandoned thenleadership of a social revolution andnfallen in with fat-cat politicians.nThere is in Mr. Sanchez’s criticismnan implication of reverse hypocrisy, asnif Mr. Jagger is pretending to be wickednbut is really being respectable all thentime. My own interpretation, as above,nis that Mr. Jagger is simply taking anlong-term view of his own pleasures. Isnthere not some justice, however, in thennotion that Messrs. Richard and Jonesnwere being true to their public selvesnin a way that Mr. Jagger (and, evennmore so, the other suburban, nine-tofivensocial revolutionaries in the band)nwas not.’ After all, the songs of thenRolling Stones do not celebrate balance,ncaution, the felicific calculus or the virtuenof deferred gratification. Theynpreach revolution and the ethic of “Inwant it now.” Their topics have includednrape, pederasty, anarchism and drug-nIDnSeptember/October 1980n