A chapter of the Rolling Stones’ story was written in Villars-sur-Ollon. In the early 1970s, Keith Richards found a refuge here with his partner, the actress and model Anita Pallenberg, and their family. A presence whose memory has been passed down in the resort, somewhere between neighbourhood anecdotes and rock legend.
The story begins in 1971. Facing a difficult tax situation and disputes with their former manager Allen Klein, the Rolling Stones left Great Britain to settle in France. Keith Richards rented the Villa Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer. With no suitable studio nearby, the band turned the basement into a recording space, with the help of their mobile studio truck. Part of the double album Exile on Main St., released in 1972, took shape there. Source.
It was in 1972 that Villars entered his story. In his autobiography Life, Richards explains that Claude Nobs found him this refuge in the Vaud Alps. The founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, whose first edition dates back to 1967, knew the region’s artists and resources well. Richards would also recall an unexpected pleasure: skiing, which he practised right up to the edge of his chalet. Richards’ memoirs, festival history.
In Villars, the memories of Huguette Seeholzer, who worked at Gérance Service from 1969 to 2012, give this stay a very tangible dimension. Richards first rented a chalet on the Route de Solalex, on the Barboleuse side, but the bohemian lifestyle of its occupants quickly left its mark on the property, leading us to arrange further viewings.
The choice eventually fell on the Pic Vert chalet, at the top of the Domaine de la Résidence. Still according to Huguette Seeholzer, one condition came with this new rental: allowing the staff to come and clean the premises every day. Keith Richards moved in with Anita and their family, including their young son Marlon, born in 1969.
This Swiss period is also linked to the birth of “Angie”. In Life, Richards recounts finding its first ideas in the spring of 1972, during a stay in Vevey, while Anita was giving birth to their daughter. He describes an afternoon spent playing guitar on his bed, as the effects of withdrawal began to ease. This memory therefore places the song’s origin on the shores of Lake Geneva, without allowing it to be attributed to the Villars chalet. Source.
The song, credited to Jagger–Richards, was then recorded in Jamaica and completed in London. It appeared in 1973 on Goats Head Soup and became one of the band’s great hits. In Switzerland, “Angie” topped the singles chart for four weeks. Recording history, Swiss chart.
Another story, far less reliable, accompanies the guitarist’s Swiss stays: that of a complete transfusion of his blood to rid him of his addiction. Richards would himself explain that he had started this joke, tired of the questions about his detox. The quip had ended up becoming a legend. Source.
The exact date of his departure from the chalet remains to be established. In the local account gathered here, what remains are the silhouettes of Keith and Anita, their long fur coats, their hippie outfits and a way of living that stood in contrast to the resort’s habits. For a while, the story of the Rolling Stones had also been set against the streets and chalets of Villars.