How William S. Burroughs tried to cure Keith Richards’ heroin addiction
By certain metrics, William S. Burroughs was a rock star before rock ‘n’ roll existed. He may never have served up a killer solo in front of 100,000 fans, but as a primary artistic influence on the countercultural generation and an active elder as the rock wave broke out, his contributions were inestimable. Just like rock ‘n’ roll itself, Burroughs thrived on his own imperfections.
Burroughs’ life perfectly traced the story of pop cultural transformation in the post-war era. During World War II, he enlisted to serve in the US Army in a strategic role. However, after being rejected by the Office of Strategic Services, he submitted to vice and hedonism, soon taking a shine to opiates. Though he began using medical-grade morphine in the 1940s, his addiction soon led the way to heroin.
During his early days as a “beatnik” roaming the artistically fertile streets of New York City, Burroughs befriended Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, with whom he co-founded the Beat Generation. Alongside several other postmodernist writers of the time, the trio defied convention in works of poetry and prose.
The Beat Generation writers opened literature up to fresh pastures, redefining the parameters for the novel or poetic anthology. This departure from convention was reflected in the lifestyles led by the authors, which invariably challenged the conservative values of the wartime generations. Such attitudes would soon be associated with rock stars, and not by coincidence.
Burroughs, Kerouac and Ginsberg had their talons firmly planted by the 1960s. For his part, Burroughs had published his two most famous and controversial books, the confessional novel Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict and Naked Lunch, throughout the 1950s. Beat masterpieces like these famously inspired the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Patti Smith and David Bowie over the 1960s and ’70s.
There are few corners, no matter how dark and sordid, that the Beat Generation didn’t seem to reach during the latter half of the 20th century. Thus, it will come as no surprise to hear that The Rolling Stones were also among the heavyweights bound by the Beat spell. Burroughs’ hedonistic romanticism became particularly palpable in Sticky Fingers, the album home to ‘Sister Morphine’ and the line “I’ll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon” from ‘Dead Flowers’.
By 1971, Keith Ricards’ heroin addiction had reached a heady pitch that, besides tax, made up a vast chunk of his outgoings. While Sticky Fingers ruffled the charts, Burroughs was visiting London and helped Richards overcome his addiction ahead of the band’s “farewell” tour of the UK. The Stones weren’t planning a break-up but intended to leave the UK for France on tax exile after the tour’s conclusion.
Burroughs employed a brutal method of aversion therapy to wean Richards from his cravings. The Beat writer was known for his advocation of apomorphine as an addiction combatant. The drug was first synthesised in 1845 by boiling morphine in a hydrochloric acid preparation. Many years later, pharmacologist Erich Harnack popularised the drug as an effective treatment for alcohol addiction. He hypothesised that the drug’s emetic effects could create a Pavlovian aversion to alcohol. Although the medical community never accepted it as a viable treatment for heroin dependency, apomorphine became popular behind closed doors, thanks to Burroughs.
The brief yet gruelling treatment session helped straighten Richards out so he could prepare for the 1971 tour. However, his heroin abuse would ensue for a further seven years. Notably, when the Stones moved to France, Richards’ rented home, Villa Nellcôte, became the centre of operations. Thousands of pounds of heroin passed through the mansion each week as the band made progress on their next album, Exile on Main St. Among their famous visitors was Burroughs, whose famous cut-up technique aided the creation of ‘Casino Boogie’.
