Music promoter's drug-fuelled tour with wild rockers

A MUSIC promoter has told how he got so high in the sky on a private jet with Rolling Stones rockers Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, he barely slept for a week.

- BY MARK JEFFERIES

Columbia Records boss Paul Rappaport first met the music icons when they took on a side project Ronnie's solo album and tour in 1979.

In a new book, Paul recalls taking cocaine with Keith within minutes of meeting him, but says things went up a notch on their private jet.

"I was no stranger to drug culture but the quantity of consumption blew my mind," Paul remembers.

"As you walked through the cabin, you'd find [bassist] Stanley Clarke and his crew upfront with their health food bars, fresh juices, nuts and berries.

"Stanley was new to the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and he wanted no part of it.

"But as soon as you walked through the curtain to the rest of the plane, it was total debauchery. There were roadies at the back of the plane [with] giant cocaine rocks as big as your fist.