Exile on Main St.

Untitled

Exile on Main St. is a 1972 double album by The Rolling Stones. Initially greeted with lukewarm reviews, the album has since been critically reappraised and is now commonly considered one of the best albums in The Rolling Stones' catalogue, and one of the most revered albums of the rock era.

Legend has it that the album was recorded in the basement of Keith Richards' new home, Nellcôte, at Villefranche-sur-mer, near Nice, France. In reality, many of backing tracks were recorded in 1969 and 1970 at Olympic Studios and Mick Jagger's Stargroves country house in England during sessions for Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. These tracks, together with additional backing tracks recorded at Keith's villa in June 1971, were taken to Sunset Sound studio in Los Angeles and numerous overdubs were added during sessions from December 1971 until May 1972.

The numbers for which backing tracks were recorded at Nellcôte are "Rip this Joint", "Shake Your Hips", "Casino Boogie", "Happy", "I Just Wanna See His Face", "Turd on the Run" and "Ventilator Blues". The basic band is believed to have consisted of Keith Richards, Bobby Keys, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, and Nicky Hopkins. Bassist Bill Wyman did not find the ambience surrounding the Richards villa to be endearing and sat out most of the French sessions. Appearing on only eight songs of the finished release, most parts were played by Taylor and upright bassist Bill Plummer. Producer Jimmy Miller, a notable drummer in his own right, covered for an absentee Watts on "Happy" and "Shine a Light". Thousands of dollars of heroin flowed through the mansion on a weekly basis in addition to a contingient of backseat drivers that included the likes of William Burroughs, Terry Southern, and Gram Parsons. Contrary to popular belief, Parsons does not appear on the album and was asked to leave early in the sessions as a result of his obnoxious behavior.

Although newlywed Jagger was frequently missing from Nellcôte, he immediately took charge during the second stage of recording in Los Angeles, arranging for keyboardists Billy Preston & Dr. John and the cream of the city's session backup vocalists to record layers of overdubs. The final gospel-inflicted arrangement of "Tumbling Dice" and "Shine a LIght" was inspired by Jagger and Preston's visit to a local evangelical church.

The elongated recording sessions and differing methodologies on the part of Jagger and Richards reflected the growing disparity in their personal lives. During the course of the making of the album, Jagger had married first wife Bianca de Macias resulting in their only child, Jade, being born in October 1971. Keith Richards was firmly ensconced with partner Anita Pallenberg, yet both were in the throes of heroin addiction, which Richards wouldn't overcome until 1977. Even though the album served as an encapsulation of the "cosmic American music" theory so ardently prostleytized by Parsons and is often described as being Richards' finest moment, Jagger was already expressing his boredom with rock and roll in several interviews at the time of the album's release. With Richards largely beholden to heroin, the group's subsequent 1970s releases--directed largely by Jagger--would experiment with various genres.

Released in May 1972, having been preceded by the Top 10 hit "Tumbling Dice", Exile On Main St. was an immediate commercial success, hitting #1 worldwide just as the band embarked on their first US tour in three years. "Happy", sung by Keith Richards, would be a Top 30 US hit later that summer. Although its initial critics considered Exile on Main St. to be a ragged record, its legend grew steadily over time and has since been considered by many as The Rolling Stones' finest hour. It is currently certified triple platinum in the US alone.

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Exile on Main St. the 42nd greatest album of all time, while in 2003 it was listed as number 7 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Also in 2003, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 12 on their best albums survey, and Pitchfork Media ranked it number eleven on their Top 100 Albums of The 1970s.

In 1994, Exile on Main St. was remastered and reissued on one CD by Virgin Records.

Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

1. "Rocks Off" – 4:32
2. "Rip This Joint" – 2:23
   • Features Bill Plummer on upright bass
3. "Shake Your Hips" (Slim Harpo) – 2:59
4. "Casino Boogie" – 3:33
   • Features Keith Richards on bass
5. "Tumbling Dice" – 3:45
   • Features Mick Jagger on guitar and Mick Taylor on bass
6. "Sweet Virginia" – 4:25
7. "Torn And Frayed" – 4:17
   • Features Mick Taylor on bass
8. "Sweet Black Angel" – 2:54
9. "Loving Cup" – 4:23
10. "Happy" – 3:04
    • Features Keith Richards on lead vocal and bass and producer Jimmy Miller on drums
11. "Turd On The Run" – 2:37
    • Features Bill Plummer on upright bass
12. "Ventilator Blues" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/Mick Taylor) – 3:24
13. "I Just Want To See His Face" – 2:52
    • Features Bill Plummer on upright bass and Keith Richards on piano
14. "Let It Loose" – 5:17
    • Features Dr. John among others on backing vocals
15. "All Down The Line" – 3:49
    • Features Bill Plummer on upright bass
16. "Stop Breaking Down" (Robert Johnson) – 4:34
17. "Shine A Light" – 4:14
    • Features producer Jimmy Miller on drums and Billy Preston on organ
18. "Soul Survivor" – 3:49
    • Features Keith Richards on bass

Personnel

• Mick Jagger - Guitar, Harmonica, Harp, Keyboards, Vocals
• Keith Richards - Bass, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals
• Mick Taylor - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
• Charlie Watts - Drums
• Bill Wyman - Synthesizer, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
• Ian Stewart - Piano, Keyboards
• Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) - Backing vocals
• Billy Preston - Organ, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals
• Bill Plummer - Bass
• Nicky Hopkins - Piano, Keyboards
• Clydie King - Backing vocals
• Jim Price - Organ, Trombone, Trumpet
• Bobby Keys - Horn, Saxophone
• Amyl Nitrate - Percussion, Marimba
• Al Perkins - Steel guitar
• Jerry Kirkland - Backing vocals
• Tammi Lynn - Vocals
• Kathi McDonald - Backing vocals
• Jimmy Miller - Percussion, Producer
• Merry Clayton - Vocals
• Vanetta Field - Backing vocals
• Shirley Goodman - Backing vocals
• Joe Green - Backing vocals
• Glyn Johns - Engineer
• Andy Johns - Engineer
• Joe Zaganno - Engineer
• Jeremy Gee - Engineer
• Robert Frank - Photography
• Norman Seeff - Design
• John Van Hamersveld - Design