#14 The Rolling Stones, 'Exile on Main Street' (1972)
Previously #7
‘Exile On Main Street’ is The Rolling Stones at their absolutely very best. Recorded over a period of three years, ‘Exile On Main Street’ was completed at a villa in Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice. By 1971, instead of paying their dues in taxes the band had spent their money on other things. As the government was due to seize their assets, they packed their bags and left for France as tax exiles. This record was recorded using The Rolling Stones’ famous mobile recording truck, the recording studio on wheels that had also recorded Led Zeppelin’s ‘III,’ ‘IV’ (#58), ‘Houses Of The Holy’ (#278) and ‘Physical Graffiti’ (#144), The Who’s ‘Who’s Next’ (#77), Bob Marley’s famous live version of ‘No Woman, No Cry’ and Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water,’ amongst many others. The sessions were as loose as you could get. They’d usually happen between 8pm and 3am, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, and not everyone would show up. Keith Richards’ heroin use was at its peak, and thousands of pounds worth of heroin was allegedly flowing through the house at the time, as well as his famous friends roaming around with needles in their arms.
Unlike their earlier albums, this wasn’t a straight up blues record. It featured Rock ‘n Roll, Country, Blues, Soul and Gospel. An American record through and through, by British musicians, of course. Spanning 18 tracks and 4 sides, the Stones didn’t set out to write a double album, but the music just flowed through their haphazard jam sessions. Songs just happened out of nowhere, for example ‘Happy.’ Richards happened to get to the studio early one day and sessions musicians, Bobby Keys (saxophone) and Jimmy Miller (drums) happened to be there. As they had nothing to do, Richards picked up the guitar and started playing the riff to ‘Happy.’ As he was so excited about it, he insisted they had to record it there and then. In four hours he had laid down guitar, bass and vocals, while Keys and Miller added their bits. Nicky Hopkins added some piano later on and Mick Jagger backing vocals. That little jam session became Keith Richards’ most successful song (on which he sang) and the second single from the record. This record features some of my favourite Stones songs such as ‘Rocks Off,’ ‘Casino Boogie,’ ‘Tumbling Dice,’ ‘Sweet Virginia,’ ‘Ventilator Blues’ (how relevant is this song in 2021. Also it reminds me of ‘Come Together’), ‘Let It Loose,’ ‘All Down The Line’ and one of my all-time favourite songs, ‘Shine A Light.’ “May the good Lord shine a light on you/Make every song your favourite tune.” Those lyrics are just some of my favourite. Definitely up there with my favourite Gospel songs. With this record, The Stones had fully come of age. They were doing what they wanted, not under the thumb of controlling managers, not allowing them to be constricted by the limitations in length of an LP. They explored new sounds, recorded their ideas at will and managed to give us one of the most perfect Rock records of the past 50 years. “Thank you for your wine, California/Thank you for your sweet and bitter fruits/Yes I got the desert in my toenail/And I hid the speed inside my shoe.”
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