MATTY'S PICKS--'Exile on Main Street': The Stones' Magnum Opus

Let me start by saying that, without a doubt, 'Exile on Main Street' is one of the 10 greatest rock and roll albums ever made. It is the last of the most amazing consecutive album run in rock history. From 1968 to 1972 the Stones put out 4 straight albums of unparalleled rock and roll genius starting with 'Beggars Banquet' (1968), 'Let it Bleed' (1969), 'Sticky Fingers' (1971), and then 'Exile on Main Street' in 1972. I am flabbergasted when I look back because these 4 albums are the finest the Stones ever made and they were done in a relatively short amount of time when you consider the length of their career.

There is an interesting background story to 'Exile'. It was recorded in the south of France at a home that Keith Richards was renting called Nellcote. The reason the Stones were in France was because they were in tax exile from Britain and thus had to leave the British Isles at very short notice. Keith, being a serious heroin addict (among other things), decided that he wanted the Stones to come to him so he got a mobile recording unit, wheeled it on up to the house, and they recorded the album in the basement of Nellcote (which according to witnesses was akin to an oven because it was so hot). Fresh off of spending a great deal of time with Gram Parsons (the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers), Keith was full of country and folk influenced ideas that he brought to the table.

The original 'Exile' was a double LP that sounded like it was recorded underwater because the production was so murky. The subsequent remastering and transfer to CD (which I own) brought many buried sounds to the surface. The album is a sprawling, ragged gem both musically and lyrically. Allmusic.com says this:

"Taking the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme, Exile is a weary record, and not just lyrically. Jagger's vocals are buried in the mix, and the music is a series of dark, dense jams, with Keith Richards and Mick Taylor spinning off incredible riffs and solos. And the songs continue the breakthroughs of their three previous albums. No longer does their country sound forced or kitschy -- it's lived-in and complex, just like the group's forays into soul and gospel. While the songs, including the masterpieces "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Torn and Frayed," "Happy," "Let It Loose," and "Shine a Light," are all terrific, they blend together, with only certain lyrics and guitar lines emerging from the murk. It's the kind of record that's gripping on the very first listen, but each subsequent listen reveals something new. Few other albums, let alone double albums, have been so rich and masterful as Exile on Main St., and it stands not only as one of the Stones' best records, but sets a remarkably high standard for all of hard rock."

I am in love with this album, especially "Rip This Joint", "Torn and Frayed", "All Down the Line", "Shine A Light", and "Loving Cup". Mick and Keith have never been so in tune with one another as they seemed to be on this album. The legendary friction between them made for fantastic moments throughout. Funnily, Jagger calls 'Exile' "overrated" and says it does not deserve its mythic status. What a joke! I know Keith would completely disagree with this assessment. Charlie Watts' drums swing like crazy (as usual) throughout and the horn section of Bobby Keys on tenor sax (he of 'Brown Sugar' fame) and Jim Price spice up many of the tracks, most notably 'Rocks Off'. The Stones never sounded as simultaneously joyous and beat-up as when they were recording this album and never again did they ascend to the same dizzying heights in the future as during this extremely fertile five year period. Because of this, 'Exile on Main Street' stands as the definitive document of the Rolling Stones and few albums in rock history can truly match it.