Forced to leave their own country because of tax issues, The Rolling Stones decamped to Keith Richards’ French villa, where they set up shop in a dank basement to record their album scheduled for a 1972 release. Exile on Main St., a double album influenced by the debauchery of the scenario and chaos of the recording process, yet rife with heart and soul, was the masterful result.
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There are 18 songs from which to choose, none of which are unworthy of praise. But we’ve narrowed down this double album to the five choicest cuts.
5. “Happy”
Exile on Main St. was released before the time when every Stones album tended to contain at least one Keith Richards lead vocal performance. “Happy” helped to turn that tide, as it showed not only how engaging he could be on the mic, but also how his songwriting sensibility could stand out in a unique way when free from any input from Mick Jagger. Mick dutifully provides some backing vocals at the end, but this is a showcase for Richards’ mischievous croak and his ability to layer a track from almost nothing (the guitars are all Keith) and make it sound like a righteously rocking band.
4. “Tumbling Dice”
Much of Exile on Main St. is mixed in such a way that the instruments tend to blend into a murky yet captivating jumble. It’s something that always infuriated Mick Jagger about the record (although we think it’s a big part of why it’s so magical). Perhaps because it was the single, “Tumbling Dice” features much clearer delineations between the instruments, allowing it to sound sharp on radio. But there’s still wonderful chemistry shown between Keith Richards on lead guitar and Mick Taylor on slide, as they stay out of each other’s way and still pull the whole track into a sublimely soulful direction.
3. “Ventilator Blues”
You’ve heard before of a Wall of Sound. Exile on Main St. can best be described as perpetrating a Blob of Sound. On “Ventilator Blues,” brilliant session players and Stones associates Bobby Keys (saxophone), Jim Price (trumpet), and Nicky Hopkins (piano) all contribute to it, as they meld together when the song progresses out of Mick Taylor’s grimy original riff. It’s a slow-moving, compelling mass. The lyrics? Well, you might need breathing assistance to survive in the claustrophobic studio that was filled with all manner of stifling, drug-fueled vapors.
2. “Rocks Off”
The opening track on Exile on Main St., “Rocks Off” is a thriller of a song all on its own, while also serving as a worthy jumping-off point. That quirky opening guitar riff gives way to an unstoppable rhythm courtesy of Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, and the mariachi-style horns played by Jim Price and Bobby Keys add an unexpected twist. Even the weird, brief, slightly psychedelic break in the momentum works because it emphasizes the potency of the main thrust when it returns. Jagger’s lyrics signal his struggles to find true joy in the midst of all the madness of his life.
1. “Shine a Light”
The specter of Brian Jones still hung about the band a few years after his death, in part because they had mostly lurched on ahead without taking too much time to address it. But their tardiness in doing so can be forgiven, because “Shine a Light” was an apropos tribute to this mercurial figure who loomed so large in the band’s history. Propelled by Billy Preston’s gospel touch on keyboards, the song doesn’t try to sanctify Jones or even understand what drove him. But it does offer him love and otherworldly support thanks to one of Jagger’s most heartfelt sets of lyrics: May the good Lord shine a light on you / Yeah, make every song you sing your favorite tune.
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