Cut off from civilization. An absentee singer. A guitarist so strung out, everyone must wait as he sleeps off his latest buzz. Drugs, procurers and hangers-on everywhere. No record-company feedback. No game plan. Is this the way to record the greatest album of your career?
Almost in spite of itself, “Exile on Main St.” has become a classic-rock landmark.
The Rolling Stones' 1972 double album never was intended to be the band's masterpiece. Certainly, critics and fans didn't call it that when its eerie cover collage of vintage black-and-white novelty photos first graced record-store racks.
But its legacy has grown in the subsequent years, and it consistently has landed on magazine and website Top-100 album lists, sometimes topping them — a case of delayed acclaim that has surprised the Rolling Stones themselves.
The staying power of “Exile” — one of 24 studio albums the British band has released since 1964 — will be proven again with Tuesday’s release of “Exile on Main St.: Deluxe Edition” (Universal Music Enterprises), a remastered version of the album with 10 new tracks, one of which represents a reunion with former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who quit the band in 1974.
Last week, such artists as Green Day, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban and Taj Mahal performed "Exile" songs on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," which was to broadcast a new documentary about the album, "Stones in Exile," tonight.
“It’s got a groove all its own that no other Stones album possesses,” says Bill German, whose Stones-themed memoir “Under Their Thumb” was published by Random House last year.
“It captured the sense of what the Stones were about, which was cheap booze, expensive drugs and fast women. It’s sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and nothing said it better than ‘Exile,’ ” says Steve Hook of Point Pleasant, a disc jockey for Lake Como-based 95.9 WRAT-FM.
“I think it’s just that the vibe of the recording process came through on the record,” says harmonica player Ken “Stringbean” Sorensen of Neptune City, who sometimes plays “Exile on Main St.” songs during his 300 shows per year.
BRITISH INVASION
Along with the Beatles, the original Rolling Stones — singer Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts — were among the so-called “British Invasion” bands that crossed the Atlantic in 1964 to find legions of screaming fans. Their ’60s hits included “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
But early on, it became apparent that the Stones weren’t as cuddly or clean-cut as the Beatles. Drug busts plagued the band later in the ’60s, and Jones died in what was declared a swimming accident in 1969. His replacement, Taylor, had one complete Stones album under his belt, “Sticky Fingers,” when the band commenced recording “Exile on Main St.” in the summer of 1971 under producer Jimmy Miller.
"Sometimes when the power would go, we'd all be sitting by candlelight strumming acoustic guitars."
—
Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor on recording 'Exile on Main Street
’
The rub was that the Stones had recently relocated to the South of France, to avoid paying what they believed were exorbitant British taxes. Segregated from music-business influences — and with no nearby studios that struck their fancy — the Stones decided to record at Richards’ fabled house, Nellcôte in Villefranche-sur-Mer, using their mobile recording unit (which was immortalized in the Deep Purple song “Smoke on the Water” with the lyric, “the Rolling-truck-Stones thing just outside”).
COMPLETE MAYHEM
Two former members of the Rolling Stones agreed on one thing: recording “Exile on Main St.” was anything but an organized process.
“It was done in Keith Richards’ house, so that in itself meant that there was a lack of structure,” guitarist Taylor told me during an interview conducted in East Rutherford in 2003.
“It was complete mayhem!” bassist Wyman told me during a call from England in 1999.
To hear Wyman tell it, the challenge was getting the band in the same place at the same time.
“We all lived in different houses, and we all tried to get to Keith’s house to record, you know,” he said.
“Some days, it’d be me, Mick Taylor and Charlie there. Keith’d be asleep, so he wouldn’t even come downstairs. We’d mess about all day, and you’d go home. The next night, it’d be Mick, Keith and me, and Charlie wouldn’t be there. The day after that, it’d be Charlie, Mick and me, and there wouldn’t be any Mick Taylor or Keith. And then it just went on like that. It was almost like a joke, in a way. Obviously, there were times when we were all there, but it was very, very bitchy and messy.
“And then Mick went off; he married (first wife) Bianca and then he went off to Paris and left us — didn’t he? — when Bianca was having the baby (daughter Jade) and all that. And we were working it out, even, for long periods of time. It was a crazy situation. We had people flying in and out all the time.”
Taylor verified Wyman’s charge that Richards would be sleeping while the band waited for him.
“Whenever he woke up, we’d start recording,” Taylor said with a laugh.
“Then when he decided to go to sleep, we’d finish recording. And it went on like that, day after day, month after month, all summer long. But it was great fun making it.
“It has a very rough sort of quality to it that people really like. But it wasn’t intended. You know, it was just because the studio conditions were quite primitive. It was done in a basement, and we kept having constant power failures, and there was a leaky roof. Sometimes when the power would go, we’d all be sitting by candlelight strumming acoustic guitars.”
The well-documented partying didn’t help the process any, according to both musicians.
“You had the involvement of drugs, and all that came into it,” Wyman said.
“It was a kind of a nightmare in a nice way, though it wasn’t a frightening or horrendous nightmare like Altamont was,” he added, referring to the Stones’ infamous 1969 concert at which an audience member was killed in front of the stage.
“But it was a ‘God, are we ever going to finish this thing,’ you know?”
“It was a very stoned period, a very stoned, hazy period,” Taylor agreed.
“But things got done, amazingly,” Wyman said.
After more recording and polishing in Los Angeles, the album that emerged presented 18 songs (a few of which were enhanced leftovers from earlier sessions) that explored a variety of styles — blues, country, gospel, R&B — and nihilistic lyrical themes.
The Stones were joined by notable musicians, including keyboardists Billy Preston, Dr. John and Nicky Hopkins, and saxophonist Bobby Keys. Unacknowledged, but infinitely influential, was Flying Burrito Brothers co-founder Gram Parsons, who fueled Richards’ love for country music. Miller, Preston, Hopkins and Parsons have since died, Parsons in 1973 of a drug overdose; Keys still performs with the Stones.
In interviews, Jagger frequently has expressed mystification over the resurgence of “Exile on Main St.,” while Richards seems to take it in stride.
“None of the Stones, you know — not just me — but none of the band actually liked the album when it came out,” said Taylor. “We didn’t think it was that good.”
“People say it’s probably the best album we’ve ever done,” Wyman said with a laugh, “but it wasn’t glamorous in any way.”
Taylor said that in the years since leaving the Stones, he has revisited “Exile” from time to time.
“Occasionally,” the guitarist said, “I’ll listen to it in the car or something, and I’ll hear a track like ‘Shine a Light’ and think, ‘Wow, that really is good.’ It’s got a whole mixture of material on it. That’s one of the good things about it. ‘Just Wanna See His Face,’ ‘Shine a Light’ — it’s got some gospel there. That comes from Billy Preston, I guess. Yeah, it’s definitely the No. 1 Stones fans’ album, that and ‘Sticky Fingers.’ ”
SEEDS PLANTED
“Under Their Thumb” author German believes the versatility of musical styles on “Exile on Main St.” has contributed to its enduring appeal.
The album has “a perfect blend of country, soul and gospel — which was pretty daring for a rock band back then,” German says.
“They had dabbled with country music on their previous record (‘Sticky Fingers’), but with Gram Parsons’ influence at Nellcôte, Keith took a deeper interest in the genre, something that’s evident in his style to this day. And the gospel themes in songs like ‘Just Wanna See His Face’ and ‘Shine a Light’ could be found 25 years later in songs like ‘Saint of Me.’ ‘Exile’ is where a lot of the seeds were planted for later Stones albums.”
As a harmonica player, Sorensen is enamored of the bluesy harmonica heard throughout “Exile on Main St.” — even if a lot of people may not realize who played it.
“That’s Mick Jagger,” Sorensen says. “He’s good. A very underrated harmonica player. I’ve stolen plenty of licks from him over the years.”
Sorensen offers this theory on the album’s perseverance: “Over the years, this mythology built up around it of this band sequestering itself away from the world with all of their instruments and equipment, and recording until they were finished. That’s pretty much ideal for recording.”
“You can hear the dank basement in the South of France where it was recorded,” says disc jockey Hook.
“The mix is all muddy. It’s the one Stones album that Jagger never embraced as much as the fans, probably because he’s the singer and the vocals are down in the mix.”
For “Plundered My Soul,” a bonus track on the new “Deluxe Edition” release, Jagger sang fresh vocals and enlisted Taylor to add guitar — their first studio teaming in 36 years.
A lot has happened in those 36 years. The Rolling Stones’ fortunes seem to have grown exponentially; Billboard declared the Stones to be the top-grossing live act of the 2000s. It appears the band’s days of recording in a dank basement are over.
Hook theorized that the Stones may dust off more archival treasures in the future. “So we may be having this conversation about ‘Let it Bleed,’ for example, in another couple of years,” the DJ says.
Not to mention, the Stones are no spring chickens; Jagger and Richards are 66, Taylor’s replacement Ron Wood is 62 and Watts is 68. Ridiculous financial incentives aside, going on tour must be losing its appeal for the Rolling Stones.
“Yeah,” Hook says with a laugh, “it’s hard to keep the fire in your belly when you’ve got $750 million in the bank.”
Exile on Main St.: Deluxe Edition
The Rolling Stones (Universal Music Enterprises)
“Exile on Main St.” is a rock opera, like “Tommy” or “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Betcha didn’t know that. It’s all there in the lyrics. It’s the story of a junkie whose “coat is torn and frayed.” He “always took candy from strangers,” until he “can’t even feel the pain no more.” It’s a “beautiful buzz,” but he’s “no good, can’t speak, wound up, no sleep.” Eventually, he realizes he “needs a love” to keep him happy. He falls for a fellow imbiber, and asks her to give him “a little drink” from her “loving cup,” and to be his “little baby for a while.” She turns out to be his “partner in crime.” Concerned friends ask, “Who’s that woman on your arm, all dressed up to do you harm?” He admits that “some things, well,” he “can’t refuse,” and that he “bit off more” than he “can chew,” even though he “knew what it was leading to.” One night, he finds her “stretched out in Room 10-09.” It seems her “late-night friends” left her “in the cold, gray dawn.”
Well, that’s one interpretation.
The beauty of the Rolling Stones’ 1972 double album “Exile on Main St.” has to do with its density. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and cohorts packed a lot of material — musically and lyrically— into 18 songs, so that every listener hears them differently.
If the re-release of “Exile on Main St.” — which also will be sold in a $179.98 “super” deluxe edition to include vinyl discs and mucho supplementary material — is your introduction to this celebrated work, you may experience an “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment.
For one thing, the only songs you may recognize are “Tumbling Dice” and “Happy.” Also, “Exile” is not as accessible as the acknowledged “best ever” albums by the Stones’ contemporaries (such as the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” or the Who’s “Who’s Next”).
And, well, it’s not for everyone.
But delve deeply into its murky mix of blues, country, gospel and R&B, and rewards await you.
Such as? The punch-in-the-face “Rip This Joint,” with its manic turns by saxophonist Bobby Keys and pianist Nicky Hopkins . . . the straight-from-the-bottle, bourbon-swigging blues of “Hip Shake,” “Turd on the Run” and “Stop Breaking Down” . . . the moonshine-hangover feel of “Sweet Virginia” and “Loving Cup” . . . Al Perkins’ ethereal pedal steel on “Torn and Frayed” . . . the fade-in, fade-out of “Just Wanna See His Face,” which sounds like a congregation on the verge of spiritual orgasm . . . the divine fatalism of “Let it Loose” and “Shine a Light.”
The deluxe edition has been remastered, which is not exactly a first for “Exile on Main St.” The sound is sharper and punchier, which will delight “Exile” die-hards. But nothing short of a remix would fundamentally change this listening experience — an idea that, to said die-hards, is akin to painting over the Mona Lisa.
So the news flash here isn’t the original 18, but the 10 bonus tracks. Following is the scoop on each.
"Loving Cup" is a slower, even more hillbilly-ish alternate take of the "Exile" song. It sounds like the boys have resumed their places in the studio after just waking up on the floor — and not in a bad way.
"Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren)" is a groovy, funky piece with a screeching Jagger harmonica solo and the firmly "Exile"-esque lyric, "The car you drive, a rusty wreck."
"I'm Not Signifying" would fit right in at one of those New Orleans funerals with the marching horn sections. Its slightly out-of-tune piano should sound familiar to "Exile" buffs. The piano mixes sweetly with guitarist Mick Taylor's piercing slide. Wait for the big finish with trumpet and sax.
"Dancing in the Light" is a bouncy, if repetitious, country rocker with more cornpone guitar via Richards.
"So Divine (Aladdin Story)" benefits from what sounds like a touch of xylophone on the bridge, but is thwarted by a clumsy, "place holder" guitar solo.
"Soul Survivor" is the finished track we all know and love, but with Richards slurring gibberish — obviously, with the intention of Jagger "tag-teaming" it later. The coda turns comical as Richards sings, "Et cetera, et cetera." There are some horns not heard on the original that are slick, smooth and appropriate — and we're so glad the Stones took them off.
"Following the River" is a gorgeous, torchy ballad in the vein of "Let it Loose" or "Out of Tears." When the female backing vocals and strings kick in, your eyes may mist up.
"Plundered My Soul" is an okay shuffling rocker. Its significance as the (temporary) return of guitarist Taylor to the Stones fold is the song's only ace — albeit, an historic one.
"Good Time Women" is an embryonic take of "Tumbling Dice." This time, it's Jagger who provides the gibberish.
"Title 5" is a one-off instrumental that sounds more like an outtake from "Between the Buttons" than "Exile on Main St." And the band sounds more like Davie Allan and the Arrows — ask your grandfather — than the Rolling Stones.
Mark Voger may be reached at coolstuff@starledger.com