Exile on Main St is all Keith Richards dressed up in full bohemian regal.

Exile as an album has been mythologized beyond comprehension. Topics range from: was it really recorded entirely in France, or recorded exclusively elsewhere, as well as who was really present during the sessions, to the meaning behind the drug riddled 18 tracks that often play as one large exercise in overindulgence.

Exile was released in ‘72 to critical disdain.  Since its release Exile has gone on to become a defining Rock N’ Roll album during the golden age of the 70’s. Listening to the reissue/re-mastered extended version in 2010, Exile on Main St remains a timeless ramshackle classic, full of nocturnal grooves, decadent sounding guitars, and gritty vocals.

Let me give the hipsters a little history; by the late 60’s the Stones were being crippled by England’s labor tax laws which amounted to 93% to each Pound. Bill Wyman, the original Stones bassist stated “if you cleared a million dollars, you would end with roughly 70,000 due to the tax laws imposed.” Naturally for a band like The Stones’ with touring costs, living costs, etc, they were paying out more than what was coming in. It also should be noted that The Stones’ management at the time were not paying the tax due from the bands revenue.

So, in order to avoid the burden of the new labor laws, The Stones decided to decamp to the south of France. After a little bickering from the other Stones, they packed up and made the move to the southern regions of France.

Keith Richards rented a villa in Nellcote, a village located within the French country side. The French villa once served as a headquarters for the SS during World War II. This only added to the myth behind the Exile sessions that continues to this day. Richards was joined by then girlfriend-Swedish model Anita Pallenberg-as well as their son Marlon.

Jagger at the time had just married Bianca Pérez-Mora Macias and was living in Paris. The other Stones did not take a liking to France like Richards had; Charlie Watts the Stones drummer has gone onto say that “he very much felt like an exile, a displaced English man in a country for which the native tongue he could not speak.”

Recording did not start right from the start. The band took the time to take in the ambiance, as well as the sights of their newly christened home. Prior to arriving in France The Stones built a mobile recording truck that would be used for the sessions. Recording began after the arrival of the Mobile Studio. The legendary recording sessions took place in the basement of Keith’s home in Nellcote.

The initial recording proved to be grueling during the spring of ‘71 with power outages interrupting the session.  The main power source was from a power grid down the road that was frequently overloaded. The humid spring environment caused the guitars to often fall out of tune, causing many of the initials recording takes to be repeated, often numerous times.

Richards, always the most elegantly wasted Stone, would often work on the same song for weeks at a time, or a particular riff for hours at a time. The overall sessions were very casual with various hanger-on’s coming and going at all hours. At one point thieves had broken into the villa and stole 8 guitars, during which no one had noticed any interruption/intrusion. This gives us an idea of how causal and loose yet focused on the music the sessions were.

Until now Sticky Fingers had always been my favorite Stones’ record, but now Exile has now graced its way to the top. Possibly, I didn’t get the aura of Exile when I first heard it.  For whatever reason the power, the soul of the album was lost upon me during my first listen. I preferred the catchy, poppy, linear songwriting of Sticky Fingers. Exile is not poppy, it is not linear and it sure the hell is not immediately accessible like previous Stones records. This is nocturnal music, recorded from a place where sun never shines. Far from the sunny 60’s pop of “Ruby Tuesday” and “She’s a Rainbow. “

In the recently reissued Documentary Stones in Exile about the making of Exile, Liz Phair (known for her classic album Exile in Guyville released in 1993 on Matador records) said “I have never bothered to look up the words of the songs online, granted I know the words, just rather not know the meaning.” I can relate to Phair’s assessment, this is not an album full of Dylan-esque imagery, or the linear pop craft of  The Beatles.  This is an album that is about feeling, expression.  It’s an unconscious record.

Exile is loose.  It is dirty yet soulful. Jagger’s vocals are often buried in the mix, which is a far cry from his often in your face vocals. Lyrically we often don’t know what Mick Jagger is going on about; we sense that Exile is coming from a dark place. A dark bar where the light doesn’t dare go.  A place we would like to visit but wouldn’t make it out alive. This is the weird America, the seedy under-belly where circus freaks, gypsy’s and the far fringe reside.

With an album such as Exile it’s a mute topic in discussing the songs individually. This is not that kind of album.   Exile is an experience. This is a ride through decadence, through the harsh reality of America’s Main Streets.  These aren’t the white picket fences of Middle America. This is skid row; the lower east sides, filled with beggars, hanger-on’s, addicts, dirty needles, graffiti lined walls with cracked grimy-blacktop streets. Exile is for the folks who live on the edge of society’s norm.

Only two songs were released as singles and to this day remain in the Stones set-list. They are “Tumbling Dice” about a protagonist with a gambling addiction, someone who is no stranger to the world of infidelity. The next release was Richards “Happy” with Richards supplying guitar/bass, as well as lead vocals. Then producer Jimmy Miller on drums and Bobby Keys on Sax. Richards lays down a great vocal performance on “Happy” which was on ode to Pallenberg.

Mick Jagger has since stated “Exile is not an album of singles.” I very much agree; this is a journey into the soul, a place where most dare not go. From the album cover, down to the last note, this is an album that will define you, hitting you like a runaway train yet soothing you like a Sunday morning church service.

38 yrs later we are still discovering Exile, still trying to decipher its meaning, its message, its mojo. This is all in vain, as this is not an album that begs for dissection. Exile tells us to just feel, to let loose, to get our rocks off.  It’s a lesson in unconscious abandon. Rock N Roll is loose, it’s about freedom, about letting go. To quote Mick Jagger “Don’t fight it!”