''Exile on Main St.'' is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, released on 12 May 1972, by Rolling Stones Records. The 10th released in the UK and 12th in the US, it is viewed as a culmination of a string of the band's most critically successful albums, following '' Beggars Banquet'' (1968), '' Let It Bleed'' (1969) and '' Sticky Fingers'' (1971). ''Exile on Main St.'' is known for its wide stylistic range and the strong influence of Delta blues,

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

, and

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

. The album was originally met with mixed reviews before receiving strong reassessments by the end of the 1970s. It has since been recognized as a pivotal rock album, viewed by many critics as the Rolling Stones' best work and as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album was a commercial success topping the charts in many countries including Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Sweden, the US and UK. Recording began in 1969 at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

during sessions for ''Sticky Fingers'', with the main sessions beginning in mid-1971 at Nellcôte, a rented villa in the

South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, after the band members became tax exiles. Due to the lack of a professional studio nearby, they worked with a mobile recording studio and recorded in-house. The loose and unorganised Nellcôte sessions went on for hours into the night, with personnel varying greatly from day to day. Recording was completed with overdub sessions at Sunset Sound in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and included additional musicians such as the pianist Nicky Hopkins, the saxophonist Bobby Keys, the drummer and producer Jimmy Miller, and the horn player Jim Price. The results produced enough songs for the Stones' first double album. The band continued a back-to-basics direction heard in ''Sticky Fingers'', yet ''Exile'' exhibited a wider range of influences in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

, swing,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, while the lyrics explored themes related to hedonism, sexuality, and nostalgia. The album contains frequently performed concert staples and topped the charts in six countries, including the UK, US and Canada. It included the singles " Happy", which featured lead vocals from Keith Richards, the country ballad " Sweet Virginia", and the worldwide top-ten hit " Tumbling Dice". The album's artwork, a collage of various images, reflected the Rolling Stones' prideful rebellion. After its release, the Stones embarked on an American tour, gaining infamy for riotous audiences and performances. ' ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine ranked the album number 7 on its list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003 and 2012, with it dropping to number 14 in the 2020 edition, consistently as the highest-ranked Rolling Stones album on the list. In 2012, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the band's fourth album to be inducted. A remastered and expanded version of the album was released in 2010 featuring a bonus disc with 10 new tracks. Unusual for a re-release, it also charted highly at the time of its release, reaching number one in the UK and number two in the US.

Recording

Early sessions

''Exile on Main St.'' was written and recorded between 1969 and 1972.

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

said, "After we got out of our contract with Allen Klein, we didn't want to give him hose earlier tracks" as they were forced to do with "

Brown Sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

" and " Wild Horses" from '' Sticky Fingers'' (1971). Many tracks were recorded between 1969 and 1971 at

and Jagger's Stargroves country house in East Woodhay during sessions for ''Sticky Fingers''. By the spring of 1971 the Rolling Stones had spent the money they owed in taxes and left Britain before the government could seize their assets. Jagger settled in Paris with his new bride Bianca, and guitarist Keith Richards rented a villa, Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionthe band's mobile recording truck.

Nellcôte

Recording began in earnest sometime near the middle of June. The bassist Bill Wyman recalls the band working all night, every night, from eight in the evening until three the following morning for the rest of the month. Wyman said of that period, "Not everyone turned up every night. This was, for me, one of the major frustrations of this whole period. For our previous two albums we had worked well and listened to producer Jimmy Miller. At Nellcôte things were very different and it took me a while to understand why." By this time Richards had begun a daily habit of using

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

. Thousands of pounds' worth of heroin flowed through the mansion each week, along with visitors such as William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, Gram Parsons,

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, and Marshall Chess, the son of the famous blues impresario

Leonard Chess Leonard Samuel Chess (born Lejzor Szmuel Czyż; March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969) was a Polish-American record company executive and the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Phil. He was influential in the development of the recor ...

, who had been recently recruited to serve as president of the Rolling Stones' new eponymous record label. Parsons was asked to leave Nellcôte in early July 1971, the result of his obnoxious behavior and an attempt by Richards to clean the house of drug users as the result of pressure from the French police. Richards' substance abuse frequently prevented him from attending the sessions that continued in his basement, while Jagger and Wyman were often unable to attend sessions for other reasons. This often left the band in the position of having to record in altered forms. A notable instance was the recording of one of Richards' most famous songs, " Happy". Recorded in the basement, Richards said in 1982, Happy' was something I did because I was for one time early for a session. There was Bobby Keys and Jimmy Miller. We had nothing to do and had suddenly picked up the guitar and played this riff. So we cut it and it's the record, it's the same. We cut the original track with a baritone sax, a guitar and Jimmy Miller on drums. And the rest of it is built up over that track. It was just an afternoon jam that everybody said, 'Wow, yeah, work on it. The basic band for the Nellcôte sessions consisted of Richards, Keys, Mick Taylor,

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

, Nicky Hopkins, Miller (who covered for the absent Watts on the aforementioned "Happy" and "Shine a Light"), and Jagger when he was available. Wyman did not like the ambiance of Richards' villa and sat out many of the French sessions. Although Wyman is credited on only eight songs of the released album, he told '' Bass Player'' magazine that the credits are incorrect and that he actually played on more tracks than that. The other bass parts were credited to Taylor, Richards and the session bassist Bill Plummer. Wyman noted in his memoir ''Stone Alone'' that there was a division between the band members and associates who freely indulged in drugs (Richards, Miller, Keys, Taylor and the engineer Andy Johns) and those who abstained to varying degrees (Wyman, Watts and Jagger).

Los Angeles

Work on basic tracks (including "Rocks Off", "Rip This Joint", "Casino Boogie", "Tumbling Dice", "Torn and Frayed", "Happy", "Turd on the Run", "Ventilator Blues" and "Soul Survivor") began in the basement of Nellcôte and was taken to Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, where overdubs (all lead and backing vocals, all guitar and bass overdubs) were added during sessions that meandered from December 1971 until March 1972. Although Jagger was frequently missing from Nellcôte, he took charge during the second stage of recording in Los Angeles, arranging for the keyboardists

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

and Dr. John and the cream of the city's session backup vocalists to record layers of overdubs. The final gospel-inflected arrangements of "Tumbling Dice", "Loving Cup", "Let It Loose" and "Shine a Light" were inspired by Jagger, Preston, and Watts' visit to a local

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

church where Aretha Franklin was recording what would become the live album/movie ''Amazing Grace''. The extended recording sessions and differing methods on the part of Jagger and Richards reflected the growing disparity in their personal lives. During the making of the album, Jagger had married Bianca, followed closely by the birth of their only child,

Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

, in October 1971. Richards was firmly attached to his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, yet both were in the throes of heroin

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, which Richards would not overcome until the turn of the decade.

Music and lyrics

According to Bill Janovitz, in his account of the album for the 33⅓ book series, ''Exile on Main St.'' features "a seemingly infinite amount of subtle (and not so subtle) variations on rock & roll – a form that had seemed to be severely limited to basic, guitar-driven music." The music biographer John Perry writes that the Rolling Stones had developed a style of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

for the album that is "entirely modern yet rooted in 1950s rock & roll and 1930s–1940s swing".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, described ''Exile on Main St.'' as "a sprawling, weary double album" featuring "a series of dark, dense jams" that encompass rock and roll,

, and

styles. ''

'' writer Richard Gehr compared the album to outlaw music and observed a strong influence of music from the American South in its "loose-limbed" explorations of 1950s rock, African-American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and gospel country. Although ''Exile'' is often thought to reflect Richards' vision for a raw, rootsy rock sound, Jagger was already expressing his boredom with rock and roll in several interviews at the time of the album's release. Jagger's stance on ''Exile''s rock and roll sound at the time is interpreted by the music academic Barry J. Faulk to seemingly "signal the end of the Stones' conscious attempt to revive American-style roots rock". With Richards' effectiveness seriously undermined by his dependence on heroin, the group's subsequent 1970s releases – directed largely by Jagger – would experiment to varying degrees with other musical genres, moving away from the rootsy influences of ''Exile on Main St.'' According to

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

, ''Exile on Main St.'' expands on the hedonistic themes the band had explored on previous albums such as ''Sticky Fingers''. As he writes, "It piled all the old themes – sex as power, sex as love, sex as pleasure, distance, craziness, release – on top of an obsession with time that was more than appropriate in men pushing 30 who were still committed to what was once considered youth music."

Packaging

For ''Exile on Main St.'', Mick Jagger wanted an album cover that reflected the band as "runaway outlaws using the blues as its weapon against the world", showcasing "feeling of joyful isolation, grinning in the face of a scary and unknown future". As the band finished the album in Los Angeles, they approached designer John Van Hamersveld and his photographer partner Norman Seeff, and also invited the documentary photographer Robert Frank. The same day Seeff photographed the Stones at their Bel Air mansion, Frank took Jagger for photographs at Los Angeles' Main Street. The location was the 500 block near the Leonide Hotel. At the time there was a pawnshop, a shoeshine business and a pornographic theatre (The Galway Theatre) at the location. Still, Van Hamersveld and Jagger chose the cover image from an already existing Frank photograph, an outtake from his seminal 1958 book ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...

''. Named "Tattoo Parlor" but possibly taken from Hubert's

Dime museum Dime museums were establishments that grew in popularity starting from 1870 that were used to display freak show performers, human anatomy exhibitions, dioramas, oddities, and moral lectures to the general public.Sears, Clare. “Electric Brillia ...

in New York City, the image is a collage of

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

performers and freaks, such as "Three Ball Charlie", a 1930s sideshow performer from Humboldt, Nebraska, who holds three balls (a tennis ball, a golf ball, and a "5" billiard ball) in his mouth; Joe "The Human Corkscrew" Allen, pictured in a postcard-style advertisement, a contortionist with the ability to wiggle and twist through a hoop; and Hezekiah Trambles, "The Congo Jungle Freak", a man who dressed as an African savage, in a picture taken by the then recently deceased Diane Arbus. The Seeff pictures were repurposed as 12 perforated postcards inside the sleeve, while Frank's Main Street photographs were used in the

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for gramophone record, LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½-inch 2.7-centimetresquare). ...

and back cover collage made by Van Hamersveld, which features other pictures Frank took of the band and their crew—including their assistant Chris O'Dell, a former acquaintance of Van Hamersveld who brought him to the Stones—and other ''The Americans'' outtakes.

Release and reception

''Exile on Main St.'' was first released on 12 May 1972 as a double album by Rolling Stones Records. It was the band's tenth studio album released in the United Kingdom. Preceded by the UK (number 5) and US (number 7) Top 10 hit " Tumbling Dice", ''Exile on Main St'' was an immediate commercial success, reaching number 1 worldwide just as the band embarked on their celebrated 1972 American Tour. Their first American tour in three years, it featured many songs from the new album. The Richards-sung "Happy" was released as a second single to capitalize on the tour; it would peak at number 22 in the United States in August. After the release of ''Exile on Main St.'', Allen Klein sued the Rolling Stones for breach of settlement because five songs on the album were composed while Jagger and Richards were under contract with his company, ABKCO: " Sweet Virginia", "

Loving Cup A loving cup is a large cup with two arching handles. It can describe a shared drinking container traditionally used at Christian lovefeasts, as well as at weddings and banquets, often made of silver. Loving cups are also given as trophy, trop ...

", " All Down the Line", " Shine a Light" and " Stop Breaking Down" (written by Robert Johnson but re-interpreted by Jagger and Richards). ABKCO acquired publishing rights to the songs, giving it a share of the royalties from ''Exile on Main St.'', and was able to release another album of Rolling Stones songs, '' More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)''. ''Exile on Main St.'' was not well received by some contemporary critics, who found the quality of the songs inconsistent. Reviewing in July 1972 for ''

'', Lenny Kaye said the record has "a tight focus on basic components of the Stones' sound as we've always known it," including blues-based rock music with a "pervading feeling of blackness". However, he added that the uneven quality of songs means "the great Stones album of their mature period is yet to come". Richard Williams of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' was more enthusiastic and deemed it the band's best album, writing that it will "take its place in history" as the music "utterly repulses the sneers and arrows of outraged put down artists. Once and for all, it answers any questions about their ability as rock 'n' rollers." Geoffrey Cannon of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' agreed, stating: "''Exile On Main Street'' will go down as he Stones'classic album, made at the height of their musical powers and self-confidence." The ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''s Roy Carr gave additional praise to the tracks, praising the styles present, the performances of the band and the lyrical content. In a year-end list for ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'', Christgau named it the best album of 1972, stating the "fagged-out masterpiece" marks the peak of rock music for the year as it "explored new depths of record-studio murk, burying Mick's voice under layers of cynicism, angst and ennui".

Legacy and reappraisal

Critics later reassessed ''Exile on Main St.'' favourably, and by the late 1970s it had become viewed as the Rolling Stones' greatest album. In retrospect, Janovitz called it "the greatest, most soulful, ''rock & roll'' record ever made" because it seamlessly distills "perhaps all the essential elements of rock & roll up to 1971, if not beyond". He added that it is "the single greatest rock & roll record of all time", distinguished from other contending albums by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

or ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...

'', which are more "brilliant pop records". On the response to the album, Richards said, "When 'Exile''came out it didn't sell particularly well at the beginning, and it was also pretty much universally panned. But within a few years the people who had written the reviews saying it was a piece of crap were extolling it as the best frigging album in the world." In 2003, Jagger said, "''Exile'' is not one of my favourite albums, although I think the record does have a particular feeling. I'm not too sure how great the songs are, but put together it's a nice piece. However, when I listen to ''Exile'' it has some of the worst mixes I've ever heard. I'd love to remix the record, not just because of the vocals, but because generally I think it sounds lousy. At the time Jimmy Miller was not functioning properly. I had to finish the whole record myself, because otherwise there were just these drunks and junkies. Of course I'm ultimately responsible for it, but it's really not good and there's no concerted effort or intention." Jagger also stated he did not understand the praise among Rolling Stones fans because the album did not yield many hits. Richards also said, "''Exile'' was a double album. And because it's a double album you're going to be hitting different areas, including 'D for Down', and the Stones really felt like exiles. We didn't start off intending to make a double album; we just went down to the south of France to make an album and by the time we'd finished we said, 'We want to put it all out.' The point is that the Stones had reached a point where we no longer had to do what we were told to do. Around the time Andrew Oldham left us, we'd done our time, things were changing and I was no longer interested in hitting Number One in the charts every time. What I want to do is good shit—if it's good they'll get it some time down the road."

Accolades

''Exile on Main St.'' has been ranked on various lists as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 1987, ''

'' ranked it third on a list of the 100 best albums from 1967–1987. List posted at In 1993, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' placed it first on their list of "100 Greatest CDs". In 1998, '' Q'' magazine readers voted ''Exile on Main St'' the 42nd-greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 3 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked it number 11 on their Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. In 2001, VH1 placed it at number 12 on their greatest albums list. In 2003, it was ranked 7th on ''Rolling Stones list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

, maintaining the rank in a 2012 revision, but dropping to number 14 on the 2020 and 2023 revisions of the list, the highest Rolling Stones album ranked on the list. In 2005, ''Exile on Main St.'' was ranked number 286 in '' Rock Hard''s book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. It was ranked number 19 on the October 2006 issue of '' Guitar World'' magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. In 2007, the

National Association of Recording Merchandisers The Music Business Association (Music Biz), formerly known as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), is a not-for-profit trade association based in Nashville, Tennessee. It hosts in-person and virtual events related to music ...

(NARM) and the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

placed it sixth on the "Definitive 200" list of albums that "every music lover should own." It was voted number 35 in the 3rd edition of Colin Larkin's '' All Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2000) and was included in '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. Its re-release has a highest normalised rating of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on seven professional reviews, a distinction it shares with other re-releases such as '' London Calling'' by

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

. In 2012, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

named it one of his favorite albums: "this is just a tree of life. This record is the watering hole. Keith Richards plays his ass off. This has the Checkerboard Lounge all over it."

In popular culture

The album and its title have been referenced several times in popular culture. The garage-trash noise-rock band Pussy Galore released a complete cover of the album, titled '' Exile on Main St.'', that reflected their personal and musical interpretations of the songs, rather than paying tribute to the original sound. John Duffy of

rated their album three and a half out of five stars, and ''

'' ranked it number 253 in "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The British

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

group Alabama 3 titled its debut album '' Exile on Coldharbour Lane''. Perhaps the most notable reference comes from indie singer/songwriter Liz Phair's debut album '' Exile in Guyville''. Phair claimed the album to be a direct song-by-song "response" of sorts to ''Exile on Main St''.

Post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...

band Matchbox Twenty paid homage by titling their 2007 retrospective '' Exile on Mainstream''. Industrial rock band

Chemlab Chemlab is an American industrial rock band formed in Washington D.C. in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank, and Jared Louche (then known as Hendrickson). Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as Throbbing Gristle, Chemlab ...

named the leading track from their album '' East Side Militia'', "Exile on Mainline", in reference to the Rolling Stones album. ''

The Departed ''The Departed'' is a 2006 crime film, crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both an English-language remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film ''Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-lif ...

'', a 2006 film by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

, features a scene in which Bill Costigan mails Madolyn Madden an ''Exile on Main St'' jewel case containing an incriminating recording of Colin Sullivan conspiring with crime boss Frank Costello. The same film also uses the song "Let It Loose" from the album. On 31 October 2009, American rock band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

covered ''Exile on Main St'' in its entirety as the "musical costume" for their Halloween show in Indio, California. The first episode of the fourth season of the Showtime program '' Californication'' is called "Exile on Main St". A later episode in the sixth season featured a guest character waking up next to her musician boyfriend who had died from an overdose in the night in room "1009," a reference to the lyrics of " Shine a Light". The same song was also played by

Tim Minchin Timothy David Minchin Order of Australia#Levels of membership, AM (born 7 October 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, poet, composer, and songwriter. Minchin has released six CDs, five DVDs, and live comedy shows that he ...

's character in the following episode. The first episode of the sixth season of the hit CW show ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' is titled "Exile on Main Street".

Reissues

In 1994, ''Exile on Main St'' was remastered and reissued by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, along with the rest of the post-'' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out'' catalogue, after the company acquired the masters to the band's output on its own label. This remaster was initially released in a Collector's Edition CD, which replicated in miniature many elements of the original vinyl album packaging, including the postcards insert. Universal Music, which remastered and re-released the rest of the post-1970 Rolling Stones catalogue in 2009, issued a new remastering of ''Exile on Main St.'' in Europe on 17 May 2010 and in the United States the next day, featuring a bonus disc with ten new tracks. Of the ten bonus tracks, only two are undoctored outtakes from the original sessions: an early version of "Tumbling Dice" entitled " Good Time Women", and "Soul Survivor", the latter featuring a Richards lead vocal (with dummy/placeholder lyrics). Posted at The other tracks received overdubs just prior to release on this package, with new lead vocals by Jagger on all except "I'm Not Signifying", backing vocals in places by past and current Stones tour singers Cindy Mizelle and Lisa Fischer, and several new guitar parts by Keith Richards and Mick Taylor on " Plundered My Soul." On the selection of tracks, Richards said, "Well, basically it's the record and a few tracks we found when we were plundering the vaults. Listening back to everything we said, 'Well, this would be an interesting addition.. All harmonica heard was added during 2010 sessions by Jagger, and Richards added a new guitar lead on "So Divine". "Title 5" is not an actual outtake from the sessions for ''Exile'', it is an outtake from early 1967 sessions. It features the MRB effect (mid-range boost) from a Vox Conqueror or Supreme amp, as used by Richards in 1967 and 1968. "Loving Cup" is an outtake from early June 1969, but is actually an edit from two outtakes. The first 2 minutes and 12 seconds is the well-known 'drunk' version, as has been available on bootlegs since the early 1990s, but the second part is spliced from a second, previously unknown take. "Following the River" features Jagger overdubs on a previously uncirculated track featuring Nicky Hopkins on piano. The re-released album entered at number one in the UK charts, almost 38 years to the week after it first occupied that position. The album also re-entered at number two in the US charts selling 76,000 during the first week. The bonus disc, available separately as ''Exile on Main St Rarities Edition'' exclusively in the US at Target also charted, debuting at number 27 with 15,000 copies sold. It was released once again in 2011 by Universal Music Enterprises in a Japanese-only SHM-SACD version.

Track listing

Personnel

Sources: The Rolling Stones *

– vocals; harmonica ; electric guitar * Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals; bass guitar ; electric piano ; lead vocals * Mick Taylor – guitars ; bass guitar ; backing vocals * Bill Wyman – bass guitar *

– drums Additional personnel * Nicky Hopkins – piano * Bobby Keys – tenor saxophone; baritone saxophone and tambourine * Jim Price – trumpet, trombone; organ * Ian Stewart – piano * Jimmy Miller – percussion , drums *Bill Plummer – double bass *

– piano, organ * Al Perkins – pedal steel guitar *Richard "Didymus" Washington –

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

* Venetta Fields, Clydie King – backing vocals * Joe Greene – backing vocals *Jerry Kirkland – backing vocals * Shirley Goodman, Tami Lynn, Mac Rebennack — backing vocals * Kathi McDonald – backing vocals Technical *Jimmy Miller – producer * Glyn Johns – engineer * Andy Johns – engineer *Joe Zagarino – engineer *Jeremy Gee – engineer * Doug Sax – mastering * Robert Frank – cover photography and concept * John Van Hamersveld – layout design * Norman Seeff – layout design 2010 bonus disc *Keith Richards – lead vocals * Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals * David Campbell – string arrangement * Don Was and The Glimmer Twins – production * Bob Clearmountain – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

*
''Exile on Main St'' on RollingStones.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exile On Main St 1972 albums The Rolling Stones albums Rolling Stones Records albums Albums produced by Jimmy Miller Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders Albums with cover art by John Van Hamersveld Atlantic Records albums Virgin Records albums Country rock albums by British artists Soul albums by British artists Gospel albums by British artists Rock-and-roll albums Albums recorded in a home studio Country blues albums Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Cultural depictions of Joan Crawford