(Courtesy of Atlantic Records)
When the Rolling Stones left England in the summer of 1971, they fled to Keith Richards’ 19th century villa in the south of France known as Nellcote to record their country-blues album, “Exile on Main St.” The atmosphere in which the Stones would record plays a major roll in the raw, honky-tonk sound that the album evokes.
The Stones left England in order to avoid police harassment and high taxes imposed on the band by the British government. The band’s exile from their homeland gives the blues-driven, rock n’ roll album a sense of political anger and soul.
When the opening guitar riffs of “Rocks Off” feed through the speakers with a vintage crackle and Mick Jagger nonchalantly screams, “Oh yeah!” under his breath, the Stones’ mood is clear. It’s the mood that can only come from the Stones at the height of Keith Richards’ heroin addiction, with sporadic recording sessions and Mick Taylor as their backing guitarist. Taylor gave the Stones a much more powerful and skillful guitar sound than the early Brian Jones.
The pounding, rich piano melodies intertwine with Taylor and Richards’ blues riffs and screaming brass horns to form a chaotic yet brilliant instrumentation that works well with Jagger’s soulful voice.
A listener can’t help but to get up and dance when the second track, “Rip This Joint,” follows in true rockabilly form. The stride piano style and fast-paced rhythm, provided by bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, are reminiscent of Little Richard or Chuck Berry. “Shake Your Hips” and “Casino Boogie” are nothing more than the blues at its finest, complete with Taylor on slide and Jagger using an echoing, lower vocal register to spit classic blues lines of frustration.
Though “Exile on Main St.” is considered by many to be one of the Stones’ best albums, it was not the source of the Stones’ critically acclaimed classics. Besides “Tumbling Dice” and “Happy,” it lacks the big chart-toppers. Albums such as “Sticky Fingers” or “Let it Bleed” have more tracks that would show up on a compilation of greatest hits, yet “Exile on Main St.” has an organic sound rooted in quintessential British classic rock. The album’s unique country gospel mood stays true until the last notes of “Soul Survivor.”
“Sweet Virginia” is a country ballad that helps break up the fast pace of the album. It begins with a soft acoustic guitar topped with a harmonica melody. Jagger’s voice embodies a southern drawl as his lyrics are strung out and slurred. When the song picks up, one can almost imagine the Stones sitting on a wooden porch, circled around the simple instruments, all belting the lyrics, “But come on come on down Sweet Virginia / Come on honey child I beg of you / Come on come on down you got it in you / Got to scrape that shit right off your shoes.”
The following track, “Torn and Frayed,” can be considered one of the most underrated Stones tunes; it comments on the often-misinterpreted, iconic rock n’ roll lifestyle that they helped define. They sing, “On stage the band has got problems / They’re a bag of nerves on first nights / He ain’t tied down to no hometown / Yeah, and he thought he was reckless / You think he’s bad, he thinks you’re mad / Yeah, and the guitar player gets restless.” The Stones understood that drug use and life on the road were glamorized in the 1960s. The song mirrors the harsh reality of the 1970s sentiment that musicians were beginning to feel.
The catchy, opening gospel piano chords for “Loving Cup” provide an introduction to a high point of the album. This love ballad is simple rock n’ roll, but the Stones give it manifestation through sheer emotion and classic Stones lyrics: “Yes I am nitty gritty and my shirt’s all torn / But I would love to spill the beans with you till dawn.”
The album continues to progress with blues numbers such as “Ventilator Blues” and “Turd On The Run,” but also delves deeper into a gospel sound with “I Just Want To See His Face,” “Let It Loose,” and “Shine a Light.” Jagger sounds as if he is leading a southern Baptist choir in “Shine a Light,” backed by an organ and the same gospel piano chords that ring throughout the album.
The Stones incorporate soul, gospel, rock, and blues into “Exile on Main St.” with graceful ease as each track transitions to the next smoothly and embodies the same vintage, honky-tonk feel as the last. “Exile on Main St.” is the Rolling Stones at the top of their sound. While many artists at the time were looking to future technology for their sound, the Stones looked to the past.
The album was recorded loosely, using simple technologies that would have been more appropriate for an old Delta Blues field recording in 1920 rather than for a rock n’ roll band in 1971. The low-technology recording was the only way the Stones could have captured such a powerful, traditional sound.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Davis Brown at Brownfd@colorado.edu.
