Exile Stones

There are at least a couple of boots in circulation from the Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street sessions. Probably the best known is Taxile on Main Street. One of the others, Exile Stones, which is tonight’s post, has some of the same tracks as Taxile, but there are also a few tracks unique to this recording.

The Stones’ 1972 double album is, without a doubt, one of the greatest rock albums ever. Even the circumstances surrounding the recording have become the stuff of legend. Exile was recorded, for the most part, in the south of France at Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice. It was there where Keith Richards had rented Nellcôte, a 16-room mansion he claimed was a former Gestapo headquarters. Photographer Dominique Tarlé, in her book “The Making Of Exile On Main Street,” confirmed Keith’s claim: “I found a box [in the basement] with a big swastika on it, full of injection phials. They all contained morphine. It was very old, of course, and our first reaction was, ‘If Keith had found this box....’ So one night we carried it to the end of the garden, and threw it into the sea.”

Most of Exile dates to the years from 1968 to 1972, outtakes culled from other sessions, with some originally recorded at Olympic Studios in London. Exile Stones catches those sessions in progress, presenting an even grittier, dirtier Stones than what appears on the final product.

A lot of these tracks will probably be familiar to you. “Good Time Woman” I hadn’t heard of before I got this boot, but the guitar riff and melody sounds strangely like “Tumbling Dice.” The “Highway Child” track is straight up one of the rockinest Stones’ songs I’ve ever heard. I don’t think this saw official release, unfortunately. “Exile on Main Street Blues,” whether intentional or not, sounds like an old blues recording. This whole set has a loose, bluesy feel – like the way you want a Stones record to sound.

Shine a Light.mp3
Sweet Virginia.mp3
Good Time Woman.mp3
Loving Cup.mp3
Stop Breaking Down.mp3
Shake Your Hips.mp3
Let it Loose (instrumental).mp3
Sweet Black Angel (instrumental).mp3
Know the Reason Why.mp3
Highway Child.mp3
All Down the Line.mp3
I Ain’t Lying.mp3
Ventilator Blues.mp3
Exile on Main Street Blues.mp3