The creation of Exile on Main St, like so many early chapters in the Rolling Stones story, is shrouded in myth and blurred by conflicting anecdotal evidence. The American journalist Robert. Please don't hesitate to email us if you have any questions, suggestions or issues. We also welcome feedback on how we can improve our services.
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Few records hold the mystique of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. Myths have grown and books have been published in an attempt to explain the sprawling album. The story generally goes that 1972 found the band, literally, as tax exiles, seeking refuge across the English Channel in France. A villa in Villefranche-sur-Mer named Nellcote is rented. Music is made. Sex and drugs abound. Somehow in all this debauchery a record is produced, and that record is Exile on Main St. When Universal Music acquired the rights to reissue and remaster the Rolling Stones catalogue, the big news was the long-promised expanded edition of Exile. It’s arrived, in a variety of forms, and it remains as fascinating and frustrating as ever.
Decadence seems to be synonymous with Exile in every aspect. Stuffed with 18 tracks, it distills the Stones to their purest essence: dark, boozy, cocksure, swaggering, menacing, and above all, rocking. Exile’s territory was hardly new to the band; most of the songs veer between blues, country, soul and R&B, creating that familiar Stones sound.
Yet mixed reviews greeted the now-acknowledged masterwork on its initial release. Why? Besides its lengthy running time, one can only speculate that its legendarily-murky mix was a big factor. Mick Jagger’s throaty vocals are often buried in a dense instrumental blend. In addition to Keith Richards’ and Mick Taylor’s guitars, Charlie Watts’ drums and Bill Wyman’s bass, Nicky Hopkins makes an indelible impression on piano. Jim Price’s trumpet and Bobby Keyes’ saxophone are both prominent pieces of the Exile puzzle. Billy Preston even contributes his trademark organ. Dr. John pops up on backing vocals. The thick mix has been a source of controversy since the album’s release; how would it be handled for the deluxe reissue? Even when a melody sounds rollicking, it has a bleak, world-weary, wrenching feel. Joe Marchese JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J.
Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Peggy Lipton, Doris Day, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and his work still appears with frequency in the magazine. In 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as The Supremes, Melissa Manchester, Laura Nyro, Bobby Darin and Johnny Mathis, legendary producer Bob Crewe, soul legend Wilson Pickett, and many others.
Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City. Overall, a good review for “Exile” that misses discussing the fact that the sound quality on the remaster is harsh and compressed. While that means that some fresh details can be drawn from the murky mix it also means that the recording has no head room when it comes to dyanmic range. This has got to be the worst remasters of this fine album I’ve heard.
I’d recommend staying with the 1994 Virgin edition and just picking up the bonus disc separately. Oh, and a correction–“Happy” uses horns not strings on it to enhance the R&B vibe of the song.