Exile on Main St. was released on May 12, 1972 by Rolling Stones Records and was the band’s tenth studio album released in the United Kingdom. The record’s music incorporates rock and roll, blues, soul, country, and gospel genres. Although it originally received mixed reviews, Exile on Main St. has since been considered to be the Rolling Stones’ best work while being ranked on various lists as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Track listing
1. “Rocks Off”
2. “Rip This Joint”
3. “Shake Your Hips”
4. “Casino Boogie”
5. “Tumbling Dice”
6. “Sweet Virginia”
7. “Torn and Frayed”
8. “Sweet Black Angel”
9. “Loving Cup”
10. “Happy”
11. “Turd on the Run”
12. “Ventilator Blues”
13. “I Just Want to See His Face”
14. “Let It Loose”
15. “All Down the Line”
16. “Stop Breaking Down”
17. “Shine a Light”
18. “Soul Survivor”
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Exile on Main St. was written and recorded between 1969 and 1972, and finally released on May 12, 1972. Keith Richards rented a villa, Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice with girlfriend Anita Pallenberg and the basement became a makeshift studio using the band's mobile recording truck
Bill Wyman Photo By: Mike Lawn/Fox Photos/Getty Images
Bill Wyman did not like the ambience of Richards' villa and sat out many of the French sessions. Although Wyman is credited on only eight songs of the released album, he states that the credits are incorrect and that he actually played on more tracks than that
Designer Van Hamersveld and Mick Jagger chose the cover image from an already existing Robert Frank photograph, an outtake from his seminal 1958 book The Americans. Named "Tattoo Parlor," the image is a collage of circus performers and freaks, such as "Three Ball Charlie” and Joe "The Human Corkscrew" Allen
1972 American Tour Photo By: Stones Archive/Getty Images
Exile on Main St. was an immediate commercial success, reaching No. 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
4th Best Selling Studio Album Photo By: Evening Standard/Getty Images
Exile on Main St. has sold over 8 million copies worldwide, and ranks as their 4th best selling studio album behind Some Girls, Sticky Fingers, and Tattoo You
Exile on Main St. was remastered and reissued in a deluxe package in May 2010 by Universal Music. The re-released album entered at No. 1 in the U.K. charts, almost 38 years to the week after it first occupied that position. The album also re-entered at No. 2 in the U.S. charts selling 76,000 during the first week
