Exile on Main St. is the tenth British and twelfth American album by the Rolling Stones, released as a double album on May 12, 1972 by Rolling Stones Records.

After the release of “Sticky Fingers”, the Rolling Stones left England due to high recording studio fees and moved to the south of France, where Keith Richards rented the Villa Nellcotte for the band members and their entourage. Using their portable studio, they completed their compositions, some of which had been created at Sunset Studios in Los Angeles in 1969. Richards’ drug addiction prevented him from participating in the album’s composition on a daily basis, while Wyman and Jagger were frequently absent, each for different reasons.

Many tracks were also recorded at Olympic Studios in London from 1969 to 1971, as well as in Los Angeles from December 1971 to March 1972.

Exile on Main St. topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and several other countries around the world, and went platinum in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

The album’s accompanying singles were “Tumbling Dice” and “Happy”, the former reaching the Top 10 in the band’s home country, the US Billboard, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada, while the latter peaking at No. 22 in the US.

The album received rave reviews, with AllMusic giving it a perfect five-star rating and Entertainment Weekly giving it an A+. In 1993, Entertainment Weekly ranked Exile on Main St. at the top of its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time, and ranked it third on its similar list twenty years later.

AllMusic describes Exile on Main St. as a series of dark, dense jams that incorporate rock and roll, blues, country, and gospel influences. And although the album is often described as Richards’ finest hour, as it is often seen as reflecting his vision for a raw, rock-roots sound, Jagger had already expressed his boredom with rock and roll in several interviews following the album’s release.

According to Robert Christgau, Exile on Main St. expanded on the hedonistic themes the band had explored on previous albums such as Sticky Fingers, piling up all the old themes, such as sex as power, sex as love, sex as pleasure, distance and madness, releasing against the obsession with time a sense that it was more than suitable for men approaching 30 who were still committed to what was once considered music for young people.

From this historic album I select the Slim Harpo’s track “Shake Your Hips”.
 
Tracklist

Side one
1. Rocks Off 4:31
2. Rip This Joint 2:22
3. Shake Your Hips 2:59
4. Casino Boogie 3:33
5. Tumbling Dice 3:45

Side two
1. Sweet Virginia 4:27
2. Torn And Frayed 4:17
3. Sweet Black Angel 2:54
4. Loving Cup 4:25

Side three
1. Happy 3:04
2. Turd On The Run 2:36
3. Ventilator Blues 3:24
4. I Just Want To See His Face 2:52
5. Let It Loose 5:16

Side four
1. All Down The Line 3:49
2. Stop Breaking Down 4:34
3. Shine A Light 4:14
4. Soul Survivor 3:49