Exile of the Stones

Paul Sexton tells the tangled tale of one of the most celebrated albums in rock history, the Rolling Stones' epic Exile On Main Street. As the album is re-issued, 38 years after its 1972 release, Paul speaks to Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. He finds out how, and why, the celebrated rock 'n' roll band became rock's first tax exiles, and wound up making an album with producer Jimmy Miller in the dingy basement of Keith's villa in the south of France. Amid chemical indulgence, technical problems and the presence of endless hangers-on, the sessions dragged on for months, before the whole project was transported to Los Angeles for final mixing. What emerged, at last, was what some fans call the greatest album the Rolling Stones ever made. "There's no flim-flam on this record," observes Richards. "It's a bunch of guys trying to say 'Hey, we're more than just pop stars.'" The programme features classics from the original album, such as Tumbling Dice, Happy and Rocks Off; plus recently-discovered outtakes; and newly-completed tracks like Following The River.