It's been nearly 40 years since the Rolling Stones recorded their critically acclaimed double album Exile on Main Street. Fleeing the UK as tax exiles and taking up residence in a villa on the French Riviera rented by guitarist Keith Richards, the Stones laid to tape the music that would come to define their careers. Through extensive archival footage and the band's own words, this great moment in rock 'n' roll history is brought back to life with an immediacy and intimacy rarely seen. We are offered an extraordinary view into the recording of an album that, as saxophonist Bobby Keys describes it, is "about as unrehearsed as a hiccup." We see a working schedule dictated by the irregular hours kept by the group's wayward guitarist, and some tracks recorded in a single take when Richards woke and gathered up the only other people who were awake. But in the end, Richards offers what is perhaps the film's most intimate revelation: "Mick needs to know what he's going to do tomorrow. Me, I'm just happy to wake up and see who's hanging around. Mick's rock, I'm roll.
Great little film. Exile man!
steveconn 10 months ago