“E XILE stands apart from other Stones albums, even other Stones albums from that period,” says The War On Drugs’ Adam On Main St Granduciel. “It’s not just that it’s a double album. It’s not just the circumstances in which it was recorded. There’s something about it –a vibe, a feeling. It has such a sound. The horns, the R&B, the blues. I listen to Exile all the time and still get blown away by it.”
Released 50 years ago in May, Exile On Main St (working title: ‘Tropical Disease’) brought into focus the Stones’ gifts for music, myth-making and self-publicity in one fairly explosive package. On the run from the taxman, in April 1971 the Stones decamped to Villa Nellcôte – Keith Richards’ rented waterfront residence at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Côte D’Azur – where, as a beautiful entourage socialised upstairs, the band alchemised their masterpiece in the mansion’s spacious basement.