KEEF in the new issue of Rolling Stone: "If I had my way, he'd (Mick Taylor) still be in the band."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

The Making of 'Exile on Main Street': Mick Jagger and Keith Richards look back at the birth of the Rolling Stones' gritty masterpiece



http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news

By Rolling Stone
May 12, 2010 12:05 AM EDT

The Rolling Stones had a Number One album and a few legal snafus under their belt when they fled England in search of a proper spot to record in 1971. Where they landed (the South of France) and what they did there (channeled notorious debauchery into some of the best work of their career) would become the stuff of rock & roll legend. It became Exile on Main Street.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards look back on making their gritty 1972 masterpiece — which is due May 18th as a reissue featuring 10 outtakes — in the new issue of Rolling Stone, on sale at newsstands now and available to All Access subscribers today (May 12th). In new interviews, Richards transports writer David Gates back to the filthy basement of Nellcôte, admitting, "It wasn't a great environment for, like, breathing. It was very Hitleresque — the last days of Berlin sort of thing." Sessions were stymied by electrical outages, Jagger's then-wife's labor pains and the fact that Richards was working on a different internal clock ("It's not me being arrogant or anything. It's just that I was asleep," he says.)

But beyond the myth of Exile is the music: Richards recalls loving working with guitarist Mick Taylor, telling RS, "Mick Taylor was such a virtuoso, and I was just very raw … if I had my way, he's still be in the band." Jagger says, "I think it's kind of sprawling, so that you can always find other little nugget things that you haven't heard," musing on the record's incredible endurance. The frontman goes on to explain the process of dusting off found tracks for the reissue and how he really remembers those epic sessions today.

[gristy]

1. Jagger was interviewed on BBC World News tonight

The guy looked good and sounded good. Great, actually.

[old mark]

2. Taylor is a superb guitarist and he added a lot to the Stones music,

including a near jazzy quality on some songs.
Keith, If I had MY way, he'd still be in the band, too.

mark

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. Kinda funny that Keef says this now

...because when Mick Taylor was actually in the band, Keith did all he could to minimize Taylor's impact on the records. Studio bootlegs from that era prove that some of the material that was "left on the cutting room floor" was actually better than what was officially released at the time. Songs like "Brown Sugar" and "Dancing With Mr D." had entire guitar tracks wiped. And there's the "legendary" incident when Keith pulled the faders down right in the middle of Taylor's solo on "Time Waits For No One" which is often said to be the final straw that drove him out of the band.

Of course the live material available from that era, such as the infamous bootleg "Brussels Affair" (1973) leaves no doubt as to how great this version of the band was on stage.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. Not sure if this is the same concert as "Brussels Affair," but...

...Wolfgang's Vault has "Foret Nationale (Brussels, Belgium) 10.17.1973" which you can listen to for free:

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/the-rolling-stones/concerts/foret-nationale-october-17-1973.html

The Rolling Stones Concert
Foret Nationale (Brussels, Belgium)
10.17.1973



Mick Jagger - vocals, guitar, harmonica
Keith Richards - rhythm guitar, vocals
Mick Taylor - lead and slide guitar, vocals
Bill Wyman - bass
Charlie Watts - drums
Billy Preston - organ
Ian Stewart - piano
Jim Horn - horns
Bobby Keys - sax

In May of 1969, the joyously decadent single, "Honky Tonk Woman," signaled the beginning of the second and arguably greatest era of the Rolling Stones. Featuring a 21-year-old Mick Taylor on lead guitar, this song and the subsequent tour to follow would certify The Stones as the most compelling, if not greatest rock and roll band in the world. Over the course of Taylor's live performing tenure with the band (1969-1973), Mick Jagger and Kieth Richards were at the pinnacle of their songwriting powers, writing many of the classics that have come to define the band. As much as Jagger and Richards were enamored by the blues, it was Mick Taylor's virtuosity that gave the band what they had been searching for since the beginning. Taylor's keen ear for harmonics and incredibly fluid style was free of clichés, giving the band an authenticity and power previously only hinted at.

Over the course of the next four years, The Stones would deliver some of their most outstanding albums, including Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street, all featuring significant contributions from Taylor. Although the next studio album, Goat's Head Soup, would find the band struggling to match the previous efforts, as a live band they were at their most penetrating, capable of delivering searing performances that could exhaust an audience with their sheer raw power and energy. Such was the case during September and October of 1973, when The Stones embarked on a European Tour that would go down in history as one of the most drug-fueled and decadent of all time. Midway through the tour, Keith Richards underwent a 3-day hemodialysis treatment that gradually filtered the heroin from his bloodstream in an effort to get off the drug. This event led to the rumor that Keith was having regular blood transfusions to survive his habit. Although untrue, this was widely accepted as fact and added to the already decadent impression of the band.

The Stones recorded much of this tour in hopes of releasing a live album and, although superb recordings and performances were captured, a tangled mess of legal complications thwarted an official release. Legally prevented from releasing any song previously released on Decca or published by ABKO, this made a live album virtually impossible at that time. In an alternate effort to get some of these outstanding performances heard, the band provided a composite recording to the then fledgling King Biscuit Flower Hour, which had begun transmitting live performances on their weekly syndicated radio show earlier that year. The bulk of the material was sourced from two October 17th performances in Brussels, with a few choice cuts sourced from London and possibly Rotterdam earlier in the tour.

Here in all it's glory is that legendary recording. For those who consider the Mick Taylor era to be the peak of The Stones as a relevant live band, this recording features some of the best live performances ever captured. Here the band allows the music to say all that needs to be said. No pyrotechnics, projected visuals or over-the-top theatrics were needed - just blistering hot performances by a band inspired to play.

The recording kicks off with the double whammy of "Brown Sugar" and "Gimme Shelter," two undeniably classic numbers that display the band in fine form. The tightness of the rhythm section and Jagger's powerful vocals fuel these songs, but what is immediately most impressive is the interplay between Richards propulsive riffing and Taylor's fluid leads. This continues on two tracks from Exile On Main Street: Richards' "Happy," (where he actually manages to remember most of the lyrics) and an infectious romp through "Tumbling Dice," where the band rocks out with joyous abandon. Two tracks from Goat's Head Soup follow and both far surpass the studio recordings. Keyboard virtuoso Billy Preston adds authentic New Orleans flavor to the swampy feel of "Dancin' With Mr. D" and "Angie" is far more engaging without all the string embellishments and a more heartfelt vocal from Jagger.

However, it is the 20+ minute continuous sequence that is "You Can't Always Get What You Want" followed by "Midnight Rambler" that is possibly the most amazing live Stones ever recorded. When the band really gets cooking, these two performances reach incredible heights and display an intensity that they would never quite duplicate again. The former features a phenomenal vocal from Jagger, with Taylor's biting lead guitar giving it a lot more emotional edge than anything up to this point. The guitar interplay between Richards and Taylor is brilliant. Taylor takes one of the most compelling solos of the night early on and Richards' Chuck Berry-styled riffing, along with Bobby Keys' sax, propels the band into a most impressive jam that is full of swagger. Toward the end of this jam, Taylor again cuts loose with a burning solo that is even more impressive for its economy and taste. This sets the stage for an absolutely hell-raising "Midnight Rambler" taken at a near frantic clip. Right from the start, one can sense that Taylor can't wait to sink his teeth into this and he is blazing from the get-go. Keith Richards is pure propulsion here, riffing up a storm. Although The Stones were rarely known for their improvisational abilities, the spontaneous energy here is nothing short of inspired. When they slow it back down for the Hoochie Coochie Man-like creep section, the crunch of the music is immense. Much like the Muddy Waters' song which fuels this particular section, the band achieves a blues authenticity that is even more passionate than the originals. High praise indeed! Keith Richards is deliciously raunchy here and Taylor is in his ideal environment. When Jagger begins his "midnight creep" vocal, the band pummels the audience after each line leading up to the penultimate line, "Everybody's got to go!" This of course launches the band back into a few blissful minutes of The Stones blazing away before it cleverly cross fades back into the frantic tempo in which it began. Taylor is out-of-this-world phenomenal here and it would prove difficult to find any other Stones performance from any stage of their career that approaches the sheer raw energy in such abundance here.

The finale of the recording is a take-no-prisoners four song sequence of "Honky Tonk Women," "Rip This Joint," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and finally "Street Fighting Man." Needless to say, this sequence is one fully engaged blowout. What is most impressive throughout is again the interplay between Richards and Taylor. Their high precision interlocking guitar styles perfectly compliment each other. Musically this is The Stones at their very best, rarely to be technically or emotionally surpassed after this tour. They may not have known it at the time, but it is even more confounding that Mick Taylor's last gig was just a few days later! Still, this remains a great final document of this era in the band's history. The band would never be quite as relevant or consistently compelling on stage after Taylor's departure. These performances are among the best ever captured of The Stones during the Taylor-era, at a time when all the musicians were burning with raw energy and truly inspired on stage.

Concert Set List
1. Brown Sugar 3:34
2. Gimme Shelter 5:25
3. Happy 3:22
4. Tumbling Dice 4:49
5. Dancing With Mr. D 4:49
6. Angie 4:37
7. You Can't Always Get What You Want 10:50
8. Midnight Rambler 12:48
9. Honky Tonk Women 3:04
10. Rip This Joint / Jumpin' Jack Flash / Street Fighting Man 10:52

[Sebastian Doyle]

5. Yeah, that's the show

Wonder how long he'll be able to keep it online before those pigs at ABKCO come after him. Fucking Allen Klein.... son of a bitch ripped off both the Beatles and the Stones, and continues to do so, even while he's burning in Hell.


You can also find a lot of it on You Tube. The ABKCO trolls always demand it be taken down, but it finds its way back again.

Angie -----------> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgpqpsQCEeU

You Can't Always Get What You Want -------> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs_LqKH6lVM

[mitchum]

6. I still think he will be in the band for the next Rolling Stones tour...

Ronnie the Sot can no longer pull his own weight
It would make great hype for generating excitement about the tour (and the inevitable live release)
They are the world's biggest oldies act. And everyone knows that the Taylor years were their peak.

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. I've been saying for years, that whenever the Stones played their final show

Mick Taylor and Bill Wyman would both be there. And with this Exile re-release, followed by the long overdue release of the movie "Ladies & Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones" coming this fall, the Stones are going to be the biggest band of the year. Even if it is the 1972 Stones.

Thing is, I suspect Woody knows this. It may be WHY he's drinking so much. It's definitely why he tried to put the Faces back together, though that didn't work out because Rod Stewart is incapable of singing rock n roll anymore.

From Woody's perspective, it's gotta suck being in a band for 35 years and knowing most of the fans still prefer the guy who had the job before you.