On This Day in 1972, The Rolling Stones Started a Four-Week

On This Day in 1972, The Rolling Stones Started a Four-Week Run at No. 1 with One of the Greatest Rock Albums in History
On this day (June 17) in 1972, The Rolling Stones started a four-week run at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart with Exile on Main St. The double LP release featured a wide range of influences, including gospel, country rock, and delta blues. It has since been hailed as the band’s finest work.

The Rolling Stones released Exile on Main St. in May 1972. The album initially received mixed reviews from critics. However, its chart success told a different story. It was a top 10 hit in multiple countries. The album also topped the charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Norway, Canada, and Denmark. Later reappraisals of the album listed it among the best of the Stones’ releases. Additionally, Rolling Stone put the album at No. 14 on the 2020 edition of its  500 greatest albums of all time list. It was No. 7 on previous iterations of the list.

The Rolling Stones Reflect on Making an Iconic Album

The Rolling Stones were, indeed, in exile while making Exile on Main St. The early 1970s saw them all but forced out of the United Kingdom. As a result, they traveled to Keith Richards’ villa in the South of France to make the album. “Remember who cut us off? It weren’t us. We were kicked out,” Richards recalled . “It was that ot they tried to put us in the can. They couldn’t do that, so they tried to force us out economically, which they did. They just taxed the arse off us so we couldn’t afford to keep the operation going unless we got out,” he added. “Nobody’s out through their own choice. It wasn’t a matter of choice, it was a matter of no choice–get out. That was it.”

Many near-mythical tales of debauchery came out of the Exile sessions. However, members of The Rolling Stones remember the time differently.

“It was very familial because we hadn’t had a lot of children around before,” Mick Jagger recalled . At the time, Jagger didn’t have children. However, Richards had one child, and several people who were working with the band on the album also brought their kids. “It is always good to have a few children. If you have one, it is not much fun for the child. It is nice to have a gang,” he said. “Of course, there was sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, but there was also a good family atmosphere,” Jagger explained.

“There were parties going on, but no more than anywhere else,” Richards recalled. “The baby went to bed at the right time. It was the south of France in the summer. There were a lot of people drifting in and out.”