Exile On Main Street: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones

by Robert Greenfield

Recorded during the blazing summer of 1971 at Villa Nellcote, Keith Richards’ seaside mansion in the south of France, Exile on Main St. has been hailed as one of the Rolling Stones’ best albums-and one of the greatest rock records of all time. Yet its improbable creation was difficult, torturous...and at times nothing short of dangerous.In self-imposed exile, the Stones-along with wives, girlfriends, and a crew of hangers-on unrivaled in the history of rock-spent their days smoking, snorting, and drinking whatever they could get their hands on. At night, the band descended like miners into the villa’s dank basement to lay down tracks. Out of those grueling sessions came the familiar riffs and rhythms of “Rocks Off,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Happy,” and “Sweet Virginia.” All the while, a variety of celebrities-John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Gram Parsons among them-stumbled through the villa’s neverending party, as did the local drug dealers, known to one and all as “les cowboys.” Villa Nellcote became the crucible in which creative strife, outsize egos, and all the usual byproducts of the Stones’ legendary hedonistic excess fused into something potent, volatile, and enduring.Here, for the first time, is the season in hell that produced Exile on Main St.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, France, Rock N Roll, Biography Memoir

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2006

About the author

A former Associate Editor of the London bureau of Rolling Stone magazine, Robert Greenfield is the critically acclaimed author of several classic rock books, among them S.T.P.: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones, as well as the definitive biographies of Timothy Leary and Ahmet Ertegun. With Bill Graham, he is the co-author of Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out, which won the ASCAP- Deems Taylor Award. An award winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, his short fiction has appeared in GQ, Esquire, and Playboy magazines. He lives in California.

Reviews

[Tom Choi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly fatuous... is it not possible to give zero stars? Greenfield's book on the Stones and the making of the great "Exile on Main St."is littered with hearsay, clichés, and pretentious literary allusions in occasionally quoting from the likes of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde--the writer actually structures this story as a tragedy in Three Acts... didn't Mr. Greenfield know that Shakespeare wrote tragedies in Five Acts?. Greenfield revels in retelling what we already know: in deep financial crisis and mired in conflict, the Stones decamp in the South of France to indulge in a bohemian lifestyle, largely at the behest of Keith Richards. Sex, drugs, fisticuffs, legal troubles, and rock and roll ensue. This is tabloid journalism of an event that happened well over a quarter of a century ago. Mr. Greenfield, you've missed the beat.

The album that resulted from this messy time, "Exile on Main St." is the single greatest rock and roll album in my opinion. In short, nothing compares to its smoldering embers. The fire isn't quite ablaze but the heat is significant, enough to dazzle us in the night, and to comfort our cold hearts. Greenfield's book offers little in the way of showing us the majesty of this album. For starters, the writer seems to know nothing about music. Greenfield does what good tabloid journalists do: retell stories that are already in wide circulation, liberally quote from existing biographies and memoirs, keeping the proceedings cheeky and simple.

I wanted to put this book down after 20 pages. But it is written at the reading level of a sixth grader--Teen Beat stuff--and I finished in in two days. I suppose that this book is a long, and long-winded, magazine article, nothing more. I only wish that this book had more pictures...

[C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Will I ever gain back the 48 or so hours it took me to read Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones by Robert Greenfield? I'm afraid the answer to that would be a resounding no. However, by typing this review for the world to see, I can prevent others from wasting their time on a grocery store tabloid that was 254 pages too long.

When I bought this book, I was really excited. I had read the back and assumed it would be about the actual making of Exile on Main Street-- not the drug binges and scandalous going-ons that occurred during the making of it. Out of 258 pages, only maybe ten (or so) strayed from the beaten path of drugs, whores, and more drugs and actually talked about the making of the album. I know that Mick Jagger was a slut-- in fact, I'm sure it was a prerequisite amongst the female companions of the Stones to sleep with him before being truly accepted into the fold. And I am definitely aware of Keith Richards' drug issues-- hell, the man deserves the Nobel Prize for Taking the Most Drugs and Still Being Alive and Kicking Today. I get it, I get it-- they were true rock 'n rollers.

Also, don't get me started on the author, Robert Greenfield. The entire tabloidnovel was practically a name-drop party and a way for him to correct the "wrong-doings" of Spanish Tony's juicy tell-all book (that is unfortunately out of print; pity, I would've loved to have heard his side of this debacle) and other "subpar" tell-alls. At times, I felt like I was getting beaten with the "ANITA IS A DRUG ADDICT. KEITH IS A DRUG ADDICT. MICK IS A WHORE. BUT THEY ARE ALL LOVABALE AND HEROES AND NOBLE" stick. Not cool, man, not cool at all.

Personally, I would've preferred to get down and technical and dissect the hell out of Exile on Main Street-- unfortunately, juicy gossip and the author's need to make himself appear "cool" and "in the know" won out over to what I (and others who have read and reviewed this tabloidnovel) really cared about: the music.

[Paul Secor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Over the years, I've kept only two of the Stones recordings I've bought. Exile on Main Street is one of those two. I picked up this book at my local library thinking that I'd get some insights into the music or some information on the making of the music.
Instead, I got a book filled with b.s.: hearsay and gossip - "No one can say for certain; conjecture - "In all likelihood"; and unattributed quotes - "A Stones insider who was there clearly remembers".
If Goodreads allowed negative stars to be given out, I'd be right there with all of the negative stars I could give. The worst book I've read this year - no contest - and one of the worst books I've ever read.

[Patrick O'Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excess. It's all about excess, and waste, and craziness. A friend of mine summed it up saying he had doubts whether he wanted to read Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones. "Who wants to read about a bunch a rich guys doing tons of drugs in the south of France?" he said. But then we both agreed it was the Rolling Stones. It was going to be interesting. Keith Richards is one of my heroes. Not like a role model hero. More like, "wow, Keith's still alive."

Robert Greenfield writes like a supermarket tabloid journalist. And no I don't mean that he can't write or he's obsessed with Britney's sex life. No, Greenfield can definitely write, it's just that he seems to love the controversy as much as a suburban housewife with her hair in curlers waiting in the checkout line. And although he does give the reader the skinny on all the strangeness, the over the top behavior, and incredibly excessive debauchery - he does it in a voice that says, no, actually screams, "check this out! This is so insane." Like the proverbial not being able to turn away while watching a car wreck - you just have to watch.

[Tamara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am obsessed with "Exile on Main Street". It's one of my all time, desert island favorites albums. And though i am fascinated by the subject, this book is written in such a stilted, pretentious way as to be unreadable. Why would you constantly refer to Mick Jagger as "Michael Phillip Jagger"? Why must you repeatedly make hackneyed asides to the reader- like "on to the action!" And "we shall see in due time"? It reads like a gossipy old lady's account of something she doesn't quite understand. I rarely put down a book without finishing it, but I just couldn't stomach this one.

[Judo Livingspree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping Greenfield would have gotten into more detail about the actual recording - the mobile studio, guitars, amps, mics, and especially the influences and impact of the songs themselves. The Mick and Keith gossip narrative takes up quite a bit of the narrative. The productive period during June '71 is mentioned but too little discussed. The introductory background on Nellcote is at least an earnest attempt at pertinent history.

Rock n Roll non-fiction/biography is something of a guilty pleasure admittedly, but it's been a while since I've read anything this salacious. The album, the mansion, and some of the "players" seem like they deserve more detail and explanation.

Sloppy, plenty of typos. . .probably rushed into publication would be my guess.

Also of note, Chapters 8 and 9 of Keith Richards' Life memoir are decidedly more insightful in less than half the pages, covering the summer of '71 and the '72 tour.

I'm open to recommendations for other books that cover that time period.

[Madison Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book pretty quickly and found its information about the recording of “Exile” interesting, but the “Aftermath” section lost me at the end, causing me to lower my rating. I was so bored that I was counting down the pages til it was over. That may be harsh, but a bad ending can really sour a book for me.

The rest of the book was worth reading and often humorous, but not chock-full of information that is all that important. The author seems far more interested in hyping up the myth and drama of the Stones than the information he is giving us. This book does have good first-hand accounts, but they’re swimming between monologues of the author waxing poetic about Keith Richard’s antihero status and similarly leg-humping concepts. There is also a lack of central focus or narrative. The author goes through a big show at the beginning introducing us to the main players, namely Keith, Anita Pallenberg, and “The Ghost, played by Brian Jones”, driving home the point that the fallout from his death had a huge impact on the group. The problem is that Jones is mentioned perhaps a handful of times again, and the alleged shockwaves that his death sent through the band are never touched upon. If you’re going to set up a dramatic, looming visage over Nellcote that summer, don’t drop him before Act One even starts.

There are other, smaller problems, like the “okay, Boomer” lines about how “back in my day, we played music on things called ‘records’”. I assure you, Greenfield, anyone bothering to read a book about the making of “Exile on Main Street” knows what a record is, and if that’s meant to be purely a joke, to quote John Mulaney quoting Mick Jagger, “Not funny!”

I’m glad I read this book, as it was readable and contained some good nuggets of info, but I look forward to moving on to better books about this band.

[Jean Loss · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Embora às vezes seja fácil esquecermos os vivos, os mortos sempre nos acompanham. Gostaria de relembrar todos aqueles que estiveram em Nellcote naquele verão mas que já partiram para outros mundos. Acima de tudo, este livro pertence a eles. Que descansem em paz."

[Shays Feng · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s almost for fans.

[Jared Busch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once in a while you start reading a book and you get the feeling it's garbage, and then you look at some Amazon reviews and you find out that's the general consensus, and then you're pissed that you even bothered reading 100 pages of it.
I'm glad someone else on there noticed that after spending a half page trashing the authors of two other Stones books, on the NEXT page Greenfield says that "Jumping Jack Flash" is on the Sticky Fingers album, which it is not. And I don't think that's being nit-picky - if you're writing about history, even ROCK history, you better get ALL your shit straight, otherwise your credibility kind of vanishes into thin air.
It seemed to me this whole book is less about the making of the album Exile on Main St. than how much heroin Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg were doing, and how many men she and Marianne Faithfull were screwing at the time, two things about which I could give two shits. I'm throwing this book at the wall as soon as I can find it. I'm just glad I got it from the library and didn't fork out a Jackson for it.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book about the 1971 making of The Rolling Stones double album Exile on Main Street very insightful. I liked the way the author tied in lyrics from Stones songs and made it like a play with the characters and acts. It was mostly Keith and Anita’s story and their heroin addiction, but I thought it explained the dynamics of Mick and Keith along with the other Stones: Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor (who replaced Brian Jones and always felt like an outsider). It was a well written portrayal of the life of sex, drugs and rock and roll in the early 70's. I also noticed that sometimes memories of events varied widely between people and that made it interesting. Some women who were involved with more than one of the Stones also made a curious story.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun bathtub book regarding the Rolling Stones recording their so-called masterpiece 'Exile On Mainstreet." Lots of gossip with hysterical Keith stories - but I said 'so-called' because I really don't like the album. But on the other hand the stories are great.

[Tom Jacobsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes you question how Keith Richards is still alive...

[Padraic · Rating 1 out of 5]

The. Most. Idiotic. Book. Ever. About. Anything.

[Karen Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A juicy book about my favorite band while in one of my favorite places on the French Riviera.

[Russ Bertetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rating is more like a 4- than a straight 4 because I graded more on style than substance. As a life long Stones fan and have recently enjoyed their new release Hackneyed Diamonds, have listened to The Stones Touring Party podcast, I felt I needed to read about this summer of hell from someone who lived through it.
Over-all I liked it but it's a bit of a hard read because it really was a life in hell for just about everyone who survived it. I'm not sure depravity is the right word but it's a pretty description of what life was like at Nellcote. No one comes out of this unscathed except maybe Charlie (who is almost ignored throughout) and Bill Wyman who was also missing in action throughout that summer (especially when he was off taking pictures of topless women to add to his collection).
Greenfield's bias towards Keith, even bad Keith, is stated right up front but his depiction of Mick, I think was a little heavy-handed and overdone (especially in the afterword). Anyone who feels compelled to order a supply of drugs for his wife who has just given birth to a miraculously healthy baby and is trying to detox from her heroin addiction doesn't get much sympathy or respect in my book.
I gave the book a 4- because I liked Greenfield's writing style especially his weaving of song lyrics into the narrative at the appropriate times. Not sure it's a must read for all Stones' fans but I do know that if you don't like them, you're sure as hell not going to pick it up.

[Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can serve as "Exhibit A" in "It's amazing Keith Richards is still alive."

I thought that Greenfield's book would be an examination of how musicians that are stoned out of their minds can create a masterpiece album. I thought it would delve into the creative process and the madness that goes into making a classic album. Instead, it was mostly about Keith Richards taking copious drugs with and without his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, as well as the derring-do's of some of the Rolling Stones' hanger-ons. This is the story in the beginning, the middle, and the end. It's one long rollercoaster ride of bad behavior, with very little emphasis on the creative process. In the beginning, these legendary stories are interesting if not eyebrow-raising. But, through sheer repetitiveness, it starts to wear thin after a while. OK, we get it. There were lots of drugs and alcohol present and people behaved badly. Makes a great article in Rolling Stone, but not a 250 page book. Not to mention that there is so much focus on Richards that Mick Jagger barely has a presence throughout the book. And the rest of the Stones? Hardly there.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finishing Rich Cohen's pretty enjoyable trip through the Stones career, I decided to a little bit of a deeper dive into the Stones' time in Nellcote and the recording of their seminal album, Exile on Main St. This was a decently enjoyable book, though it wasn't without problems. The first being Greenfield's weird parenthetical digs at other authors and obsession with being "right" about the testimony of certain fringe figures. I mean, you are relying on the memories of folks about events that happened decades ago, often through a haze of drug and drink, of course some inconsistencies might pop up. My other big complaint is how little this actually got into the recording of the music itself. I didn't really want a detailed studio log or anything, but more than passing mentions to the recording would have been appreciated. But if you are looking more for the gossipy style tabloid stuff, this will probably scratch your itch.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories within this outstanding book range from orgiastic celebrating, to life-threatening drug habits, back-stabbing friends, affairs gone awry, close encounters with the law, and sadly, the inevitable deaths as a result of all the reckless abandon. Some of the women, who at one time were high society debutantes who could simply snap their fingers and get anything they desired, ended up dead in back alley streets less than a year later; reduced to nothing more than anonymous, homeless junkies. The book is a baffling one because it greatly romanticizes rock mythology, (which is hard not to do when discussing a group as decadent as the Rolling Stones), but as the title suggests, it does not shy away from the hell that surrounded this extravagant era. Many people hated the book. I enjoyed it. The '72 era of the Stones fascinates me, so I'll read most things about them from that time period.

[Bill Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, I can't in good conscience bash this book too hard. After all, I picked it up and read it cover to cover in about 2 days, at times with amused interest. I can imagine that the day to day events and comings and goings at Nellcôte were extremely haphazard and chaotic and maybe there was no way to make any better sense of them than does Greenfield, but I couldn't escape the sense that at times he related things in a purposely offhanded style. I'll put it this way: I don't know of any reason why any hard core Stones or "Exile" fan would NOT want to read it, but if they didn't they wouldn't have missed anything essential.

[Graham Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolute shite: repetitive, cliched, sycophantic and very boring.
This book does nothing to further the enjoyment of Exile, an album that captures the legend of rock n roll and the mysteries of the blues. This book, in fact, does the opposite: tearing away the legend and the mystery to leave the reader with prosaic details of drug deals, shady behaviour, spoiled-rotten junkies, and entitled posturing. Like a tabloid article, anything remotely complex or interesting, like the inner workings of creativity, are ignored in favor of salacious gossip and re-told tales of hedonism and money grabbing.

[Tom C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. To be honest, I'm not really sure what this book was actually about. With virtually no flow or real storyline, I honestly felt that that the author may have gone beyond researching the storied drug abuse of the stones and may have actually indulged in just that while writing the thing. It was that all over the place. Despite being on a topic I really enjoy, this book was a slog of a read and tough to stay with. I'd look elsewhere for your next stones fix.

[Bill Sanwald · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really liked Greenfield's book on Ahmet Ertegun, "The Last Sultan". This book just bored me to tears. I've been a huge Stones fan since their beginning and maybe I expected more on the actual recording of "Exile". Drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs and more drugs. Very little new ground broken here. I got really tired of his working song lyrics into his writing, really quickly. There must be better books on the making of "Exile On Main Street". Anyone?

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this book was a tabloid-style, juicy retelling of a summer of sex & drugs in the South of France with the Rolling Stones. And that's what i came for. The jump to the 2000's was completely uncalled for, and just felt like a sloppy kiss for Keith and slap for Mick. But damn, that one summer was something else.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dudes a “rock writer” instead of a “rock critic”, so scant analysis or pesky deets on how the shit was recorded…hmmm. Wtf? Worse yet he undertakes this epic Saga 35 years, after interviewing a coupla dozen folks who claim to have been there… if it meant that much, and he felt so damn compelled, why not crap this out in 73 while the synapses were still fully intact?

[Gerrod Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulling from a plethora of interviews and first hand interviews, Greenfield peels back decades of drug induced haze to explore the social, artistic, and internal tensions behind The Stones’ Exile On Main Street. With a focus on Keith Richards, Greenfield tells a sensational story while doing his best to navigate conflicting recollections from that wild 1971 summer in the south of France.

[Mckenzie Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you disregard the garbage pile that is the final chapter, which reads like a poorly written local news promo for the stones’ newest tour, this book is alright. The focus on Keith’s drug use is understandable but man does it make this a dark read. The goofy stage show conceit the author uses to frame his take doesn’t really seem necessary but I love the stones so I was only slightly upset

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars

Weirdly lacking in details. I guess everyone was too high to pay attention to details. Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg were real POS. Couldn't even quit drugs for the health of their unborn child. So there it is folks.

[Serina Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're going to read a book about the Stones, I think you can't do any better than The Sun & the Moon & The Rolling Stones by Cohen. It's the standard by which I'll apparently be judging every other book about the Stones.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well never a truer cliche than “sex, drugs and rock n roll”, if it is all to be believed and the book certainly looks well researched (although one source is Breitbart, which doesn’t bode well). It’s somewhat amazing Keith Richards (who the book is largely about) is still alive!