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| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Louise Bernikow Publisher: Da Capo Press |
It is amazing how age and the passing of time will change one’s perceptions about certain things. When many were
growing up as teenagers who were obsessed with rock and roll, they figured that the Rolling Stones had to be the
five coolest guys on earth. They got all the best looking girls, and they had more money than anyone else alive. They
also looked cooler than just about anybody else, even when they were wasted out of their minds, which was a great
deal of the time back then. Mick was in his scarves and sequins, prancing around like some kind of sexual peacock
up on that stage.
Reading through the pages of Robert Greenfield's “Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones”
reveals, it is clear that Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and others have nothing on the Rolling Stones in their heyday.
What this book describes is a non-stop journey into all manner of corruption imaginable, one that went on for an
entire summer in 1971 under the disguise of attempting to make the classic “Exile On Main Street” album at Keith
Richards' Villa Nellcote mansion in France. In the midst of this unprecedented summer long orgy of sex and drugs
and rock and roll, the album itself soon became more of an afterthought. Reading the book leaves the Stones not
looking nearly as cool anymore. At times, they aren’t even likable. With all of the mayhem that went on at Villa
Nellcote that particular summer, it is in fact a miracle that “Exile on Main Street” got made at all.
There have been plenty of so-called tell all books written about the Stones during this turbulent period which also
happens to coincide with what most agree was the band's creative peak. Unlike some of the other accounts out there
Greenfield, for his part, seems to have no particular axe to grind. He basically goes at his chosen subject as a
journalist, interviewing many of the players who were there, such as Marshall Chess, Tommy Weber, and Rose
Taylor who was the guitarist Mick's wife at the time.
However, Greenfield does eventually end up taking sides, identifying with Keith as the Season in Hell's hero early in
the book. While he pulls no punches when detailing Keith's excesses, he also paints a picture of Keith as a "lad's lad"
who never really abandoned his working class, rock and roll sort of grit. To Greenfield, Richards is a guy who loves
rock and roll and loves to get high, but who also places a high premium on family and friendship. Mick Jagger on the
other hand is painted as an opportunist with aristocratic pretensions, whose sexual conquests are often predicated
as much on ego and cruelty as they are on pleasure.
“Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones” is at times a dark and disturbing book, but it is also
nearly impossible to put down once taking the plunge. Greenfield recalls the events in a style that puts the reader
right there, and even reveals some interesting new details. It is a book which effectively peels back the glamour in a
way that reveals a darker, uglier side to the Rolling Stones that some fans may have some trouble digesting. It is also
the true story of how one of rock and roll's greatest records was made.
growing up as teenagers who were obsessed with rock and roll, they figured that the Rolling Stones had to be the
five coolest guys on earth. They got all the best looking girls, and they had more money than anyone else alive. They
also looked cooler than just about anybody else, even when they were wasted out of their minds, which was a great
deal of the time back then. Mick was in his scarves and sequins, prancing around like some kind of sexual peacock
up on that stage.
Reading through the pages of Robert Greenfield's “Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones”
reveals, it is clear that Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and others have nothing on the Rolling Stones in their heyday.
What this book describes is a non-stop journey into all manner of corruption imaginable, one that went on for an
entire summer in 1971 under the disguise of attempting to make the classic “Exile On Main Street” album at Keith
Richards' Villa Nellcote mansion in France. In the midst of this unprecedented summer long orgy of sex and drugs
and rock and roll, the album itself soon became more of an afterthought. Reading the book leaves the Stones not
looking nearly as cool anymore. At times, they aren’t even likable. With all of the mayhem that went on at Villa
Nellcote that particular summer, it is in fact a miracle that “Exile on Main Street” got made at all.
There have been plenty of so-called tell all books written about the Stones during this turbulent period which also
happens to coincide with what most agree was the band's creative peak. Unlike some of the other accounts out there
Greenfield, for his part, seems to have no particular axe to grind. He basically goes at his chosen subject as a
journalist, interviewing many of the players who were there, such as Marshall Chess, Tommy Weber, and Rose
Taylor who was the guitarist Mick's wife at the time.
However, Greenfield does eventually end up taking sides, identifying with Keith as the Season in Hell's hero early in
the book. While he pulls no punches when detailing Keith's excesses, he also paints a picture of Keith as a "lad's lad"
who never really abandoned his working class, rock and roll sort of grit. To Greenfield, Richards is a guy who loves
rock and roll and loves to get high, but who also places a high premium on family and friendship. Mick Jagger on the
other hand is painted as an opportunist with aristocratic pretensions, whose sexual conquests are often predicated
as much on ego and cruelty as they are on pleasure.
“Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones” is at times a dark and disturbing book, but it is also
nearly impossible to put down once taking the plunge. Greenfield recalls the events in a style that puts the reader
right there, and even reveals some interesting new details. It is a book which effectively peels back the glamour in a
way that reveals a darker, uglier side to the Rolling Stones that some fans may have some trouble digesting. It is also
the true story of how one of rock and roll's greatest records was made.
