I know its become customary for some in the media, or maybe as a hipster's manifesto, to hail Exile as "Keith's baby". By virtue of the fact that it was recorded in his house, surrounded by his desciples, around his drugs etc....this is true. Granted, Keith was electric during this period in spite of his addictions and assorted posse (The Tommy Webers, others outside the musical realm).
But Jagger is all over Exile as well. Just listen to Soul Survivor from the rarities disc: its missing Jagger's edge, direction. Jagger turned these jams into great songs. This is a perfect example of Keith without Mick. There are people who give Gram Parson more credit than Jagger and that drives me fucking nuts! If you didn't know any better, you'd think that Jagger, in the current mythology, was just some glorified singer with the band.
Shine a Light, Let It Loose, SS, you can name all the songs on Exile and without Jagger, they would not be what they are. So Jagger was an ass because he was and is a good businessman and he likes order and not chaos? Bullshit! Someone had to organize and stay straight or it would have remained an unfinished something.  Jagger wrote and sang his ass off on Exile as well as keeping an eye on the business aspects of making and releasing an lp. Jagger is an artist who makes things happen. It's time he get props for his artistic contribution to Exile.

This is great piece, a POV that is all too rare in the current Stones literature.

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&p=8456&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

You are spot on Texile and that really was a great article. It really irritates me when I hear this shite about how Keith is the soul of the Stones and Mick is just a good front man. I've actually heard idiots point to songs like Brown Sugar as examples of how Mick is just the singer when Mick is the guy who wrote those songs. Apart from all that, and I know it is shocking to some, but I find some of Keith's one liners corny and I find a lot of his attempts to sound like something he's not incredibly fake and immature. That's not to say that I don't love Keith and that I like Mick more but it's just annoying looking at how people point to some inanely stupid shit as examples of Keith being the epitome of rock'n'roll. My favorite view on this is from Charlie who in an interview around B2B I think said that it's funny how things don't change much in 40 years and how if Mick doesn't take care of things, nothing happens. That's aside from him being the greatest frontman of all time and a masterful songwriter. Sure Mick can be a knob and incredibly frustrating with some of his attempts at being modern and not embracing his greatness more, but the guy is a one off. Dylan recently said that everything is incfluenced by the Stones in modern music and he's spot on. People should think about that and imagine if Mick had not been the face of the Stones. There is NO way the Stones would have that influence and we wouldn't have albums like Exile.

I remember a Village Voice review of Steel Wheels that essentially said the same thing:  throughout the Stones glory years, Jagger brought the swagger, sneering attitude, with, irreverence and humor to the music. It wasn't just a "face" - it was a character. And as a musician, I know damn well that we are lazy-ass bunch. If we don't have someone who can get the shit together, get organized and get the gigs etc....most musicians would never leave the garage, bedroom or basement. Jagger was an anomaly: he was smart, together and he happens to be a great artist.
I love Keith, but I think he gets caught in the myth that others have glorified and the Johnny Depp film will probably add to that myth....
But the thing is, when Mick and Keith are getting along, Keith is Jagger's biggest cheerleader...
Mick and Keith are as different as day and night, but they're soul brothers. That's what makes it work.
Can you imagine two Keiths in a band?
Nothing would ever get finished.

Tumbled wrote on Jul 1^st, 2010 at 1:56pm:


Tumbled,
you hit the nail on the head with that one!  so true!

[quote author=polytoxic link= Those damn yellow tights and knee pads on the '81 tour, and that laughable video for Just Another Night put such a dent in Jagger's rock'n'roll cred. Perhaps it's time to forgive.
[/quote]


NOt sure its about forgiveness, Jagger's cred died in the 80s and its a mystery that still haunts me to this day. The day I bought SHe's the Boss was the day the music died for me. Well, maybe that's a little melodramatic, but it did make me wonder what had happened to the man who wrote Gimme Shelter.
Has Jagger ever recovered?

texile wrote on Jul 20^th, 2010 at 3:10pm:



NOt sure its about forgiveness, Jagger's cred died in the 80s and its a mystery that still haunts me to this day. The day I bought SHe's the Boss was the day the music died for me. Well, maybe that's a little melodramatic, but it did make me wonder what had happened to the man who wrote Gimme Shelter.
Has Jagger ever recovered? [/quote]
Bought "She's the Boss"?  So you're the one!

[quote author=Brainbell Jangler
Bought "She's the Boss"?  So you're the one! [/quote]
Yes! The day it came out! and I had seen the signs: the video from "Just Another Night", the cheesy cover.....and I was still full of hope. I also waited for Primitive Cool...and bought it the first day..go figure.....
Ploytoxic, What about Running Out of Luck? Jeez....
No artist has ever experienced such a mother fucker of a 180: from cool, nasty rock star legend to lame-ass, purple-suited wannabee nerd in such a short period: It was tragic and purplexing. It was epic, Don McLean could add another verse to AMerican Pie it was so epic.
Wick, its hard to say how those songs would have improved without that cheezy 80s synth-pop production that rendered everything ball-less....
The truth is that Jagger continued to sing with little passion throughout the 80s, and the lyrics were just dumbed down. Maybe Jerry Hall was giving him lines, I don't know...but something happened to the man's sense of poetry. It was as if a pod of Mick Jagger had evolved from some swanky penthouse and decided to take over his person. There were flashes, Wandering Spirit remains the best Stones album since Undercover.....that helped me forgive some of the 80s crap.
I will always believe that Jagger is the greatest front man, songwriter in rock and roll history......but there have been times where he just went missing from action.

stonedinaustralia wrote on Jul 20^th, 2010 at 9:35pm:


Yes, it was pretty swift.....like  one day you woke up and Mick Jagger sucked.
And stoned, , i'd forgotten all about "Let's Work" or maybe I just blanked it out.....thanks for the reminder. No, he will never recover from that piece of shyte.
Its funny how that song and video just dissapeared, just vanished. It was so reprehensible and retrograde that people were just shocked and had to turn away..when was the last time in a Jagger interview where "She the Boss" or "Primitive Cool" or "Running Out of Luck" was even brought up? Its like a taboo subject. God, that song was horrible and in the midst of "Hands Across America" which was a crock of shyte, but still, Jagger's simplistic ideas about homelessness was astounding. What was he drinking?
I must say that in the last few years, he hasn't embarassed himself...so perhaps there is hope.

This thread is why this site is great............I have to agree with the Ying and Yang comparison.
If your going to have a Real Rock n Roll band you better have a Keith and Mick in it, and if your going to have a Great Successful band you better have a  Jagger and Richards in it. By the way Homer loves Exile on Main street, he had it on 8 track once.
The formula works well real well. so says Homer and Me........will there be Beer?