In the new documentary Stones In Exile, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts revisit key locations from the making of Exile On Main St, but avoid the most infamous site: Villa Nellcôte. The Côte d'Azur mansion, rented by Keith Richards in 1971, became a hub of illicit activity during the album's recording.
The damp, dingy basement suffered power failures and a leaky roof, according to guitarist Mick Taylor. Yet it was the parade of characters that defined the sessions. Drug dealer Tommy Weber arrived with a plentiful supply of cocaine, while musicians, groupies and journalists drifted in and out. Robert Greenfield, there to interview Richards, noted that 'no one had a last name' and lunches lasted three and a half hours.
Keith Richards' heroin use created tension with Mick Jagger, who refused to fetch him from upstairs. Producer Jimmy Miller and engineer Andy Johns often waited in the mobile recording van for Richards to emerge. Marshall Chess, who ran the Stones' label, recalled that Jagger disliked the album because it was made 'in Keith's domain.'
The band had fled to France as tax exiles after a farewell tour in April 1971, avoiding a 93% tax rate in the UK. The opulent villa, once a Gestapo headquarters in the war, featured gold swastika heating vents. 'It's OK. We're here now,' Richards reportedly said.
