When Every Song You Sing is Your Favorite Tune

What this video album review did was put into words what I’ve felt each and every time I’ve listened to Exile on Main Street

I’ve seen a lot of YouTube videos about music (hey there, Rick Beato!), but until now I don’t think I’ve felt compelled to call one out like this.

I’m referring to a video from a young lady named Abigail Devoe and her 40-minute video review of Exile on Main Street. I’ve never heard of Abigal until today, and I’m surprised the algorithm hasn’t sent her my way yet.

Abigail’s channel description: “I have a lot of records. I also dress like I fell out of a time machine. Every Monday I cover the who, what, when, where, why, and how I feel about a classic album in my collection. Explanation doesn’t ruin art - it makes it even better!”

I was a little skeptical, but it didn’t take long to realize that this was not gonna be one of those “Thought You Knew Everything About Exile on Mainstreet?!” clickbait pieces.

I’ve seen all of those, believe me. As with Dark Side of the Moon, Born to Run, Sgt. Pepper, and Pet Sounds, this album has spawned a massive number of reviews, interviews, documentaries, and podcasts about its making. Americans know that Nellcôte, France is a place in the world chiefly because of this album.

We know about the legends and misadventures and darkness and tragedy that happened between 1970 and 1972. Heroin and handguns and hangers-on (now there’s a song title for you). Arrests and rip-offs. Overdoses.

That Exile didn’t end up being the Stones’ last album is a minor miracle. We know there will never, ever be another rock album like this, because firstly, it’s just not how albums come together anymore. But more importantly, there is unlikely to ever again be this outrageous combination of circumstances, characters, and debauchery. I suppose that can be said of any masterpiece. But masterpieces are in short supply in this area of disposable music designed by focus groups and ‘written’ by panels.

Exile changed everything for me, even though I couldn’t possibly have known it at the time. I was too young. I certainly didn’t hear it when it came out, which tells me my dad was still playing it four or five years after its release date. But I certainly remember it being new to me, spotting it in his collection and puzzling over the weird cover and liner notes. Yet I somehow have this weird sense of “Before Exile” and “After Exile.” Before Exile was Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold,” I guess. A child can easily get on board with a sing-along like that.

So here’s where Abigail comes into the picture. Her review didn’t really teach me any new facts about Exile. She’s likely absorbed the same knowledge from the same documentaries and books that go into detail about the Stones’ in this era – the finances in the red, getting hassled and arrested by police, and ripped off in shitty record contracts, all in the wake of Brian Jones’ death and Altamont.

But what her video album review did accomplish for me was putting into words what I’ve felt each and every time I’ve listened to Exile (which I reckon must be over a thousand spins).

For example, I didn’t fully internalize that brass was the secret weapon on this album until she pointed it out. I felt it, but couldn’t explain it. I always wondered about Bobby Keys on sax, but now I realize it’s grossly unfair that they never made him a full-time member. Mick and Keith kind of suck that way.

I’ve also always had a weird disconnect with Shine a Light, a spectacular piece of music - and one of the first songs I remember ever moving me to tears. Abigail’s thoughts on sequencing tracked with me in a way I’d never considered: Why didn’t Shine a Light close out this whole sloppy party? And still, it all works. Exile starts out one way, and ends another, just like the wildest three-day binge party you’ve ever been a part of. They were just too exhausted to care about sequencing.

I admit to being late to the YouTube thing, beyond looking for videos on how to set up a bike computer or change a guitar’s tuning. Creating compelling content like this - and getting eyes on it –wow! That’s a craft I guess I hadn’t really thought about until lately. Much respect.

Exile (or Stones fans in general), check this one out - and the rest of Abigail’s really engaging work!