The Rolling Stones album Keith Richards said is his favorite

Led by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones have been active for more than six decades, making them one of the oldest bands in the history of music still in operation. It’s surreal that they have managed to stay relevant and release many successful and praised albums throughout so many decades.

The group has released 31 studio albums so far and has sold an estimated total of more than 200 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling acts of all time. It’s not easy for their fans to pick their favorite album from their discography. It also wasn’t easy for Keith Richards to choose his favorite Stones album, but he gave that answer once.

The Rolling Stones album Keith Richards said is his favorite

Keith Richards has never hidden his preference for the albums released by the band in the early 70s when guitarist Mick Taylor was a member of the group. In an interview with GQ in 2020, he talked about the Stones albums he liked and it was difficult for him to be able to pick only one. However, after praising five records from their discography, Richards revealed that his favorite Rolling Stones album is “Exile on Main Street” released in 1972.

“Always hard to pick favorites. I would go anywhere between Beggars Banquet, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Exile on Main St. I will go also to Bridges to Babylon, which is, I think, much underrated. But I mean, that’s when we were hitting our stuff. It was easy because we were working at home. We were still not thrown out of the country and having to duck and dive. So it was easier to work then because we weren’t exiles.”

He continued:

“But in actual fact, I really hate to pick out favorite things. Because they’ve all got something on them that is special to me. Quite honestly I love them all, some a little more than others. I think Steel Wheels was damn good, and Voodoo Lounge too. But then, there’s so many. I mean, I can’t do that. I’ll stick with my original: Sticky Fingers, Beggars Banquet, and Exile on Main Street. I’ll cut it down for you. Exile on Main Street,” Keith Richards said.

With four sides, the album had a total length of more than 67 minutes and sold an estimated amount of more than 11 million copies. It has famous tracks like “Tumbling Dice”, “Happy” and “Shine a Light”.

Besides Mick and Keith, at the time the group was also formed by Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor.

Which is Keith’s favorite “Exile On Main Street” song?

In an interview for his website special question and answers page in 2004, Richards revealed which was his favorite track of the album or some of them. “(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) It’s a long album, it’s a big album. It’s always very difficult for me to pick out one baby from the other. You should try to play ‘Rip This Joint’ that’s one of the fastest songs in the world. (It) really keeps you on your toes. But ‘Tumbling Dice’ has always been a favorite for me from there.”

“I could play it all night, it’s got such a nice groove and a flow on it. But in all down the line ‘Ventilator Blues’ and ‘I Just Want to See His Face’. You know, because when I start, I’ll name them all. They’re all my favorites,” Keith Richards said.

Almost all the tracks from the album were written only by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, who have always been the band’s main songwriters. But there were a few exceptions like “Shake Your Hips” and “Stop Breaking Down”, which were covers from Slim Harpo and Robert Johnson. The only track which had another member credited was “Ventilator Blues”, which also had Mick Taylor.