The Rolling Stones have been around for a very long time (an astounding 6 decades to be exact), and considering they’ve been so ridiculously rich and famous for essentially the entirety of their existence, it’s sometimes easy to take them for granted and forget all the classic, down and dirty albums they made back in their prime. Their late 60s/early 70s run in particular features their best work, starting with 1968’s Beggars Banquet and culminating with the soul-drenched bluesy brilliance of 1972’s Exile on Main Street, an album that most critics (including this one) consider to be their best.
While other classic albums like Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers featured plenty of the Stone’s trademarked debauchery and sass, there’s always been something special about Exile on Main Street, which possesses a genuinely warm and inviting spirit that accentuates the overarching soulfulness that characterizes the album as a whole. “Loving Cup” is a great example of that, as evidenced by this gem of a performance captured from the same year it was created (1972). It’s The Stones in their prime, which is a beautiful thing to see.
