Using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio , they held recording sessions in the basement . They completed the new tracks , along with material dating as far back as 1969 , at Sunset Studios in Los Angeles . The resulting double album , '' Exile on Main St. '' , was released in May 1972 , and reached number one in both the US and the UK . Given an A grade by critic Robert Christgau and disparaged by Lester Bangs — who reversed his opinion within months — '' Exile '' is now accepted as one of the Stones ' best albums . The films '' Cocksucker Blues '' ( never officially released ) and '' Ladies and Gentlemen : The Rolling Stones '' ( released in 1974 ) document the subsequent highly publicised 1972 North American Tour
1972 North American Tour
The Rolling Stones American Tour 1972
The Rolling Stones