18. “Loving Cup”
Exile On Main Street is the album where the Stones completely transcended their influences. On “Loving Cup,” bits of gospel, country, and R&B can be heard throughout, yet it’s the band’s personality that ultimately leaves the biggest impression. Listen to the way Charlie Watts’ drums never leave the pocket yet practically dance along with horns in the fadeout, or the way the harmonies evoke the bucolic life that the lyrics so winningly depict. All of that lifts what might have been a non-descript song into the ether.
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