Exile in Guyville

Having freshly signed to Matador Records upon the strength of the Girly-Sound cassette tapes, Gerard Cosloy, then-president of Matador, offered Phair a $3,000 advance to begin working on her debut album. With that, Phair and producer Brad Wood began to work on recording the songs that would ultimately become one of the strongest debut records ever released.

Phair decided to make the album mirror the 18 tracks of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street—making each of her songs representing a response to the setting or situation that the Stones’ songs elicited. Later, many critics would question how the songs actually correlated with one another—often taking things far too literal, and Phair would find herself explaining the parallels.

Exile in Guyville was largely recorded over the summer of 1992 in Chicago at Wood’s Idful Studios. Together, Phair and Wood began formulating each track and determining the right sound.

Fellow musician and engineer Casey Rice eventually joined the pair and together, the three of them experimented with how to make some of Phair’s earlier 4-track songs become more fully fleshed out with extra layers of instrumentation.

Out of the album’s 18 tracks, 10 of them originated from Phair’s Girly-Sound tapes: “Fuck And Run,” “Johnny Sunshine,” “Girls! Girls! Girls!,” “Never Said” (previously known as “Clean”), “Soap Star Joe,” “Divorce Song,” “Stratford-On-Guy” (formerly known as “Bomb”), “Flower,” and “Shatter.”

Released: May 4, 1993
Label: Matador (OLE 051-1, OLE 051-2, OLE 051-4)
Format: Vinyl 2-LP, CD, Cassette
Country: US, Europe
Availability: Somewhat Rare

All songs written and arranged by Liz Phair
Produced by Brad Wood and Liz Phair

Engineered by Brad Wood and Casey Rice
Front cover photography: Nate Kato
Back cover photography: Mark Schime
Design: Liz Phair, Mark O

Earlier pressings of the album depicted a Barbie and Ken doll in a compromising position on the CD face. Later pressings would replace this image with a white and blue version of the flamenco dancers.

6’1″
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Percussion, bass, backing vocals: Brad Wood

Help Me Mary
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Drums, 2nd guitar: Brad Wood
Backing vocals: Casey Rice

Glory
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Organ: Brad Wood

Dance of the Seven Veils
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair

Never Said
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Bass, drums: Brad Wood
Lead guitar: Casey Rice

Soap Star Joe
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Snare left: Brad Wood
Snare right: Casey Rice
Harp: John Casey Awsumb
Backing vocals: Tutti Jackson

Explain It To Me
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Synthesizer, bongos: Brad Wood

Canary
Vocals, piano: Liz Phair

Mesmerizing
Vocals, guitar, hand claps: Liz Phair
Organ, maracas, hand claps: Brad Wood
Lead guitar, hand claps: Casey Rice

Fuck And Run
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Drums, backing vocals: Brad Wood

Girls! Girls! Girls!
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair

Divorce Song
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Bass, drums: Brad Wood
Lead guitar outro: Casey Rice
Harp: John Casey Awesumb

Shatter
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Drone, feedback: Brad Wood
Cymbal: Casey Rice

Flower
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair

Johnny Sunshine
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Drums, backing vocals: Brad Wood
Bass: Tony Marlotti

Gunshy
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Sick guitar: Brad Wood

Stratford-On-Guy
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Drums: Brad Wood

Strange Loop
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Bass, drums: Brad Wood

(The album cover) was Nate Kato’s (of Urge Overkill) idea. Put it this way, we were at the Rainbo taking pictures because I’m doing some sequences for my video of me singing into photo booth pictures mouthing various parts of the sentence, which we were going to like flip in. It sort of fully didn’t come off so I’m going to probably do it in the next video. We’re just going to stick in some now.

But I’ve been doing this for months, going to the Rainbo and doing some more photo essays as I like to call them. And he got me to take my shirt off while I was doing this and I went back into the booth and I had my big coat on and stuff, and then I brought out the product and we were all just sitting around and he was like, “This is the album cover! This is the cover!” I don’t know if you know him, but he has this brilliant sort of way of just being like, “This is absolutely…and this is so ’90s! And we, Urge! If anyone knows what ’90s are, Urge are!” I mean I don’t think that is particularly true, but he cropped it, he said, “You have to crop it exactly like this!”

He has an eye which I think is damn near genius, and he was showing me how to crop it and he cropped it all up for me and I thought that was really cool. But it was an after the fact thing. I had taken the picture, and he just decided that it would make a great album cover.”

I took a lot of them that night and he liked this one a lot. He just pounced on it. He was like “This is the cover! Lizzy this is the cover!” He probably bought me a double scotch or something. It was really funny.

The nipple is still there, but just barely. He cropped it that way. That’s Nate’s cropping. I kept it exactly. He spent literally ten minutes showing me exactly where to crop it so it’s like barely. I mean that’s what’s really tasteful about it. I’m topless, but it’s really just a hint of it which is so much better. It’s his cropping exactly. No, there was no concession made. That was exactly how we intended it.

It made sense to me because Exile In Guyville has that front back cover which I’ve been working with. Basically to do this album I’ve decided instead of…I hate when people hint that I might of ripped things off, they usually haven’t heard it, or taken only the cover. It wasn’t about ripping it off. A good thesis is to take the essence of any intent, and then to adapt it to what you’re trying to do or to use an equivalency. And to me the whole (Rolling Stone’s) Exile On Main Street cover having the freakshow on the front, and then having the band members on the back was really discussing the nature of performance and about where they were in their lives right then, having stumbled into fame and finding it. It’s just a different world. we all know that, but until I experienced it I just didn’t really get it. I didn’t get what it does to your personal life, or how it changes you. It’s like, you’re living the same life, and yet you’re not. It’s a different place. It’s very hard to explain. To me, the freakshow wasn’t about “aren’t we freaks,” it was really more about… those performers on the front when you do think about it are people who often made themselves into this thing, like performance artists, as were the Rolling Stones. They were very aware that they were kids from wherever, and that this was something that they had created, and it snowballed. And so to me to have on the cover me in this performance pose, and then on the back have me in my little home staring at the camera like, riiiight, is exactly the same thing.

The Liz of the performance, when I go into my performance head, and me on the back just like right in the camera’s face, like I want to do when I am myself. I’ll just be like, ahh, come on! You know what I mean, like get over it! Like do you really think I walk around like looking like this? You know what I mean? Sort of like to poke fun at the fact that people totally believe this shit!

People believe everything they’re handed. It’s intense! If they love these artists don’t they understand they’re artists? They’re doing this for you! They’re putting this on for you! Love them for that. Love them for their ability to entertain you. It’s all about artifice and reality, and games people play.

— Liz Phair

The wording on the pictures is actually a paraphrase from the famous lines from Dirty Harry starring Clint Eastwood. The actual lines are:

“I know what you’re thinking. “Did he fire six shots or only five?” Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

There are also several salacious photos of a female that has a passing resemblance to Liz. The woman in question is actually Kristie Stevens, a local model in Chicago hired specifically for the photos.

One of the photos is of Brad and Casey horsing around during the recording of Guyville. The photos of a fellow on the lighted sidewalk are actually Liz’s friend Shane Dubow, who was the inspiration for “Shane” off of Whip-Smart and a buddy of Liz’s during her college years and the years right after.

The Gentleman in the “Do You Feel Lucky?” pick is Chicago scenester and Tortoise band member John Herndon.

There are also a couple of childhood photos, one of which seems to be of Liz and her brother Phillip.

The image on the inside cover of the album of the two flamenco dancers was a direct lift from the 1953 album Allegrias Y Penas De Analucia (Joys and Sorrows of Andalusia) by Spanish folk artist, Lopez Tejera.

Released: June 24, 2008 (US), August 25, 2008 (UK)
Label: ATO Records (ATO0059) / RED Distribution 88088-21627-2
Format: Vinyl 2-LP, CD, Digital
Country: US, Europe
Availability: Somewhat Rare

All songs written by Liz Phair except
“Say You” written Lynn Tait
Produced by Brad Wood and Liz Phair

Engineered by Brad Wood and Casey Rice
Front cover photography: Nate Kato
Back cover photography: Mark Schime
Design: Liz Phair, Mark O

Ant in Alaska
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair

Say You
Vocals, guitar: Liz Phair
Bass, vocals: Tony Marlotti
Guitar, drums, vocals: Brad Wood

Instrumental
Guitar: Liz Phair

Released: 2008
Label: ATO Records
Format: CD-R
Country: US
Availability: Extremely Rare

All songs written by Liz Phair except
“Say You” written Lynn Tait and “Wild Thing” written by Liz Phair based off original song by The Troggs.
Produced by Brad Wood and Liz Phair
Engineered by Brad Wood and Casey Rice

Prior to the release of the re-issue, an advance promotional CD was sent out to publicists, bloggers, and journalists, but with a slightly different tracklisting.

A re-recorded version of “Wild Thing” (from the Girly-Sound tapes) and “Instrumentals” (note the plural form used) are on this version. “Wild Thing” was possibly omitted due to licensing issues, but it’s not clear why “Instrumentals” was left off, but I presume both of these tracks just didn’t mesh as well in the sequencing of the album as a whole.

Note that “6’1″” is styled as “6ft 1in” on this release.

Released: October 20, 2023
Label: Matador Records
Format: 2LP
Country: US
Availability: Common

All songs written by Liz Phair
Produced by Brad Wood and Liz Phair
Engineered by Brad Wood and Casey Rice

This pressing will be released on purple vinyl. No bonus tracks or content was announced for this reissue.

Released: October 20, 2023
Label: Matador Records
Format: 2LP
Country: US
Availability: Limited

All songs written by Liz Phair
Produced by Brad Wood and Liz Phair
Engineered by Brad Wood and Casey Rice

This special, limited pressing will be released on blue/black splatter vinyl. Limited to 500 copies. No bonus tracks or content were announced for this version.

In May 2018, Matador Records released Liz Phair’s first box set collection to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Exile to Guyville.

Titled Girly-Sound to Guyville, the box set included the original album completely remastered in addition to Liz’s coveted Girly-Sound recordings, also completely remastered and issued on 4 LPs and 3 CDs. A nostalgic 3-Cassette version was also included.

This release also featured an extensive booklet that goes into great detail about the Girly-Sound tapes with commentary from many of the people involved in aiding Liz’s early career.

Read more: Girly-Sound to Guyville ›

Despite its critical and commercial success, Exile in Guyville didn’t yield any physical single releases. However, both “Never Said” and “Stratford-On-Guy” did receive individual music videos

According to Katy Maguire, Liz’s director on “Never Said,” “Mesmerizing” was also slated to have a video shot for it, but it never came to pass.

Director: Katy Maguire
Editor: Jim Staskauskas

Liz and the video’s director, Katy Maguire, had only known each other a few months when they began working on the video for “Never Said,” which was Maguire’s first music video, for which she was paid nothing.

“We did a video that would’ve cost at least $30,000 for $7,000, mainly because her record company wouldn’t allow her to one any more expensive. But she did me a favor too. The fact that I did that video is the first thing people notice on my resume.” – Katy Maguire (Chicago Tribune, September 25, 1994)

Exile in Guyville became an undeniable critical success, earning rave reviews from nearly every outlet, topping many critics polls upon its release, including Spin and the Village Voice.

It became Matador Records’ most successful album after selling over 200,000 units within its first year. In 1998, it was certified gold by the RIAA.

Nearly 30 years later, and Exile in Guyville has aged very well. To this day, it continues to be mentioned in best-of lists, often referenced as an inspiration for present-day artists.