NME reported today that The Rolling Stones have set a May 17 (that would be the 18th for us Americans) release date for a new deluxe edition of Exile on Main St. The 1972 double album, which confused critics upon release but is now seen as a Stones classic, will be released in a few formats: a single-disc reissue, a double-disc version with ten unreleased tracks and a deluxe box with both CDs, a vinyl copy, a new half-hour documentary on DVD and a 50-page collector's book.

What the NME report doesn't say is what's on the DVD. Luckily, Hollywood Reporter gossip columnist Roger Friedman does, and it might turn out to be something of a find for hardcore fans. Says Friedman:

Ten minutes of "Cocksucker Blues" are being included officially in a 30-minute documentary that the Stones will release in May. The other 20 minutes comprise 10 minutes of a film that was released but few saw called "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones" (out of print and unavailable since 1974) and 10 more minutes of a new full-length doc called "Stones in Exile," made by director Stephen Kijack. That latter title will also be released as a full-length doc at the same time in a format still to be determined.

So, ten minutes of Cocksucker Blues, the infamous, debauched, unreleased documentary of The Stones' Exile on Main St. tour. It's something, I guess (albeit something only attached to an expensively padded box set at the moment). And a part of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones, too (which, as far as I can tell, was never officially released on DVD - "officially" being the operative word). That could open the door for a full-length version of each someday, though one wonders why it's not done now.

Stay tuned as always for more info as it comes.