The Toilet Cover That Almost Tanked 'Beggars Banquet'

The original cover for the Rolling Stones’ 1968 album Beggars Banquet was a photo of a filthy, graffiti-covered public toilet—complete with a urinal and toilet bowl. The band thought it was a perfect punk gesture against the establishment; the record label (Decca/London) thought it was obscene and refused to release it.

The rejection led to a months-long standoff. The Stones dug in, even printing up a plain white sleeve with just the album title as a protest. Eventually they compromised with the now-famous invitation-style cover, but the bathroom photo wasn’t seen widely until it appeared on the inner sleeve of the 1984 CD reissue.