The Shocking & Censored Covers

The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet (1968) Considered by many as the Stones' finest record, Banquet was delayed for several months over this picture. After a lengthy battle with their label, Decca, over Barry Feinstein's shot of a graffiti-laden toilet scene, the group finally gave in and put the album out with a plain white sleeve that mimicked a dinner invitation. (Unfortunately, the rival Beatles had put out their own White Album a month earlier.) But the darkly menacing mood of Banquet did come through in Feinstein's interior shot of the band -- and the toilet cover was restored when the CD came out in 1984. -- JC