Rolling Stones Contact Sheet

A framed contact sheet from a July 17, 1963, photo session with famed photographer Dezo Hoffmann. Wyman explains in his autobiography Stone Alonethat following the band’s television appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars, the papers were “deluged with complaints from people who objected to our long hair. … In our attempts to reach wider audiences we … went to Dezo Hoffmann’s studio where we did a session wearing our leather waistcoats.”

Although manager Andrew Oldham initially bought the band matching outfits and tried to mold the Stones in the image of the Beatles, it didn’t last as Wyman recalls: “We hated the stage clothes and wore them only for important things like television. … If Andrew originally saw us as rivals to the Beatles, kitting us out with suits and ties, he quickly changed his stance when he realized that Brian, Mick and Keith were hard to control.” These early images offer a snapshot of the band just before they fully came into their own and embraced their bad boy images.

8 3/8 by 8 3/8 inches

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