In the early 1960s, as Beatlemania swept the world, more British bands began springing to the forefront of the popular music scene. The Rolling Stones led the charge of the blues oriented British bands, releasing their self-titled debut album in 1964. “The Rolling Stones”, or “England’s Newest Hitmakers” in the U.S.A., consisted of mostly covers of American blues and rock songs while the Stones built up their fan following. One song, “Tell Me (You’re Coming Back)”, was written by the soon-to-be prolific songwriting duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, while several songs were contributed to the band as a whole.

This album was released when Brian Jones, the founder and de facto leader of the Stones, remained in the group. Jones, his health failing due to problems with drugs and alcohol, was booted from the Stones in 1969, to be replaced by Mick Taylor. Jones would die in a tragic accident a month later, the first of the numerous legendary musicians in the 1960’s to die at the age of 27.

The cover of this album features an image of the five Stones standing in a line in front of a pitch black background. Shadow obscures much of their faces, adding to the mystique of the young Brits. A Decca Records logo is placed on the upper right hand corner, the only text present on the front cover. The reverse side features “THE ROLLING STONES” in bold black letters. Individual portraits of each band member are placed on the bottom of the cover. This record cover has been signed by all five members of the Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts. Jagger, Wyman, Jones, and Watts have signed in blue pen, while Richards scrawled his signature in red pen, adding a star beneath his name. This album was signed in a Liverpool pub in 1965, and belonged to a friend of the band. It remained in possession of this person’s family until the present day. This item also comes with a LOA from JSA (Z58612). 

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