Rolling Stones Photoshop Disaster

March 23, 2010 33 Comments by Jake Brown

Saw this on another forum and it’s too good not to share. It may be common knowledge, but it was new to me. The Rolling Stones photoshopped original bassist Bill Wyman out of the cover photo for the 2005 Rarities compilation:

1978 photo from the Respectable video shoot

The Rolling Stones - Rarities 1971-2003

The best part about this? And the part that qualifies this as a Photoshop disaster? You can still see Wyman’s bass cable dangling there between Jagger’s mic stand and guitar strap. The original photo comes from the set of the 1978 video for “Respectable”. We don’t worry about the things that we used to be…

Rolling Stones: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki


33 Comments

  1. Derek Phillips
    1157 days ago

    Man, somebody HATES Wyman. Why would you even do that?

  2. Kiko Jones
    1157 days ago

    Not cool, yo.

  3. jonas
    1157 days ago

    Some 22-year-old at the label noticed that Wyman was screwing with the composition of the picture. “Looks so much better now, yeah?”

  4. dharmabum110
    1157 days ago

    Maybe it has something to do with Wyman no longer being with the band, or something to do with the rights to using his likeness.

  5. Jake
    1157 days ago

    I forgot to point out that this was released shortly after Wyman quit the band.

  6. John Wiki
    1157 days ago

    Wyman left in ’92

  7. DJMurph
    1157 days ago

    That’s not all… the current (well, the mid-90s Virgin Recs) CD of Some Girls has booklet pics of only 4 of the 5 Stones who played on that classic album. Guess whose pic isn’t represented inside the booklet?

  8. Jake
    1157 days ago

    Wyman left in ’92

    Ha. Well, in Stones years, maybe 13 years counts as “shortly”? Regardless, it’s obvious that they’re consciously (and literally!) attempting to erase Wyman from the history of the band.

  9. Patrick
    1157 days ago

    Maybe he faded out, Back to the Future style?

  10. Derek Phillips
    1157 days ago

    I like Patrick’s theory. Wyman did not get his parents together in the end.

  11. Jake
    1157 days ago

    But he played a bitchin’ cover of Johnny B. Goode.

  12. j franky
    1157 days ago

    I remember when Photoshop first came out in 1990. I said to a roomful of men in top hats, “No good shall come of this! Mark my words!” They laughed at me. Well, look who’s laughing now!

  13. Mike V.
    1157 days ago

    That sheet ain’t cool. Makes me picture the Stones as a bunch of school girls.

  14. Jason
    1156 days ago

    This is just not as good as you guys are making it out to be. You can chalk that dangling cable up to a million things. It can be a stray cable from an effect to the amp…

  15. Fuzzgun
    1156 days ago

    @Jason: dude, look at the original photo.

  16. Gillbones
    1156 days ago

    You can even see part of his pant leg on the bottom of the mike stand!! Wonder if he recieves residuals for the re-release, or if he took a buyout when he left.

  17. Wow
    1156 days ago

    This isn’t photoshopped? Get over yourselves.

    The image is simple streched and the bassist was cut out. The picture doesnt look streched anymore.

  18. Spike
    1156 days ago

    Drummer looks relatively normal. Wyman looked like a girl. The remaining three resemble chimpanzees playing guitars. Very, very wealthy chimpanzees.

  19. Yakov
    1155 days ago

    hé man ,the Rolling Stones are Jagger,Watt,Richard and Wood ,it’s only rock and roll.Les Stones cé d’la muze,cé po just une image.Stones are no.1 for ever.Rock from Hell.!!!

  20. Michael D.
    1155 days ago

    Seems like a double-edged sword. The current Stones line-up is Jagger/Richards/Watts/Wood, as shown on the airbrushed cover. So to sell current CDs, use the current line-up. But the songs featured on this CD itself also included Wyman on bass. They are not going to edit-out the bass lines from the songs, so why the image? Stones fans buying the CD will know all this, and will not be dissuaded from buying. Seems more like the Stones PR staff wanted to use a cool vintage photo of the band on the cover, but couldn’t find a “Wyman-less” shot that still included the remaining four members. And Bill Wyman didn’t want to be pictured on this greatest hits/rarities package.

  21. Racine
    1155 days ago

    Les Stones sont une légende vivante.Les paroles des albums sont super-hot.C’est un band qui fait bien des jaloux(journalistes et incultes)Les harmonies sont écoeurrrrrantes.C’est comme Gretzski au hockey,y’en aura jamais d’autre pour les égaler.J’attend la prochaine tournée avec impatience.Jagger est un génie.

  22. S. Dietrich
    1155 days ago

    Who Cares!!!!!

  23. Lou Berkman
    1155 days ago

    Nice work getting a mention on Yahoo. Congrats

  24. avalanchemarie
    1155 days ago

    Maybe the person hired to work on the photo for the new release left those things in on purpose…ya think?

    Or the only candidate they could work in the budget for design was some kid on a high school yearbook staff that got the gig thru Craigslist..between bong hits of course.

  25. Stones who?
    1155 days ago

    Maybe he went to get his free Obamacare. I want my free Obamacare. Where’s my free Obamacare? Over there? Over there? Hey, where’s Wyman?

  26. Kiko Jones
    1155 days ago

    That’s not all… the current (well, the mid-90s Virgin Recs) CD of Some Girls has booklet pics of only 4 of the 5 Stones who played on that classic album. Guess whose pic isn’t represented inside the booklet?

    That, is some fucked up shit. Even if it’s an issue of image licensing, it’s revisionist. And still not cool.

  27. bagger
    1155 days ago

    stones rock!!

  28. bagger
    1155 days ago

    why does anyone give a shit? really….

    Stones Rock!!

  29. Slim Nicky
    1155 days ago

    My favorite part is that they’ve Photoshopped Ron Wood INTO the picture! HA!!!!

  30. keith
    1154 days ago

    How is this a disaster? it was photoshoped, nicely, I might add.

  31. bangbang
    1153 days ago

    Stones who? If it was up my ass you’d know, wally.

  32. Dudes...
    1138 days ago

    Why not just delete his bass tracks you assholes. Man.

    I love the Stones but there’s always something about them that exposes how chickenshit they are.

  33. Jake
    1137 days ago

    That’s exactly what Ozzy did on his 2002 reissues: removed the original bass and drums, and replaced them.

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