The Cover of "Rolling Stone"
"The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and first recorded by American rock group Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Produced by Ron Haffkine and released in 1972, it was the band's third single and peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. pop chart for two weeks on March 17–24, 1973. The song satirically laments that the band had not appeared on the cover of the Rolling Stone, a magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. The song's success led to the band appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1973, albeit in caricature.
The Cover of "Rolling Stone"
From left to right: Dennis Locorriere, Billy Francis, and Ray Sawyer of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show on the March 29, 1973 cover of Rolling Stone in caricature.
Sheldon Allan Silverstein was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into the United States Army. During his rise to prominence in the 1950s, his illustrations were published in various newspapers and magazines, including the adult-oriented Playboy. He also wrote a satirical, adult-oriented alphabet book, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book.
Silverstein c. 1964 as featured on the back cover of The Giving Tree
Silverstein's Playboy travelogues, collected in 2007
"Now here's my plan...", Silverstein's best known cartoon of the 1950s, became the title of his 1960 cartoon collection
Ballantine Books published Silverstein's 1956 collection of cartoons from Pacific Stars and Stripes, foreword by Bill Mauldin