
All photos by Michael Joseph
Ah, the Beggars Banquet photoshoot—one of the most bizarre, decadent, and telling visual chapters in the Rolling Stones’ career. This wasn’t just your typical album promotion; it was a full-on spectacle, dripping with the kind of hedonism and irreverence that the Stones had built their reputation on.
The band is seen indulging in a lavish medieval-style feast, draped in eccentric, almost Renaissance garb, surrounded by props that would make even Marie Antoinette blush. There are overflowing platters of fruit, silver goblets, candelabras, and—naturally—random farm animals, including a goat wandering through the room. It’s part party, part parody, and full-on rock ‘n’ roll pageantry.
The photoshoot was set up to reflect the themes of excess and rebellion present on the Beggars Banquet album. By this time, the Stones were embracing their role as rock’s ultimate outlaws, and they were more than happy to toy with the imagery of excess and aristocracy. The idea was to stage a banquet fit for kings, but in the most chaotic and debauched way possible, which mirrored the band’s own irreverence towards the upper echelons of society.
These images were captured by photographer Michael Joseph, known for his imaginative and surreal work. Joseph created a scene that was part medieval feast, part psychedelic freak show. In a way, it also poked fun at the bourgeois lifestyle, as if to say, “Sure, we’ll take your wealth and status—but we’ll do it on our terms, and we’ll tear it all down while we’re at it.”
Interestingly, Joseph has spoken about the spontaneity of the shoot, explaining how the animals—especially the goat—caused chaos on set, disrupting the perfectly curated image. The animals’ presence added to the shoot’s anarchic vibe, perfectly complementing the Stones’ persona at the time.
However, much like the infamous bathroom graffiti cover art that was rejected, this decadent banquet scene didn’t make it to the final album packaging. The powers that be at Decca were already nervous about the Stones’ rebellious image, and this raucous, devil-may-care attitude was a bit too much for the label to stomach at the time. Instead, the album was released with a much safer, minimalist invitation design, toning down the wild energy captured in these images. In retrospect, the photoshoot has become iconic, perfectly capturing the Rolling Stones at a moment when they were embracing their role as the anti-Beatles, diving into a world of grit, grime, and glorious excess.
This shoot wasn’t just about image, though. The banqueting scenes were rife with symbolism, portraying the Stones as kings of their own countercultural revolution, while also mocking the hypocrisy of the elite. The excess of the shoot echoed the increasingly decadent lives the band members were living off-camera as well, making this a rare and candid visual representation of their behind-the-scenes chaos.
In these images, the band is both jesters and kings, poking fun at traditional high society while reveling in their newfound status as rock aristocracy. It’s the Stones in their element—luxurious, rebellious, and not giving a damn what anyone thought.







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