Alternate Front Cover Sleeves for Exile on Main St. Rolling Stone's Album, Signed by John Van Hamersveld

These alternate front cover sleeves in cromalin proof format, are for the Rolling Stones 1972 album Exile on Main St. They feature images by photographer Robert Frank (1924 – 2019) and include band members and American locales as well as the signature of the album designer, John Van Hamersveld (b. 1941).  

Also included in the imagery are written words, referring to lyrics of songs on the album: “Soul survivor” superimposed over a photo taken in Baton Rouge refers to the song “Soul Survivor.” “Got to scrape the shit right off you[r] shoes” (upper right-hand corner of blue section) is from the song “Sweet Virginia.”  

Created before the advent of digital computer design software, these color cromalin proofs allowed Van Hamersveld to experiment with various color schemes without having to make a print and incur the expense of a printing press. The proof at left, labeled “Test 1,” is composed of a single, blue cromalin layer, while the proof at right, labeled “Test 2,” combines two cromalin layers, one red and one yellow. Typically, a cromalin proof consists of four transparent layers, each of a different color: blue, red, yellow or black. The four layers combine to produce a wide range of colors. Both proofs were made from photographic negatives of Frank’s original artwork.    

The Rolling Stones are a British rock band, formed in 1962, that gained mainstream prominence with hits such as “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” “Get Off of My Cloud,” and “Paint It Black.” The band has received multiple Grammy nominations and Awards and is included in the Billboard All-Time Top Artists chart.