The Cover of the Rolling Stone

"The Cover of the Rolling Stone"
Single by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
from the album Sloppy Seconds
B-side	"Queen of the Silver Dollar"
Released	1973
Format	7"
Genre	Pop rock
Length	2:53
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Shel Silverstein
Producer	Ron Haffkine
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show singles chronology
"Carry Me, Carrie" (1972) "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" (1973) "Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie" (1973)

"The Cover of the Rolling Stone" is a song by written by Shel Silverstein and first recorded by American rock group Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. It peaked at number six on the U.S. pop chart. It was the band's third single.

Song information

From left to right: Dennis Locorriere, Billy Francis, and Ray Sawyer of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show on the cover of Rolling Stone in caricature.

The song satirizes success in the music business; the song's narrator laments that his band has not been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine despite having the superficial attributes of a successful rock star, including drug usage, "teenage groupies, who'll do anything we say" and a frenetic guitar solo.

Eventually, the band did get on the cover of Rolling Stone; however, they did so in caricature, rather than in a photograph, and with the caption, "What's-Their-Names Make the Cover."

BBC Radio refused to play the song, as it contained the name of a commercial publication (Rolling Stone) and could therefore be considered advertising. The song was re-recorded and rush released in the UK as "The Cover of the Radio Times" (Radio Times being the name given to the weekly television and radio guide published by the BBC), which did find its way onto playlists.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by various artists. R. Stevie Moore on his 1987 album Teenage Spectacular. Rock band Poison also covered the song on their 2000 album Crack a Smile...and More. Sammy Kershaw covered the song on his 2010 album Better Than I Used to Be, with his version featuring Jamey Johnson. Black Francis covered the song on the album Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein in 2010.

Additionally, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos parodied the song as "On the Cover of the Music City News" on the 1976 album Best of Buck Owens, Volume 6. The Kansas City Jammers parodied the song as "On the Cover of AARP" on their 2010 live album The Kansas City Jammers Live.

The song was also parodied as "On the Cover of the Amagram", a motivational song for Amway.

Use in popular culture

The song was featured in the 2000 film Almost Famous.

See also

• List of celebrities who have appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine