Rolling Stone’s first issue, dated November 9, 1967, was assembled in a San Francisco loft by a small, mostly volunteer team with reported startup funding of $7,500. Jann Wenner and jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason set out to treat rock as serious culture, not just entertainment. The debut paired a last-minute John Lennon cover with music criticism and investigative reporting about money missing from the Monterey Pop Festival.
What Rolling Stone set out to do
In early 1967, 21-year-old Jann Wenner told his roommate’s boyfriend, Angie Kucherenko, that he wanted to start a rock-and-roll magazine. As she recalled it, his pitch was: “I want to start a rock & roll magazine.” Wenner believed the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and San Francisco’s Grateful Dead deserved serious cultural attention. He later summed up the opportunity this way: “There was nothing called rock journalism as a profession.”
Wenner had met Ralph J. Gleason, a longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnist and jazz critic, at a Family Dog concert at Fisherman’s Wharf in October 1965. Gleason had begun writing about Dylan and the Grateful Dead as well as jazz. Wenner brought him in as a partner; the two combined youthful enthusiasm with Gleason’s broader musical perspective.
They considered names including Electric Typewriter and New Times before settling on Rolling Stone. In Andy Greene’s 2017 Rolling Stone retrospective, the immediate inspiration is Gleason’s American Scholar essay “Like a Rolling Stone,” named after Dylan’s song. Rhino’s anniversary account also connects the title to Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones; that is a broader explanation, not the sole account of how the name was chosen. Greene’s anniversary retrospective and Rhino’s anniversary item describe the competing pieces of that origin story.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCrashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minute#1 Best Overall
How a small team got the magazine made
Wenner initially lacked the money to launch the publication. Greene’s retrospective reports that a group including Wenner’s parents, his then-fiancée Jane Schindelheim’s parents, Gleason and college friend Joan Roos provided $7,500. Accounts differ on whether to characterize the money as a loan or as contributions, so it is safest to describe it as reported launch funding rather than assign it a settled financial structure.
Photographer Baron Wolman declined Wenner’s request for a $10,000 investment, then proposed working for company stock and rights to his photographs. In September 1967, the small, mostly volunteer staff moved into a loft at 746 Brannan Street. The building’s owner provided space on the condition that the magazine use the owner’s printing services.
Rank #2
- DESIGN- Mat with Insert holds 1967 thru 2016 10.5x12.5-inch Rolling Stones Magazine for easy mounting, no tape needed
- DESIGN- Mat with Insert holds 1967 thru 2016 10.5x12.5-inch Rolling Stones Magazine for easy mounting, no tape needed
- DISPLAY- Wall Hanging Hardware included
- FRAMING- Satin Black manufactured eco friendly molding for consistent quality and longevity with full strength glass, measures 13x16-inches outside dimensions
- GUARANTEE- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
People identified in Greene’s account include Kucherenko, Schindelheim, art director John Williams and writer Michael Lydon. Their recollections describe a makeshift office furnished with salvaged items and lit by beams through the space. Those details are individual memories reported in the retrospective, not independently established specifications of the loft or its operations.
Why the debut read like a newspaper as well as a music magazine
Wenner did not want a conventional fan publication. Lydon recalled, “Jann didn’t want a fanzine,” and “He wanted investigative reportage.” His story about money missing from the Monterey Pop Festival became the main article on page one. The issue also covered David Crosby’s firing from the Byrds and a Grateful Dead drug bust; some stories went out without bylines because the staff was so small.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
The first issue’s other editorial anchors showed the range Wenner and Gleason had in mind:
- Gleason’s “Perspectives” column criticized television networks for neglecting Black soul singers, including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Jackie Wilson.
- A two-page interview featured Donovan.
- Jon Landau reviewed Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced alongside Cream’s Fresh Cream.
PBS’s historical overview also lists the Monterey Pop Festival story and music reviews among the issue’s contents. Wenner described the publication’s ambition in his letter to readers: “Rolling Stone is not just about music, but also about the things and attitudes that the music embraces.” He called it “sort of a magazine and sort of a newspaper.” Music was the starting point, with reporting about the culture and politics around it part of the proposition from the beginning. PBS’s historical overview places the launch in the late-1960s counterculture and lists the issue’s contents.
Why John Lennon appeared on the first cover
The cover choice came late. Wenner searched a pile of publicity photographs and found John Lennon in his Private Gripweed costume from Richard Lester’s film How I Won the War. He recalled that the choice was made two days before press and that the picture was the best available. It also brought music, movies and politics together in a single image.
Greene’s retrospective describes the decision as a fortunate accident that began Rolling Stone’s long association with Lennon. PBS identifies Lennon and How I Won the War as the cover feature. The character and film are the clearest identifiers; the retrospective describes the outfit as a World War II serviceman’s costume.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Best Value
- DESIGN- Mat with Insert holds 1967 thru 2016 10.5x12.5-inch Rolling Stones Magazine for easy mounting, no tape needed
- DESIGN- Mat with Insert holds 1967 thru 2016 10.5x12.5-inch Rolling Stones Magazine for easy mounting, no tape needed
- DISPLAY- Wall Hanging Hardware included
- FRAMING- Satin Black manufactured eco friendly molding for consistent quality and longevity with full strength glass, measures 13x16-inches outside dimensions
- GUARANTEE- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
When the first issue appeared
Michael Lydon recalled that the issue came off the press in October 1967. That is the reported printing date, not the date printed on the issue: Rolling Stone #1 is dated November 9, 1967. PBS / Oregon Public Broadcasting lists its cover price as 35 cents. Staff members celebrated the freshly printed copies with champagne, and Wenner later recalled wondering how they could top the first issue. Those moments, like the press timing, come from recollections reported in Greene’s 2017 retrospective.
The available historical accounts do not establish an independently verified print run, circulation figure or launch-sales total. The reported $7,500 concerns launch funding, not how many copies sold or were printed.
What the first issue’s history tells us
Rolling Stone began with a clear editorial wager: take popular music seriously enough to report on the institutions, conflicts and social currents surrounding it. Its first issue put that idea into practice through a festival investigation, music criticism, cultural coverage and a cover that crossed the boundaries between music and film. The makeshift production story matters, but the lasting identity was already visible in what the magazine chose to publish.
For the issue date, cover subject and price, see PBS / Oregon Public Broadcasting. The founding partnership, staff recollections, financing account and cover-selection story are recounted in Andy Greene’s 2017 retrospective.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
