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The cover displays a surreal sculpture designed by Robert Brownjohn. The image consists of the Let It Bleed record being played by the antique tone-arm of a turntable, which is fitted with a tall record-changer-style spindle supporting, in place of a stack of records, a number of items stacked on a dinner plate (bottom-to-top): a magnetic tape/movie reel canister labelled Stones – Let It Bleed; a clock face; a pizza; a small tyre; a cake with kitsch icing, reminiscent of art-deco-style plaster rendering; and the band itself in the form of wedding-style topping figures. The cake parts of the album cover construction were prepared by then unknown cookery writer Delia Smith. The artwork is inspired by the working title of the album, which was “Automatic Changer” (source: Bill Wyman, Rolling with the Stones).

The reverse of the LP sleeve shows the same “record-stack” melange partially “consumed”, with a slice of the uppermost cake layer removed and the mini-Stones knocked over into the frosting; the tyre hacked and nailed, bandaged and patched; film stray from the tape/film canister; and the supporting plate chipped; a slice of pizza with a bite taken lies on the shattered vinyl; along with the detached tone-arm — as if evidence of the aftermath of a wild party.

The inside of the album sleeve features the message “This record should be played loud”.

The track listing on the record sleeve did not follow the tracklisting on the record. According to Brownjohn, he altered the track listing purely for visual reasons. The correct orders were shown on the record’s label.

recensione (pdf) di  Emily King, Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography, Laurence King Publishing, London 2005