The Rumor concerning the albums cover This was not a rumor It was true I dont know how one would prove it except to get one of the original album covers My brother showed it to me in  It was quite obvious once you knew to look The faces were camouflaged in the bark at the top of the tree It was clearly a reference a comment and an inversion of the Beatles Sergeant Pepper album which John Wesley Harding musically was as well being a retreat from the sonic experimentation fueled by Pepper and a return or a retreat to a simpler sound