Has anyone seen this DVD? It's an experience. Man, they were great, still are!

[hippiechicksobservations.blogspot.com]

Circus? 1968? Stones? What are you talking about?

added: Funny how I got misunderstood. This was of course a joke. You must be the only person here who hasn´t seen the film a hundred times. But never mind, everybody starts sometime. Once you have the taste, you need stronger stuff: Ladies & Gentlemen, 1978 tour, Hampton 1981... enjoy...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-03-06 14:37 by tomstones.

I was wondering if anyone had ever seen the footage of the 1968 Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus Concert. It was recorded in London on December 11, 1968. It was a "private" show and Mick Jagger's brainstorm. The Who, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Maryanne Faithful, Mitch Mitchell, and a bunch of others got together, had a lot of fun and it's quite incredible for us older fans to be transported back in time.

I was just wondering if anyone on the forum had ever seen the recording of this particular concert and what they thought of it. Before stumbling upon it myself I didn't know anything about The Stones Rock & Roll Circus either! It was a pleasant surprise and worth watching - an amazing piece of rock & roll history.

I first saw the Who bit in the 1979 release of The Kids Are All Right. After seeing the finished product I always wondered why the Stones hesitated to put it out...it is fantastic.

For years it was commonly believed the Stones didn't
want it released due to the comparatively weak performance.
Now of course it''s been officially out on VHS, now DVD.
A fun show, good to see Brian, not particularly
inspired perhaps, they all look stoned, in
my opinion anyways.

Ladies and Gentlemen is a much better legendary live
Stones show, with Mick Taylor on guitar none the less,
one only wishes the Stones would officially release
this, til then we're stuck with the albeit not
bad boots. A stellar crisp print with remastered
sound would be great -it was recroded for
quadraphonic, should be able to remix
nicely for surround I should think.

I've never seen Ladies & Gentlemen - I'll have to look for it. I find alot of bootleg stuff at the local flea market - there's a guy there with a permanent stand. He's always able to find whatever I'm looking for.

You're right about the quality of the performances and yes, everyone is completely wasted and I'm sure that's why it was never released before. But, it's still amazing to watch.

John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards do an excellent job on "Yer Blues" - Lennon is great and Mick's Sympathy for the Devil, I thought, was wonderful, but you've got to be female to really appreciate his stripping his shirt off.

Thanks for the recommendation - I'll check out Ladies & Gentlemen. That isn't the concert with the Hell's Angels incident, is it?

That isn't the concert
> with the Hell's Angels incident, is it?

No, that's Altamont.

No Hippie chick, it's mostly from Fort Worth Texas 1972.
I wouldn't know about Mick ripping off his shirt being
sexy, but yes yes yes the Lennon Yer Bluez jam is a
big big favourite of mine!!!!!! By the way, what
do you think of Yoko? We've had a pretty
big debate about this here from time
to time..............

Hey, Davido, you sound like an extremely knowledgeable Stones fan. I, on the other hand, am an extremely knowlegeable Beatles fan who loves the Stones too.

As far as Yoko Ono - well, what can anyone say about her. She definately was NOT musically inclined, no musical talen whatsoever and it's a mystery why Lennon thought she was. She is, however, a marvelous artist in her own right, or at least she was before she met John. Her artwork was simplistic and to the point. Some of it was quite clever.

I think she was also a very cunning business woman and I think she figured the Beatles bandwagon was a much bigger wagon to be on than the one she was riding, so, she capitalized on it. Not really her fault, just the way it worked out. I don't think there is a woman in the world who would turn down the opportunities that Yoko was presented with.


In the late 80's I attended a Chicago Art Gallery Show of John Lennon's works as presented by none other than Yoko Ono. John had only been dead a few years and a bunch of us went down there and met her. What a flake! She's a tiny little thing of a woman. We were drinking champagne and eating cheese and Yoko was floating around with her body guards surrounding her, dressed all in black, wearing dark sunglasses. But, there is something mystical about her and as I shook her hand I felt that she was a lost little lamb without John. She had a kind of lost look on her face and looked terribly out of place. When we were introduced she just smiled and like an idiot all I could spit out was "nice to meet you, Yoko."

She definately never belonged on stage with John and it was a horrible misjudgement on his part, putting her in the spotlight like that, it only created critics and enemies for Yoko. She was the appointed bad guy, after all, the scapegoat. She stole John away from his fans, split up the Beatles and then she stuck her nose into his music - all that screeching and carrying on! Simply riduculous!

After John died, the group of people I hang around with all felt she exploited his memory. She sold off many of his artworks - charging thousands of dollars for a little scribbled stick figure etched on a cocktail napkin - Selling price $1,800. We couldn't believe it and I never wanted to believe that she would stoop this low - but she did. She also pissed off Julian Lennon. Julian is a wonderful guy and never deserved to be treated like he was by Yoko. Poor kid had to purchase things his Dad had owned at auctions. Yoko wouldn't give him a penny more than what was written down in John's will. Stubborn old bird! So, I lost what little respect I had for Yoko a long time ago. Julian is still trying to get over it, after all these years.

Sorry to ramble on so.

I think they both got wealthy from their relationship. She made him rich in the 70s and even richer herself. And besides we talk about John and Yoko and admire his first soloalbum which, perhaps had not been possible without her influence on his decision to leave Paul. No, I think she was very good for him in the beinning but he should really have gone off without her after '75-. Seems whe tortured him with that May Peng affair. Couldnt he find someone himself? She controlled him through a mistress. What a girl.

Highly interesting comment!
Who cares if you have just discovered the RnR Circus!! I myself am in the midst of discovering - don't laugh - Beggar's Banquet!! Yes, for the 1st time ever (am 47), and on a cheesy little reissue cassette!!
Your comment reinforce my awful suspicions about Yoko Ono...
Anyone has seen the footage from Zappa's Fillmore East concert, in which Lennon and Ono jams with The Mothers? Wish this video would come out officially some day... There is this book I am reading on Zappa, where the author (a musician) quotes keyboardist/electronic wizzard Don Preston saying he was really thrilled about having improvised with Ono that day. And Preston is such a great musician... What to think of this... Lennon/Ono ripping up Zappa of his "King Kong" credits for their inclusion of this jam (which relied heavily on Zappa's King Kong theme exposition) on their "Sometime in NY City"...
Back to the why-RnR-Circus-hadn't-been-released topic... I have a feeling this has to do more with their problems with Alan Klein than anything else. But this is just a feeling. I personally don't buy the bad Stones performance theory. For the time, and for the kind of sound anyone, including them, was to expect then from a live rock group such as them, covering up a frail Brian Jones, the thing really didn't turn out that bad at all IMO.

Hippiechick: I dunno how highly knowledgable about the
Stones I am, compared to some on this board,
but the great thing about this place is
we can learn so much more. Thanks for
your personal insights on Yoko and
the Beatles. I'm a big
Beatlemaniac too!

I saw Yoko a few years ago when she appreared here
in Toronto at a club date with Sean and IMO,
put on a very good show. Had very tight
personal security, understandable,
but from onstage seemed affiable
enough. Sean looked like Lennon
in his chubby Help period,
aka a twist of fate
Sean and Yoko sans
John. Some fans treated
her like a curio, a novelty act,
she did have a hit album tho,
underground perhaps, with Rising,
I was glad to see her get some due
credit. It was her first appearance here
since Live Peace In toronto, which she
duly noted. I know that show received
pretty mixed reviews from my buddies,
some walking out on her then, but I was
glad to see her finally get at least a
little due recognition. John seemed
to always believe in her, your own
reservations duly noted....................

Did you attedn any of the Beatle concerts?
I would've been a bit too young to go on
my own, and mmy parents certainly weren't
going tot take me to see those mop tops
at the time. ;-) And of course the
Stones?!? Forget that too. I had
to wait until the seventies to
catch up with them, 90's for
Ringo and Paul.

So, you're in Toronto. I too was far too young to see the Beatles too- I was born in 61. I have a sister who was about 17 when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show - I remember her screaming standing in front of the television. I ran downstairs to see what the fuss was all about and saw them for the first time. Silly girl! I never understood the screaming thing with the Beatles fans??

I also got to see Ringo and his All Star Band - but I can't recall the year. It's hard for a hippie chick like me to keep track of dates - dazed & confused - but it was a great show - it was an outdoor show here outside of Chicago and although Ringo struggled, he was pretty good.

I've seen Paul McCartney twice - I believe they were both with Wings. He's a good showman. One show was at Soldier's Field in downtown Chicago. Paul had a huge screen at the front of the stage but there was like a 3 second delay. You'd see him singing close up on the screen and hear the song 3 seconds ahead of the picture. Didn't work very well. But, most of the people around us were so upbeat that we just overlooked it. Paul was great and sang like a pro. His age was not yet starting to show. Again, can't remember the year, 80's maybe? Makes me wish I had kept a journal back then.

I saw him another time at an indoor venue - the Rosemont Horizon auditorium I believe. Again, he was great and he no longer had the big screen thing going on. Linda's presence and performance was a little strange and reminded me alot of Yoko. Who told these guys they could bring their wives to work? None of the Rolling Stones ever did that. They left their wives and girlfriends at home (smart lads).

John Lennon , Yoko Ono & FRANK ZAPPA - now there's another name from the past! Frank Zappa! I haven't thought about him for years! Is he still around? My memory is hazy but he was a very strange character and was on his way out the door just as I had walked in. Next thing you know we'll be talking about Alice Cooper!

Hippie Chick, Frank Zappa died of prostate cancer on Dec. 4, 1993.

Lennon had grown up, didn't just want
to be one of the fab four, one of the
boys. Musically speaking we have the
Dirty Mac and POL line ups, the Zappa
Mothers jam. As far as relationships
go it was Yoko, not Paul. Figuratively
speaking we were watching him grow up
in public, with all the ocassional mis-
steps that might sometimes include. I
think it's important to consider all
that happened in that perspective.

To see/ hear him jam with Keith, later Zappa
was kinda neat. He didn't want to be just labeled
a Beatle, and creatively wanted to branch out,
especially with his avante garde albums
with Yoko. Today a band wouldn't have
needed to break up to do that. They
could've had the best of both worlds,
solo careers with a Beatles album
and tour every few years. So I
think the music biz, which was
all or nothing, and only wanted
two Beatles lps and two singles
a year, is a a lot to blame
for the breakup. We can't just
say it was Yoko.

Lennon had grown up, didn't just want
to be one of the fab four, one of the
boys. Musically speaking we have the
Dirty Mac and POL line ups, the Zappa
Mothers jam. As far as relationships
go it was Yoko, not Paul. Figuratively
speaking we were watching him grow up
in public, with all the ocassional mis-
steps that might sometimes include. I
think it's important to consider all
that happened in that perspective.

To see/ hear him jam with Keith, later Zappa
was kinda neat. He didn't want to be just labeled
a Beatle, and creatively wanted to branch out,
especially with his avante garde albums
with Yoko. Today a band wouldn't have
needed to break up to do that. They
could've had the best of both worlds,
solo careers with a Beatles album
and tour every few years. So I
think the music biz, which was
all or nothing, and only wanted
two Beatles lps and two singles
a year, is a a lot to blame
for the breakup. We can't just
say it was Yoko.

Ooops sorry. Suppose this might/
might not be interesting but
didn't mean to post twice.
Getting mixed/ confusing
signals from the IORR
system, thought it
didn't send..........................................

Yes please be a lil more careful davido because cyber paper does not come cheap.

ROCKMAN

Dont worry Davido - you're comments are well worth reading twice. Hey Rockman, what are you're thoughts besides saving cyber trees? Any enlightenment is always greatly appreciated!

Hints to save the world

On every third breathe you take hold it for 20 seconds and that will save oxygen.
You are excused from doing this if running from a rape or bank robbery.

ROCKMAN

Ha ha. Knights
on Baudway?!?
Saving space,
our breathe
and cyber-trees...................

I just wanted to add that I don't see why the Stones waited so long to release the Circus I have always thought it was a great show, however, I do think the Who was awesome, so maybe that was the reason they waited so long. Dirty Mac is also great on Yer Blues.

Raise your glass to the good and the evil, Let's drink to the salt of the earth.

Yeah, the standard line I've heard is that the Stones
felt they were upstaged by some of the other acts,
but maybe there's another reason...................?

Well, it might be true that the Stones may have felt upstaged by the other acts at the 1968 Rock & Roll Circus - they were ALL marvelous and I think The Stones were the least stoned out of all of them. It's just a small slice of the drug scene in the 60's and 70's of which the Stones had a major influence.

If you really want to see upstageing - have you heard the House of Blues Music Company's release of a CD called "Paint It Blue - Songs of The Rolling Stones (This Aint No Tribute)" - This CD is proof that the Stones are not only the greatest rock band of our time, the longest running band of our time but they are the creators of some of the greatest songs ever written.....ever

To hear some of my familiar friends singing these tunes - Luther Allison singing You Cant Always Get What You Want and Johhny Copeland's Tumblin Dice, Jr. Wells does ICGN Satisfaction, Otis Clay does a beautiful rendition of Wild Horses. And then there's the cowboy from the Circus concert of '68 again- Taj Mahal does Honky Tonk Woman with Jimmie Cotton on harmonica - simply marvelous! Bobby Womack & Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Sonny Landreth do Stones songs - sooooo cool! I had to crank up the speakers, sit back and listen to the whole disc just now....helps me to get movitvated to get myself back to work.

The Stones recorded their first American album here in Chicago back in June of 1964 at Chess Records on Michigan Avenue. Apparently Mick and the Stones were greatly influenced by the Chicago blues scene which is still alive and well and evolving just like everything else. Don't be fooled by the title - these guys love the Stones! It's a tremendous tribute to the Stones. Makes my tongue hang out! (did I spell that right??)

I'd say that the Stones wrote some pretty damn good music that's gonna be round a long,long time.....lord have mercy!

I read, back-when that the Stones had been "up" for over 24 hours before they
performed at the R&R Circus. That and them thinking the Who blew them away was
the reason Jagger listed, back in the late 60's as the reason it would not be
released!! MLC

Hippie Chick, Paint It Blue is a great CD. There's a similar (but) different one called "Stone Country" with lots of mostly newer country artist doing Stones songs. Among the best of those are Angie and HTW.

I believe all of the Stones were really tired - you could just tell. I'm sure it was not up to Jagger's high standards or whatever.

Although I'm not really into Country music you've peaked my curiosity about the Stone Country album. What label released it? I'm currently trying to locate copy of Ladies & Gentlemen concert video too. Busy, busy, busy.

Paint It Blue and Stone Country are both
EXCELLENT cover albums, best of the
recent ones I think. Stone Country
is from 1997 on Beyond Music,
distributed here in Canada
anyway, by Columbia House.
I don't think you have to
be a country music fan per
see to appreciate it. I
like Travis Tritt's version
of Honky Tonk Woman and Nanci
Griffiths No Expectations, tho
there's few klunkers on this disc.

By the way the Stones "Chess Sessions"
on the bootleg Sister Morphine label
remains a highly recommendable listen
of the bands Chicago sessions. Grab it
if you see it!!!!!!

I checked your blog out hippiechick -cool!

I remember Bill Wyman saying (was it in his Stone Alone?) that the reason it wasn't released was because Mick felt that their performance wasn't good enough. Bill didn't think so, and instead speculated that maybe Jagger wasn't satisfied with his OWN performance, not the one of the Stones. Well, that's typical Bill "@#$%&" Wyman ill-willness and jealousy.. Mick was awesome but the band sounded rusty and tired.

- Doxa