Album: The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
Year: 1968
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Conceived by Mick Jagger & filmmaker Michael Lindsay Hogg as a way to promote Beggars Banquet, the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was just a legend for nearly three decades. While it was recorded on December 11, 1968, it wasn’t released until 1996, despite the fact that it had performances by Jethro Tull (who mimed “Song For Jeffrey” with fill-in guitarist Tony Iommi,) The Who and a supergroup consisting of John Lennon, Mitch Mitchell, Eric Clapton & Keith Richards doing “Yer Blues.”
The first time I ever heard of it, of course, was the first time I saw The Kids Are Alright, in a theater in Fresno in 1979, thrilling to not just Keith Richards — decked out in a top hat and an eyepatch — introing them with “dig The Who,” which led into utterly incendiary performance of “A Quick One While He’s Away.” I’ll get to that when I get to The Who in, say, 2024, but in the meantime, the story went that the Stones didn’t want to release it in 1969 because they were basically blown off the stage by The Who.