The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1996)
A 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The film is comprised of two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull. John Lennon and his fiancee Yoko Ono performed as part of a supergroup called The Dirty Mac, along with Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Richards.
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Highly Overrated But Still Good
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Although I'd seen parts of this film before, I'd never seen "RnRC" in its entirety until the other day. I found it to be an enjoyable film, although I can understand why the Stones decided not to release it back in the day - it's good but not great, and the Stones' performance leaves a lot to be desired in the excitement department.As the title informs us, this is indeed a "rock and roll circus", featuring several different bands jamming under the big top, and a variety of circus performers doing their thing in between the bands. Honestly, it sounds like an interesting concept but in reality it's more of a stupid gimmick. The best thing about this film are the performances, but sadly only some of them are fully up-to-snuff.Jethro Tull pull off a fairly decent, mostly-mimed performance - apparently only the vocals/flute were performed live. It's a pretty good performance though nothing more.The Who turn in a thrilling performance of "A Quick One" which is easily the musical highlight of the film. According to rumor, the Who's superior performance is the main reason the film wasn't released at the time. It's easy to see why - the Who were tight from being constantly on the road, whereas the Stones hadn't toured in over a year.Taj Mahal's performance is decent blues rock/soul, but nothing to get too excited about. His performance is mainly notable for featuring a young Jesse Ed Davis on guitar.Marianne Faithful sings a nice song which is ruined by her wretched vocals. She looks pretty cute though. I guess it pays to be Mick's girlfriend, because her musical ability is negligible.Next up is the Dirty Mac, a "supergroup" featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards on bass. One would think this would be a good combination but one would be wrong. Richards sounds like what he is - a guitar player playing bass, and Lennon's guitar is not even close to being in tune with Clapton (or anyone else for that matter). Despite this they manage to turn in a fairly decent reading of "Yer Blues" which makes me wonder how history would be different if the Beatles actually played live after '66...They also play another song with Yoko on vocals which really isn't worth mentioning. What's with Lennon and Jagger and their tuneless, talentless girlfriends? Interspersed between a couple of the numbers is some footage of Jagger and Lennon goofing around which is probably the most revealing and interesting part of this whole spectacle...Closing out the show are the Stones, who manage to turn in a fairly lacklustre performance. After the likes of the Who in particular, the Stones somehow sound very spare and empty, not to mention kind of boring. It's not a terrible performance by any means, just a so-so one which is easily overshadowed by the other acts on the bill. It is nice to hear the material from "Beggar's Banquet" played live though. The highlight for me is the mostly-mimed performance of "Salt of the Earth", which has always been one of my favourites.
Most people who watch "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus," a TV program that the Stones put together for the BBC in December '68--but that was never aired--will likely be struck by the same thought: How could this remarkable show fail to have been shown back when? The program turns out to be a godsend for fans of '60s rock, featuring as it does not only "The World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band," but also Jethro Tull, The Who, Marianne Faithful, Taj Mahal and a band called Dirty Mac, interspersed, under the big top, with some amusing circus acts, and observed by a small but enthusiastic audience in whimsical regalia. All the performers are in top form here, but the highlights for me were Jethro Tull, here with future Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi filling in for the recently departed Mick Abrahams, and the two songs performed by the Dirty Mac. This was a one-shot supergroup consisting of Mitch Mitchell on drums and Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and John Lennon on guitars! The version of the Fab Four's "Yer Blues" that they dish out here is just awesome, and when Yoko Ono hits the stage to caterwaul on the instrumental blues romp "Whole Lotta Yoko"...well, just hold on to your eardrums! This program, fittingly, belongs to the Stones, however, and the six tunes that the boys give us are just terrific, especially that "Sympathy for the Devil," during which Mick Jagger gets to prove again that he really is rock's best frontman. Whotta high-energy display; no wonder John Lennon can be seen boogying his pies off in the audience! Bottom line: If you're a fan of any of the artists mentioned above, this DVD is for you!
Rock'n'Roll fans it doesn't get any better than this! This is as close as you're going to get to your 60s rock dream. A Lennon/Keef/Clapton/Mitch Mitchell jam. Early tasty Tull with Sabbath's Tony Iommi on guitar. Marianne Faithfull looking like an angel. The Who destroying the competition with a sensational version of A Quick One. And last, but not least, The Stones with a relaxed but smoking set including classics Sympathy For The Devil and You Can't Always Get What You Want. Unforgettable.
The bands:The Rolling Stones,the Dirty Mac,Jethro Tull,The Who,Taj Mahal,Marianne Faithfull,Yoko Ono accompanying The Dirty MacComments and Side-notes:Hosted by Stone's members dressed as ringleaders,it also has a circus-designed stage,set,costumes for the audience,and one or two circus acts,this is mostly a blues-rock festival;The dirty Mac was a band of music stars who were assembled exclusively for the concert and gave their one performance there;this concert was performed right after The Beatle's "The white album"was released and this was Lennon's first public Non-Beatle performance,the who and tull give fascinating performances but the material is'nt great ,Taj Mahal and the Dirty Mac are pretty good,Yoko is an embarrassment,Marianne does'nt fit in but the song is good but fluffy,The Stones give a varied,rousing ,classic,charismatic song cycle,culminating with a fantastic "Sympathy of the Devil".