I cant uderstand why they dont published this in 1968. Many tv-stations wanted to send this on christmas 1968. Saw the video last night. just great!
THE WHO--jethro tull were awesome--and the stones- looking tired- even blow they away!

The Stones were not satisfied with their own performance.

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django
The Stones were not satisfied with their own performance.

quite understandable

They felt that their performance was inferior to that of other performers on the show .Namely The Who as I recall

I think there would have been a lot of bad publicity about Brian. He's obviously barely playing on some numbers, and might not even be plugged in on some.

Yeah, he's in No Expectations obviously, and I think he's playing the shuffle on Parachute Woman from what I see, but he's not audible...And on JJF and YCAGWYW I have no idea.

If it would have been a 'disappointment' to audiences in 1968, it certainly has aged well, and thankfully it has finally come out.

Great seeing the 'Dirty Mac' as well, although for me, that is the low point of the cd/dvd....watching yoko wailing is actually funny.

The stones were excellent, as was the Who and Taj & Jethro Tull. Thumbs up for Marianne as well.

I like it, it is a nice slice of Stones history/Earth History.

Yellow ponchos....

I think one of the best overall descriptions of the entire RR Circus is from Ethan Russell's fantastic 1985 book, Dear Mr. Fantasy. (A much better book than his recent Let it Bleed book, if only for his writing in the previous effort, which is simply very well done). His recollection is that the event of course went on for way too long, tiring the audience to the point of exhaustion. But he notes that he thought the Stones sounded great, musically, to his ears, despite the lethargy of the crowd. But the crowd was literally falling asleep by this time, and no performance, no matter how great, would revive them. He also describes how members of the Who were incredible "troopers" trying their best to incite the crowd and get them excited and into the Stones' performance.

Worth it alone just for the Dirty Mac and Jesse Ed Davis' electrifying playing with Taj. Brian had been crying all day from what I have heard from someone who was involved. He telephoned the night before and said he wasn't going to come because the other "hated" him.

I was fortunate enough to go to the invite-only premiere in New York and sat a few rows in front of Keith and Yoko. You could hear Keith audibly laugh in the theater when his giant mug appeared on the screen in that eye patch. An evening I'll always remember.

Bill Wyman said that Mick in particular was unhappy with the Stones' performance, which is bizarre to me because it's one of my favorite Stones live performances BECAUSE MICK ISN'T CHEATING ON HIS VOCALS as he usually does live (and always has). AND THE BAND DOESN'T HAVE THEIR OFTEN OVER-SLOPPY LIVE SOUND (I was completely disgusted the first time I heard the GET YER YA YA's version of Stray Cat Blues).The band sounds sharp in CIRCUS. Mick even screeches at the beginning of Sympathy For the Devil, as on the studio version. Maybe because the performance wasn't that long Mick didn't have to worry about wearing out his voice and he could screech away.

Anyway, when I first watched CIRCUS I was perplexed why Mick disliked it so much. He perhaps was paranoid being contrasted to the other acts. Never mind it's a better live performance—to me, anyway—than most of the other billion live Stones DVD's he unhesitatingly green-lighted.

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24FPS
I think there would have been a lot of bad publicity about Brian. He's obviously barely playing on some numbers, and might not even be plugged in on some.

He is plugged in on every song but is very low set in the mix. On JJF and PW you can hear him with some good will in the same area as Bill's bass. He is better heard n YCAGWYW and of course fully audible on NE and SFTD. I have never understood why he is lowered since he plays ok. He does the job but nothing more while looking sad and lonely.

I was reading an Ozzy book the other week. There was a mentioning about the very early days of Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi quit the band as he got an offer to join Jethro Tull as they were supposed to do a TV thing with the Stones.
He is supposed to be with Tull on the program. It is ages since I last time had a look on the set so I donno.
He then rejoined Sabbath a week later

Jan Richards

[www.stonesondecca.com]

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Jan Richards
I was reading an Ozzy book the other week. There was a mentioning about the very early days of Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi quit the band as he got an offer to join Jethro Tull as they were supposed to do a TV thing with the Stones.
He is supposed to be with Tull on the program. It is ages since I last time had a look on the set so I donno.
He then rejoined Sabbath a week later

Yes he's definitely on that, but they were using a pre-recorded backing track (with live vocals) as far as I can recall.

I agree that Jagger was at his very best on this, though I've always loved him in Hyde Park too.

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tonterapi

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24FPS
I think there would have been a lot of bad publicity about Brian. He's obviously barely playing on some numbers, and might not even be plugged in on some.

He is plugged in on every song but is very low set in the mix. On JJF and PW you can hear him with some good will in the same area as Bill's bass. He is better heard n YCAGWYW and of course fully audible on NE and SFTD. I have never understood why he is lowered since he plays ok. He does the job but nothing more while looking sad and lonely.

He also looks tired and in physical pain after several minutes of maraca shaking on SFTD. At one point, he almost stops, and Mick whirls around and gives him a withering glare.

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tatters
He also looks tired and in physical pain after several minutes of maraca shaking on SFTD. At one point, he almost stops, and Mick whirls around and gives him a withering glare.

According to Pete Townshend Mick had tried to "build up" a crying Brian backstage in order to get him up on stage. I think that maybe Mick was worried that Brian would ruin it somehow knowing that he was fragile. Lucky for the Stones, Brian handled it well. I'm amazed that he is there at all regarding his problem with depression.

It's also a bit strange that they (or maybe himself) made him play maraccas and not guitar on SFTD. In One Plus One I like the little we get to hear from his playing.

I wonder how much Brian played on the warm-up numbers (Route 66, Confessin' The Blues, etc)?

There were a couple of long videos on youtube with Pete Townshend talking about the Circus, I guess they were from the DVD, unfortunately they were taken off.

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Sleepy City
I wonder how much Brian played on the warm-up numbers (Route 66, Confessin' The Blues, etc)?

I believe we discussed this recently on another thread that these were not filmed. But, were they audio recorded? Anybody hear of something like that surfacing?

With thanks to an Honest man


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

COOL PICTURES!!!! Looks like a circus.

The photos of Marianne in leather are not from Rock & Roll Circus (they're from Girl On A Motorcycle movie).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-29 20:57 by Sleepy City.

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24FPS

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Sleepy City
I wonder how much Brian played on the warm-up numbers (Route 66, Confessin' The Blues, etc)?

I believe we discussed this recently on another thread that these were not filmed. But, were they audio recorded? Anybody hear of something like that surfacing?

Yes I know this, which is why I wondered. Anyone on this board who was actually there?

Thanks for the photos! I hadn't seen some of them. Nice!

Those photos are outstanding... Thank you!

I agree with the comment that the show has aged well. However you view it this show is probably the best testament of the band during the '66 to '69 period, a time when the band was creative, productive and somewhat reclusive. One can quibble about the performances in L&G as well. With the exception of DF, I believe there were much stronger performances of those songs at other shows. But it is the best you have from that period as well. The passing of time makes them treasures.

Love the pics. THANK YOU!

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Deltics

That is Marianne's Girl On A Motorcycle body double/stand in.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-30 20:17 by His Majesty.

The band that plays on the backing track for Something Better, I've read it was Charlie, Bill, Mick on acoustic, Jack Nitzsche and Ry Cooder. Is this correct?