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London in 1968 was nothing less than outstanding for Rock And Roll. Mick Jagger got an idea in his head and the next thing you know countless Rock superstars are in a tent for two days performing their hearts out! Rock And Roll Circus is absolutely crankin' from the introduction by Mick to the closing "Salt Of The Earth".
The British have such an extreme sense of camp. Mick assembled a real circus act for the event and they are REALLY CHEESY. The circus performers do their silly stunts in between musical sets that are just ridiculous.
Oh yeah, Jethro Tull puts on quite a fine performance for a group that hadn't even been heard of... and "the beautiful" Marianne Faithful, although stiff does a wonderful performance of "Something Better".
The show may have been put together by the Stones but The Who are the ones who really shine. I must admit I started to hate The Who somewhere around 1981 and have not listened to them since. Their rendition of "A Quick One While He's Away" is absolutely flawless. They segue (segway? if you know the proper spelling for this word please email me) from section to section seemlessly, Keith Moon drums his little heart out while Pete, Roger and John sing like rock was meant to be sung... and Pete's guitar playing just goes without saying... he is a true showman.
John Lennon and Mick Jagger do an incredible exchange for the introduction of the Dirty Mac, John's quickly assembled supergroup. Both men are extremely quick witted but John seems to upset and throw off Mick with his homosexual references. Can I just say that this was clear a pre-"Cold Turkey" song for John.
Dirty Mac does a hot version of Yer Blues which leads into Yoko Ono jammin' on "Whole Lotta Yoko". It's hard to believe people didn't recognize Yoko's brilliance at that point in time. Hindsight?
I personally loved the Stones versions of "No Expectations" and the final number "Salt Of The Earth" with the entire audience involved. The scene where Mick takes off his shirt to reveal the tattoos during "Sympathy For The Devil" could give just about anyone an orgasm. Mick was looking fine in 1968.
I have to thank VH1 for playing this film about 20 times a month or so ago 'cause I watched it over and over again. If you have heard it and haven't seen it do it... you won't regret it.
©2004 CB Cooke - | - http://www.cbcooke.com/ - | - http://www.glyphmedia.com/host/darklight/