The Dirty Mac doing "Yer Blues" at The Rock and Roll Circus

Here's a video clip (mpg file for download) of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience) performing under the name Dirty Mac as part of the Rolling Stone's 1968 TV special, Rock and Roll Circus.

After an unfunny Mick Jagger (doing a lame American accent) interviews an amusing John Lennon, the impromptu supergroup launches into a version of Yer Blues that makes the White Album version sound lame and hollow. This was the first time Beatle John had performed in public without The Beatles, and fortunately audio and video were on hand to preserve a great performance, with Keith on bass, Clapton on guitar, Mitchell on drums and Yoko mercifully crawling into an un-mic'ed black elastic bag. Apparently on other songs that day, Yoko provided her customary caterwauling. (If it's Yoko caterwauling on TV behind Lennon you want, see The Professor's post about the Mike Douglas show performance that made Chuck Berry's eyes roll.

via del.icio.us/tag/video

Comments

[Pat]

JeeZUS! Too bad John stuck w/ those lame-o Beatles for 3 more years. And don't forget the Who's performance for the show. They kicked everyone's ass.

[Krys O.]

RnR Circus is brilliant particularly for The Who's performance of "A Quick One." Apparently, The Stones felt one-upped by them and prevented the video release of RnRC for decades. Jethro Tull is good too.

[Krys O.]

Just curious, why all of the Yoko bashing?

[Blind Uncle Gaspard]

so, in other words, "luckily the woman/artist shut the f*** up so the STARS could come out and rock like boys are suppossed to do"?

I don't expect this kind of Yoko bashing on good ol' 'FMU.

We get enuff of that from every other outlet on the internet that talks about THAT BAND.

Up with Bagism!

[Listener Jeff]

I saw Thurston Moore perform with DJ Spooky at some jazz fest at Battery Park in the summer of 2000 or 2001. Just as it was starting to get interesting, Yoko Ono came out and started doing her primal scream schtick, completely ignoring whatever energy had developed between Moore and Spooky. I mean, it was god awful.

After about 15 minutes of this, they ended the set to extremely sparse applause from the crowd of about 100 people. Thurston and Spooky shook hands, while Yoko said "thank you" to the 12 people that approved- whereupon I shouted, "YOU SUCK!". I was about 30 feet from the stage and about 15 feet from Sean Lennon and Bijou Phillips. I got as much applause from the crowd as Yoko.
(My friends were appalled, natch).

[Station Manager Ken]

I didnt mean to bash Yoko in general, but I sure as hell am grateful that she didn't ruin this amazing performance. I like a lot of her music, I've played her solo records on the air many times. But I think that this particular rendition of Yer Blues was enhanced by her being conveniently encased in a bag, instead of in the vocal mix.

-ken

[hibiscusroto]

this is really really cool

[Jeff T]

Wow, great video. All you iPod video folks better put this on high rotation.

[Stevo]

Yoko may have been a great wife, but I don't really care....not my business. Musically, she is horrible. Yes, rock is best left to men. Plain and simple. There were a handful of terrific female rock goddesses, but rock is synonomous with men. Women are great in the jazz world, and, please, let them stay there. I can also do without Donna screwing up the Dead's music. Women's rights? Get lost.

[Pat]

Aaah, shut up Stevo. Woman kick ass as hard as any man. I think Ken's point is right on--Yoko is cool and extremely influential...but she couldn't have added anything to this performance.

(The Dead? Give me a break! Not a lot of rockin going on there. I think the Slits, for excample, could easily pound each one of those hippies...except maybe Pigpen..)

[Rebecca]

I like the part where Eric Clapton almost starts crying when John sings that he feels suicidal.

[Psycho78]

Ooo, yes, this is good, but the Jethro Tull with Tommy Iommi is waaaaay better.

[Nom De Plume]

If I recall correctly, Tull are actually lipsyncing to a recorded track from their first album -- Iommi is on camera but you're not hearing him.

[dennis]

I had another clip from that week that I found online some time ago, if I can find it I'll forward it. John & Yoko did a couple of songs and Yoko 'caterwauled' the first one, to the chagrin of others onstage, and it seemed to me in watching the second song that someone had unplugged her mike unbeknownst to her. The caterwauling was pretty funny, and Yoko singing without realizing she was unheard was even funnier.

[Adbekunkus]

Hi there. Just checking this site, while precisely listening to The Rock and Roll Circus on my winamp. Well, on the comment posted by Nom de Plume on Oct 18 05: come on man, I would belive a lipsync from anyone nowdays, but not J-Tull, not in the sixties... gimmie a break. Besides, it couldn't be a lipsync, 'cause if you listen Song for Jeffrey on the This Was album, it sounds completly diffrent from this performance. Let's be sure of what we say before saying it ;-)

Oh, yes, The Dirty Mac is the holiest of the holiest. Happy new year everyone, from México.

[Chris,]

I saw that clip where Yoko had been unplugged, it made me laugh, i wish that she hadn't sung on alot of John Lennon's records from the seventies, i have an MP3 of Frank Zappa playing a Beatles record with John Lennon, and she is there doing her blood warbling, stupid woman!
I live in liverpool and some how lasy year she managed to get pictures of Tits, Cocks and Fanny's pasted up all over the city, it was god damn awefull! think of the children!
The Dirty Mac are an awesome concept, but The Beatles still rock! George Harrison was possibly the best lead guitarist ever to play in a band, his stuff was just so good and fitted so well, maybe not as quick as Hendrix or as technical as someone like Rory Gallagher or Stevie Vai, or the passion of SRV, but his stuff is just perfect!

[Jörg Ausfelt]

Since it doesn't say here, this track is actually taken from the DVD 'The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus', avaialable anywhere, even here in Yangshuo, China (at 90 cents...)! Seems Tull WAS lip-syncing after all...!

[Dooooood]

Great stuff - but the camera man during Clapton's solo!? Point it at the fret-board! I dont care what kind of plec he's using! Apart from that, brill!

Good for a one off, but come on, The Beatles would kick Mac's ass any day of the week...

[jack]

Anyone who knows anything about Lennon would agree that John would've been too insecure to play without the other three Beatles if his gal hadn't been by his side.

[Martin Laacre]

I wish I had a time machine and a lightning speed black catsuit. I would then travel back to the night of December 8th, 1980, and like in "The Matrix", when Mark David Chapman fires his gun at Lennon, I'd quickly push Lennon to the ground, move Yoko to John's spot, and then hit Chapman in the back of the ead with a brick so that he won;t try to kill John a second time. End result: "Onobox" and related crap would never exist, or see the light of day.