This is the most interesting archival release of
the Rolling Stones since More Hot Rocks, 20 years ago, and the first issue of truly unreleased material by
the Stones from this period. And
the Stones have some competition from
the Who,
Taj Mahal, and
John Lennon on the same release. Filmed and recorded on December 10-11, 1968, at a North London studio, Rock and Roll Circus has been, as much as
the Beach Boys' Smile, "the one that got away" for most '60s music enthusiasts. The
Jethro Tull sequence is the standard studio track, but the rest -- except for
the Stones' "Salt of the Earth" -- is really live.
The Who's portion has been out before, courtesy of various documentaries, but
Taj Mahal playing some loud electric blues is new and great, the live
Lennon rendition of "Yer Blues" is indispensable, and
the Stones' set fills in lots of blanks in their history -- "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in one of two live renditions it ever got with
Brian Jones in the lineup, "Sympathy for the Devil" in an intense run-through, "Parachute Woman" as a lost live vehicle for the band, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" as a show-stopping rocker even without its extended ending (no
Paul Buckmaster choir), and "No Expectations" as their first piece of great live blues since "Little Red Rooster." ~ Bruce Eder