It wasn't until its original VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD release 23 years ago that fans could finally see the full performance. Though the acts turned out fantastic performances, the special was kept from view for nearly thirty years. There's also Jethro Tull (in an early lineup with pre-Black Sabbath Tony Iommi on guitar), Marianne Faithfull, Taj Mahal, and the one-time-only Dirty Mac blasting through The Beatles' "Yer Blues."
Rock and Roll Circus also included The Who, whose performance of their mini-opera "A Quick One, While He's Away" became the stuff of legend, an explosive performance from the band, pre- Tommy. Their closing set featured such classics as "Jumping Jack Flash," "Salt of the Earth," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and an incendiary "Sympathy for the Devil." But The Rolling Stones weren't the only ones firing on all cylinders.
Rock and Roll Circus featured the original lineup of The Rolling Stones - Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman - who served as the main music draw and the hosts of the proceedings. Originally directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the film was conceived as a BBC-TV special that was part rock concert and part sideshow, with a cavalcade of rock and blues stars, as well as fire-eaters, clowns, and other circus attractions. The once-lost documentary has been newly restored and will be screened in select theaters throughout the United States in early April. It's been more than 50 years since The Rolling Stones and a host of friends converged at Intertel TV Studio in Wembley to film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, the concert film that featured the band alongside friends like The Who, Jethro Tull, The Dirty Mac (a supergroup featuring John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell).