ARTIST D - CD
ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS SESSIONS

LABEL:
Mid Valley records 662-663
SOURCE:
Intertel Studios, London 10-12 December 1968 except for Disc Two Tracks 10,11: Winterland Arena, San Francisco 11 October 1968 2nd show.
FORMAT:
2 picture cds
RUNNING TIME:
53.26/74.21
SOUND/SOURCE:
Soundboard stereo and mono (Disc One, Tracks 3,4,5,7,12,13 and Disc Two, Tracks 7-11)
PACKAGING:
Fatboy case with large OBI stripe, 8 pages booklet and 2 picture inserts.
 


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SOUND 10 / PACKAGING 9 / PERFORMANCE 9

 
TRACK LIST:

Disc One: 1. Introduction, 2. Jam, 3. Yer Blues, 4. Yer Blues, 5. M.Jagger Introduction of RnR Circus, 6. Entry of the Gladiators,   7. M.Jagger & J.Lennon Introduce Dirty Mac, 8. Yer Blues, 9. Whola Lotta Yoko, 10. Yer Blues, 11. Yer Blues, 12.Yer Blues, 13. Whola Lotta Yoko, 14. Yer Blues, 15. Whole Lotta Yoko, 16. Yer Blues.

Disc Two: Lost Lennon Tapes: 1. Show #88-31 25 July 88, 2. Show #89-02 2 January 89, 3. Show #89-27 26 June 89, 4. Show #90-13 26 March 90, Show #90-26 25 June 90, Show 91#-05 14 January 91, 7. Yer Blues, 8. Whola Lotta Yoko, 9. A Quick One While He Is Away, 10. Purple Haze, 11. Wild Thing.

 

 
REVIEW:

This 2 discs Mid Valley release addresses the Rock and Roll Circus extravaganza that happened at the end of 1968 in London. Disc One starts with an "Introduction" by Elliot Mintz from the Lost Lennon Tapes number 88-31 from 25 July 1988 followed by an untitled warm up jam taken from a 4 track Reel. Then we get a brief a capella Lennon-Jagger of “Yer Blues” where they actually read the song lyrics (printed in full on the accompanying booklet pages). Track 4 is a rehearsal version of “Yer Blues” coming from film soundtrack Nagra Reel. After Jagger s introduction of the Rock and Roll Circus comes Dirty Mac introduction by Jagger and Lennon. The first stereo mix of “Yer Blues” comes from 4 track Reel followed by "Whola Lotta Yoko". Take 1 of "Yer Blues" from the Nagra Reel is after, strangely it is called mono on booklet but it is stereo coming from the Lost Lennon Tapes   Show 90-13 followed by Take 2 of the same song from the stereo 4 track Reel and the early alternate stereo mix (which is mono). After we get another early alternate stereo mix of "Whola Lotta Yoko" from the same source which is a 1996 VHS called Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band   A History Of The Beatles Years  1962-1970. Track 14 and 15 feature yet other versions of “Yer Blues” and “Whola Lotta Yoko” from the 10” mono acetate while the last track is something coming from Mid Valley itself as it has combined both Take 1 & 2 of “Yer Blues”. As it is well known The Dirty Mac was a one time Supergroup that John Lennon assembled for the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus tv show consisting of himself as Winston Leg-Thigh and Eric Clapton on rhythm and lead guitars, Keith Richards on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. Recorded on 11 December 1968 this was the first time since the formation of the Beatles that John Lennon, that was still in the group, had performed in public without them. The Dirty Mac recorded a rendition of the Lennon penned Beatles track "Yer Blues" and then went on to back up Yoko Ono and violinist Ivry Gitlis on a track called "Whola Lotta Yoko" ( also known as "Her Blues") essentially an extended blues jam on top of which Ono improvised free form vocalizations. This nice product is slightly different than the Dirty Mac release reviewed some months ago but offers a much better sound output. Interesting is the rehearsal take including a jam which wasn't featured before; on "Yer Blues" the rhythm section is very tight constructing the song s tapestry on which Clapton s guitar highlights the riff with his lead. Disc Two offers excerpts from 5 different Lost Lennon Tapes shows from 88 through 91 all related to the Rock and Roll Circus with lots of interviews (Lennon, Yoko Ono and film director Lindsay Hogg and different rehearsal takes of "Yer Blues". Then we get all tracks that were included in the 10” mono acetate including the Who's "A Mini Opera" also known as "A Quick One While He's Away", followed by two tracks by the Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded live at San Francisco's Winterland Arena: usually early acetates included unreleased live recordings even not connected  as was the case with this original BBC 10" and that is the reason why on early Rock and Roll Circus vinyl bootlegs there were songs by Led Zeppelin, Buffalo Springfield etc. Packaging is superb with great cover and lavishly designed extras, however both back cover and booklet have wrong track listings information as many tracks called mono are actually stereo ("Jam" from Lennon Tapes, Track number 2 for instance) and viceversa.


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Jan 23, 2012 - 7:00:50 AM


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