Comments on: This Is Not Your Family Circus

This Is Not Your Family Circus

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:55:09 -0800

The Greatest Rock & Roll Show On Earth: Jethro Tull { Song For Jeffrey } The Who { A Quick One While He's Away } Taj Mahal { Checkin' Up On My Baby, Leaving Trunk, Corrina, Ain't That A Lot Of Love } Marianne Faithfull { Something Better } clowns ☻ The Dirty Mac John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards & Mitch Mitchell { Yer Blues [2nd take] } Yoko Ono with Ivry Gitlis & The Dirty Mac { Whole Lotta Yoko } The Rolling Stones { Jumpin' Jack Flash, No Expectations, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Sympathy For The Devil [previously] } (1968)

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:14:29 -0800

Yoko in the studio breaking up The Beatles

By: toma

toma — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:22:25 -0800

Well, they've been sadly beating this to death on my local PBS, but there are still some cool spots. John's 'Yer Blues' shows how effortlessly he could tinker with a venerated style and make something cool. It's also a great reminder that he usually sang with power and emotion. I think the Beatles are too often thought of as 'performers,' like magicians. And The Who's 'Quick One..' shows how important group singing was to the band. It wasn't until their 70s epics that they let anybody go it alone.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:25:22 -0800

Here's a great early 80s home video of John playing "Dear Yoko" acoustically.

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:02:10 -0800

I have this album. I know it was filmed, but for some reason it never occurred to me to try and find the video.

By: peacay

peacay — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:41:05 -0800

If only youtube had a search function. Cue vociferous defence.^{comment[!]=noise}

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:44:49 -0800

I'll let my posting history speak for itself, peacay.

By: creasy boy

creasy boy — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:09:40 -0800

That Yoko sings like a Meredith Monk without talent. And the violining added nothing to that song, to my ears -- just novelty. Some of the other stuff was cool.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:11:18 -0800

I have this album, and it's great. The video, for some reason, not so much. There's something withering and soul-destroying about Dirty Mac tearing it up for 3+ minutes only to be joined by that yodeling wraith who proceeds to tear down everything great the performers up to that point have built up in the audience (me). I dig Yoko Ono alright, but she just killed that show.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:29:37 -0800

That version of "A Quick One," which I first encountered on the The Kids Are Alright soundtrack, is the best one I've ever seen and/or heard.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:37:11 -0800

Here's a great early 80s home video of John playing "Dear Yoko" acoustically. I wish. But that "s" has to come off.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:37:48 -0800

Wow, great stuff. The "You are forgiven" at the end of "A Quick One" always gets me right here. Thanks much for this! And peacay, I like you, man, but for fuck's sake, don't piss in threads just 'cause you can. You could go into any post and say "If only the internet had a search function." You don't like YouTube posts? I'm guessing you've made the point before; now all that remains to you is to skip YouTube posts. Unless you just enjoy pissing for its own sake.

By: merlinmann

merlinmann — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:44:20 -0800

I watch the bit with The Who probably twice a month, and I still think it's one of the most propulsive rock and roll performances I've ever seen. And given the conditions under which they came up with that? Wow. The performances began at around 2 p.m. on December 11, 1968, but setting up between acts took longer than planned and the cameras kept breaking down, which meant that the final performances took place at almost 5 a.m. the next morning.

By: Item

Item — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:44:21 -0800

Yoko is the queen of the gods. I love most of her records and I love her in this program. While the other groups (with the exception of the Who) were busy sucking up the performance, Yoko gives it her all to freak out the squares. Shame this was never aired, but if I were the Stones I'd have been embarrassed by Brian Jones, too.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:52:49 -0800

Nothing involving Jethro Tull should ever be confused with "rock and roll." Period. The rest of it, very cool.

By: meh

meh — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:56:42 -0800

O'oh...more Yoko.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:02:53 -0800

Yoko Ono "Cut Piece" 1965 (performance art)

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:08:39 -0800

Wow, I've seen that Who clip many times but Moon's performance never fails to blow me away. A quick one is really six separate little songs and you'd think that he might have to concentrate a little to keep track where they where but he just tears through it.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:14:57 -0800

And given the conditions under which they came up with that? Wow. Speed's a hell of a drug.

By: needs more cowbell

needs more cowbell — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:19:02 -0800

I never understood why people thought Mick Jagger was sexy until I saw the Rock and Roll Circus.

By: davey_darling

davey_darling — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:38:44 -0800

Ha! At 1:28 of A Quick One, Pete's windmilling arm hits one of the overhead mics, which falls back and hits Keith right in the forehead - he doesn't miss a beat - you can see Pete's sheepish expression after it happens.. I love stuff like that.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:00:18 -0800

Nice post, poolio. (Do I have to be a musician to understand any love for Yoko Ono? Because I cannot stand her.)

By: Nabubrush

Nabubrush — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:03:51 -0800

This is fantastic! Thanks!

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:39:16 -0800

"We wanted to put cellos on the track but Kit Lambert said we couldn't afford it. That's why we sing 'cello, cello, cello, cello' where we thought they should be." -- John Entwistle on "A Quick One"

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:52:25 -0800

Poolio writes "Yoko in the studio breaking up The Beatles" Isn't that from the Two Virgins album? That wasn't a Beatles project, other than the fact that it came out on the Apple label. Good Yoko.

By: pokermonk

pokermonk — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:54:24 -0800

A Quick One never ceases to amaze.

By: billysumday

billysumday — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:02:03 -0800

The Who for the win.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:07:48 -0800

That was from the Let It Be sessions, PeterMcDermott.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:32:46 -0800

Nothing involving Jethro Tull should ever be confused with "rock and roll." Period. except for the part where tony iommi plays guitar for them

By: empath

empath — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:35:49 -0800

What an incredible voodoo freak-out Sympathy for the Devil is.

By: Arch_Stanton

Arch_Stanton — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 10:39:09 -0800

More proof that The Who is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Completely blew the Stones off the stage.

By: action man bow-tie

action man bow-tie — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 11:26:26 -0800

Arch, I'm afraid some people will need more convincing. Maybe this will help... The Who perform Sparks at Tanglewood, MA - 1970 Full download available at Long Live Rock

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 11:35:17 -0800

That's great footage, action man...I believe there were three or four songs from that concert on the 30th anniversary Maximum Rock 'n' Roll tape they put out concurrent with the box set about 13 years ago.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:08:23 -0800

Christ, the Who were great. Thanks for that, action man! (I never get tired of watching Entwistle stand there calmly playing as three guys go completely nuts around him. Sometimes, when Daltrey gets a little wild with the tambourines, he backs off a couple of steps. Calmly.)

By: Gungho

Gungho — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:53:23 -0800

Nothing involving Jethro Tull should ever be confused with "rock and roll." Period. The rest of it, very cool. Except at the time they very much considered themselves a Blues band. 'Note that Ian is trying really hard to stand on one leg as often as possible. He was very fond of the fact that some people wanted to go see that band with the one-legged flute player', thinking he had only one leg.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:42:42 -0800

"My Generation" at the Monterey Pop Festival

By: padraigin

padraigin — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 22:08:03 -0800

Marianne's so wasted. Sigh, Brian Jones.

By: phaedon

phaedon — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 08:00:34 -0800

Jesus Christ, why did I click the Yoko Ono link first?

By: thatswherebatslive

thatswherebatslive — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 21:01:31 -0800

More proof that The Who is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Completely blew the Stones off the stage. I've heard that the Who's performance is the exact reason the Stones chose not to release the film when it was first shot. For more John Lennon supergroup action of decidedly shabbier quality, sink your ears into A Toot and a Snore in '74 (download here) You might think that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Stevie Wonder getting into a studio together to jam might sound earthshattering, but you probably didn't consider the amount of liquor and cocaine they were on.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:17:52 -0800

In case you are wondering why all those people are wearing ugly ponchos during the Dirty Mac set, what you are actually seeing is the baggist in its natural habitat.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 17:38:46 -0800

More proof that The Who is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Completely blew the Stones off the stage. That section of Sparks about 2.5 minutes in, where it picks up speed, would blow anybody off the stage; thanks for posting it, action man. It was a similar concert (i.e. fantastic) when I saw them in the gym at Georgetown University about eight months before that youtube clip was shot — they did most of Tommy and then cuts from Live at Leeds, to remind everybody that even though they had done an 'opera,' the band still could rock harder than anyone else. (Not a bad show for $5.)