The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus: A 1968 Concert Film Shelved for Nearly Three Decades

The Rock and Roll Circus was a one-day concert film shot on December 11–12, 1968, at a TV studio in London. The Rolling Stones headlined and invited an incredible lineup: The Who, Jethro Tull (their first TV appearance), Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and a supergroup called The Dirty Mac featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell. The concept was a circus-themed variety show, with band members introducing acts in costume.

The Stones shelved the film immediately after shooting. The official reason was that they felt the other acts — especially The Who — had blown them off the stage, and their own performance lacked energy (Mick Jagger had a bad cold and the band looked tense). Jagger also was unhappy with the film’s quality. So it sat in the vault until 1996, when it was finally cleaned up and released on CD, VHS, and later DVD.

Bootlegs of the full concert have circulated for decades, mostly sourced from a rough VHS copy of the raw footage. These include all the interstitials, clown costumes, and banter, plus multiple takes (like Jethro Tull’s “A Song for Jeffrey” was actually lip-synced to a different performance). The official release is more polished: audio was remixed,