John Lennon was in the one-time English supergroup The Dirty Mac for The Rolling Stones’ TV special “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus”, recorded on December 11, 1968. Since becoming a Beatle, this was the first time that John had performed in public in any group other than The Beatles. He came up with the name The Dirty Mac as a play on “Fleetwood Mac”. In addition to Lennon on vocals and rhythm guitar, the band consisted of Eric Clapton (from Cream) on lead guitar, Mitch Mitchell (from The Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums, and Keith Richards (from The Rolling Stones) on bass. The band performed the Lennon-written “Yer Blues” from the then recently released Beatles’ ‘White Album’. They also backed up Yoko Ono and violinist Ivry Gitlis on a song titled “Whole Lotta Yoko”.
John and Yoko’s Plastic Ono Band, formed in 1969, also included Eric Clapton as an occasional member.
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus album and home video of the event wouldn’t be released until 1996. The DVD was issued in 2004.
