The Rolling Stones Announce Rock and Roll Circus Box Set

The Rolling Stones have announced a massive new box set reissue of their famed TV special Rock and Roll Circus that comes out June 7 via ABKCO. The concert was hosted by The Rolling Stones in 1968 and included performances from The Who, Jethro Tull, Yoko Ono, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and John Lennon’s supergroup with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell called The Dirty Mac.

The special was planned for release on television in 1969, but was delayed due to Brian Jones’ departure from the band and sudden death shortly thereafter. It finally received an official release in 1996, nearly 30 years after it was originally recorded. The special was directed by Michael Lindsey-Hogg for a planned release on the BBC.

The new Rock and Roll Circus box set will feature remastered audio from the concert on three LPs, marking the first time the concert has been committed to vinyl. It will also include the remastered footage of the concert on Blu-Ray and DVD with new commentary tracks by Lindsey-Hogg, Richards, Ono, Faithfull, Mick Jagger and the special’s cinematographer Tony Richmond. The box set also features a few bonus tracks, including three extra Taj Mahal songs and an unreleased recording of Lennon playing “Revolution” with The Dirty Mac.

A recording of the Stones’ performance of “Parachute Woman” is available to stream now in advance of the release. Listen to that here and check out ABKCO Records’ official unboxing video for the reissue below, along with a 1981 Stones performance from the Paste archives. You can preorder their Rock and Roll Circus box set here.