For the purposes of Supergroup Showcase the term supergroup means a band or group of musicians made up of two or more artists from previously successful bands, not necessarily super huge bands like Led Zeppelin.

THE DIRTY MAC
THE PLAYERS: John Lennon on guitar and vocals (The Beatles), Keith Richards on bass (Rolling Stones), Eric Clapton on guitar (Cream/Yardbirds/Blind Faith/John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers/etc.) & Mitch Mitchell on drums (The Jimi Hendrix Experience).
HISTORY: John Lennon–going by Winston Leg-Thigh–put this group together for a BBC Rolling Stones special called The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. (via Wiki)
OFFICIAL SITE: None.

I’m embarrassed to say that I hadn’t heard of this mind-blowing supergroup consisting of some of the greatest rock musicians ever born. I discovered them thanks to Wiki’s page on supergroups and even though they only had the one performance, I’m including them in Supergroup Showcase because 1) they’re awesome, 2)they’re on wax, kinda and 3) I’ve been swamped this week and this is an easy one to write up. Here’s the video of The Dirty Mac playing on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus from 1968 playing “Yer Blues,” a song Lennon penned for the Beatles.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Pretty fantastic, no? One of the most interesting aspects of the story from the Wiki page to me is that this was the first time John Lennon ever performed anywhere without the Beatles. That’s pretty wild. I also like seeing him and the other guys having fun. Many of us have a tendency to deify Lennon and only think of him as a serious man trying to change the world. He was just 28 at the time and having a good time.

It seems as though the rehearsals for the show were recorded and have made their way to YouTube. The televised performance is included on the Rolling Stones CD and DVD of the event (gotta check that one out), but I don’t know if it includes any of the rehearsal footage/audio (whatever exists). Here’s another take along with them playing “Whole Lotta Yoko.”

The sound on “Whole Lotta Yoko” is kind of iffy as is Ono’s warbling, but I completely zoned out while listening to the other track it’s so awesome! The Dirty Mac are one of those bands that you wish had made a record or maybe done a tour or at least recorded a few jam sessions, but I guess it’s better to wonder what could have been as opposed to having potentially declining output.