Rolling Stones session introduced Julian Lennon to pot

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Rolling Stones’ ‘Rock and Roll Circus’ introduced Julian Lennon to pot: ‘I went, What is this?’
BY SOMETHING ELSE!
DECEMBER 11, 2015



As John Lennon’s son, Julian Lennon occasionally found himself in settings that would boggle the mind of the average kid. One was the taping of Rock and Roll Circus, a December 11, 1968 concert documentary sponsored by the Rolling Stones.

And, in that moment, something very rock ‘n’ roll happened.



“In fact, recently I got given a tape from someone who filmed me,” Julian Lennon told HazyRock.com. “It’s me with Dad, [Mick] Jagger and Yoko [Ono]. I had a look at it the other day — and it was so bizarre, seeing me sitting there chatting away. I shouldn’t bring this up, but I was sitting in the middle of everybody, smoking a joint. At five years old; four or five years old! I don’t know, but it looked like I was passing it on. It did. I guess I decided to discover what it was, at five. I went, ‘What is this?,’ and then said: ‘Who wants this?'”



Rock and Roll Circus was scheduled to air on the BBC, but was ultimately withdrawn by the Rolling Stones — despite also including performances from the Who, Jethro Tull and a supergroup (dubbed the Dirty Mac) featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards. The documentary was finally released on VHS, CD and Laserdisc in 1996, followed by a DVD edition in 2004.



Beyond that ultra-rare live performance from John Lennon (he did a rendition of “Yer Blues” from the Beatles’ White Album), the concert is also famous for documenting Tony Iommi’s brief flirtation with Jethro Tull, prior to Black Sabbath’s success.