Archival footage of The Rolling Stones performing their 1968 track ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ live in concert for the first time has been uploaded online.
Landing on US label ABCKO’s YouTube channel earlier this week, the video is a previously unreleased cut from the band’s 1996 Rock and Roll Circus concert film that didn’t make it into the final version.
The footage features the outfit’s original lineup as it was when the performance was initially filmed in 1968, comprising Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart and Brian Jones.
There’s also a brief cameo from John Lennon at the 4:54 mark, having also performed as part of The Dirty Mac supergroup along with Eric Clapton, Richards and Mitch Mitchell during the show.
Watch the video below:
The concert film was initially conceived as a BBC special and directed by Michael Lindsey-Hogg. In addition to The Rolling Stone and The Dirty Mac performances, there were also sets from Yoko Ono, Marianne Faithfull, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal and The Who.
“It was an incredible shoot, I think, 36 hours or something,” Richards recalled in a statement.
“I remember not remembering everything towards the end… but it was fun… we went through two audiences… wore one out… it was great!”
Director Lindsay-Hogg also recounted his experience shooting the film.
“[Mick Jagger] used the last shred of the great performer that he is,” added Lindsay-Hogg.
“The camera was right there in front of him to use as he wanted. It wasn’t observing him from a distance; it was two feet away from him and he and the cameras were molded to each other almost because he used it so wonderfully.”
The Rolling Stones released a reissue of their 1973 record ‘Goat’s Head Soup’ earlier this year. The reissue beat indie artist Declan McKenna‘s ‘Zeros’ to Number One on the UK charts by 800 sales and made them the first band in UK history to hit the top of the charts with an album across six different decades.