Claire Tole-Moir
Head of Department
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Rock & Pop
Lot 113
The Rolling Stones: The Michael Randolph photographic archive of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, ("The Event"), 11th December 1968,
12 June 2019, 13:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £43,812.50 inc. premium
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The Rolling Stones: The Michael Randolph photographic archive of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus,
("The Event"), 11th December 1968,
comprising: 396 original black and white negatives featuring the bands, musicians, circus acts and personalities connected to them in various groupings - some showing them whilst performing and others whilst in relaxed poses; including all the members of The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, The Who, Jethro Tull and Marianne Faithfull, together with 11 corresponding contact sheets, some published and some unpublished, to be offered with copyright. Accompanied by a copy of 'The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus' book by Mike Randolph, published by Faber & Faber, London, 1991.
Copyright: By a deed of assignment, a copy of which is available by contacting the department, to be delivered to the Buyer on collection of the Lot the Seller will assign to the Buyer his right title and interest in the copyright in the Lot. Under an agreement dated 8 May 2003, a copy of which is available from the department, ABKCO Music & Records, Inc ("ABKCO") has been granted a non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, perpetual worldwide licence for the full period of copyright throughout the world (and any extension or renewals thereof) of any and all intellectual property rights (including without limitation copyright) subsisting in 21 of the photographs forming part of the Lot throughout the world ("the Rights") for the use, by whatever means in all media for the marketing and promotion of the Event including to the film and/or soundtrack of the Event and in the packaging and/or inserts accompanying any issue to the public of copies of all and/or part of a film and/or soundtrack of the Event by whatever means, in all media and the right to sublicense the Rights.
By the deed of assignment the Seller will expressly reserve and assert his right to be identified as the author of the photographs comprising the Lot and expressly reserves his other moral rights and any broadly equivalent rights in any territory in the world.
comprising: 396 original black and white negatives featuring the bands, musicians, circus acts and personalities connected to them in various groupings - some showing them whilst performing and others whilst in relaxed poses; including all the members of The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, The Who, Jethro Tull and Marianne Faithfull, together with 11 corresponding contact sheets, some published and some unpublished, to be offered with copyright. Accompanied by a copy of 'The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus' book by Mike Randolph, published by Faber & Faber, London, 1991.
Copyright: By a deed of assignment, a copy of which is available by contacting the department, to be delivered to the Buyer on collection of the Lot the Seller will assign to the Buyer his right title and interest in the copyright in the Lot. Under an agreement dated 8 May 2003, a copy of which is available from the department, ABKCO Music & Records, Inc ("ABKCO") has been granted a non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, perpetual worldwide licence for the full period of copyright throughout the world (and any extension or renewals thereof) of any and all intellectual property rights (including without limitation copyright) subsisting in 21 of the photographs forming part of the Lot throughout the world ("the Rights") for the use, by whatever means in all media for the marketing and promotion of the Event including to the film and/or soundtrack of the Event and in the packaging and/or inserts accompanying any issue to the public of copies of all and/or part of a film and/or soundtrack of the Event by whatever means, in all media and the right to sublicense the Rights.
By the deed of assignment the Seller will expressly reserve and assert his right to be identified as the author of the photographs comprising the Lot and expressly reserves his other moral rights and any broadly equivalent rights in any territory in the world.
Footnotes
You've heard of Oxford Circus; you've heard of Piccadilly Circus; and this is The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus; and we've got sights and sounds and marvels to delight your eyes and ears; and you'll be able to hear the very first one of those in a few moments... - Mick Jagger.
The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus was originally conceived as a full-length, colour TV show, to promote the Stones' new album release, Beggars Banquet and was financed by the band at an approximate cost of £50,000. Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who had previously directed two promo films for the band, was approached to direct the project.
A replica of the inside of a circus Big Top was constructed at the Intertel Studio in Wembley and it was here, on 11th December 1968, that the Stones, their musical guests and performers from Sir Robert Fossett's Circus, appeared in front of a large invited audience. The musical guests comprised The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal (flown in from Los Angeles), Marianne Faithfull and a 'supergroup' named The Dirty Mac for the occasion, whose members were John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell and violinist Ivry Githis.
The performances got under way in the early afternoon of the 11th December, but setting up between acts and dealing with the camera equipment took far longer than had been anticipated so that, by the time the Stones came to perform, it was in the early hours of the morning of the next day.
Bill Wyman, in Stone Alone (Bill Wyman with Ray Coleman, Penguin Books, 1991) described the 'Circus' as '...exhausting and exhilarating...When Mick saw the rushes of the shoot, he insisted that our appearances were below standard, since we'd gone on so late and so tired; the audience, too, lacked spark in the film for the same reason.' Whatever the reasons, the film was shelved for almost twenty years until late 1996 when it was finally released to the public.
Michael Randolph was invited to photograph the event by Brian Jones and it marked the last live performance of Brian with the Stones. Michael's archive represents what is arguably the definitive photographic record of what went on both in front of, and behind the cameras.
Please contact the department for further details regarding the content of the archive.