Dirty Mac – Yer Blues

What I wouldn’t have given to see this band tour.

Maybe the first “”Supergroup”…In 1968 John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell got together and played the Beatle’s Yer Blues. The Rolling Stones were taping a Television special featuring The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, and Marianne Faithfull, called “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” but was shelved for 28 years.

Yer Blues was on the White Album and had only been released 3 weeks before this December 11th recording. John Lennon came up with the band name “Dirty Mac” from a play on words of the hot new group at the time…Fleetwood Mac. I always wondered what a band would have sounded like headed by John Lennon and Keith Richards…this is as close as we will ever know.

I would have loved to hear John Lennon sing in close quarters more than about anyone else. John was an interesting lead guitarist. He never played much lead with The Beatles but he would work a chord and get a solo out of it. He also came up with some great rock and roll riffs. Day Tripper, I Feel Fine, And Your Bird Can Sing, and many more. He did play lead a year later on the song Get Back.

The show did not see the light of day until 1996. The Stones were not happy with their performance which would be the last with Brian Jones. They had been up for days and were worn out. The Who had just returned from a tour and were really tight and some thought upstaged the Rolling Stones. I’ve read that Keith, Mitch, and Clapton wanted to stay as close as possible to the Beatles recording…and they did.

The best thing to come out of the film to me is this performance…and The Who performing “A Quick One, While He’s Away.”

The Dirty Mac performed two songs…Yer Blues and “Whole Lotta Yoko” with Yoko…uh…”singing” so we will stick with this one.

A DVD of this event was released in 2004…It’s worth buying.

Yer Blues

Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
Yes, I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
In the morning, wanna die
In the evening, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
My mother was of the sky
My father was of the earth
But I am of the universe
And you know what it’s worth
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
The eagle picks my eyes
The worm he licks my bone
I feel so suicidal
Just like Dylan’s Mr. Jones
Lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
The black cloud crossed my mind
Blue mist round my soul
Feel so suicidal
Even hate my rock and roll
I’m lonely, wanna die
If I ain’t dead already
Woo! Girl you know the reason why
[Instrumental Break]
Wanna die, yeah, wanna die
[Instrumental Break]

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

62 thoughts on “Dirty Mac – Yer Blues”

    1. I would have loved to see this band make one record…Lennon and Richards in the same band? It wouldn’t have lasted long probably…but it would have been great while it lasted.

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  4. Cool! Brand new to me, they sounded good on that as one might expect. ‘Lennon, Clapton, Richards, all on one recording…why one earth did it take nearly 30 years to come out?’ ‘Oh, did we mention Yoko sings on it!’ ‘Ahh. Now I see why.’

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    1. The Stones didn’t like their performance…they had been up for days…and The Who were on tour and were perfect. Some say the Stones felt upstaged by them…it makes sense…the Who weren’t wore out and were ready. It was a lot of sitting and waiting.

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    2. Oh, harsh Dave! I’m sure Yoko can sing. Sure, all we’ve heard so far is shrill wailing but surely once she warms up she must sound absolutely entrancing?
      Seriously, why 30 years???

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      1. Because the Who upstaged the Stones…and they did. The Stones were wore out and tired…and it showed…the Who were on the money.

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  5. Never knew that such a supergroup existed! Thanks for the introduction. Richards on bass!? Good thing he and the drummer are keeping the beat. John’s strong suit musician-wise is his singing (and songwriting of course.) Eric’s good for the guitar fluorishes.

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    1. I do like John’s funky solo in the middle of this one but yea…Eric sounded great. They stayed really close to the original. I would have paid dearly to see this band.

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  8. Max, Clapton (You on an Eric run?) was emerging (or had already emerged) as one creative guy. You know the dates better than me but I think EC would still be in Cream or just heading into Blind Faith at that time. Wasnt long before he went solo. These are the years that he did it for me. Plus a few more after this. Who’s laying down the time on this along with Mitch? No bass? A musician question for you from a non-musician.

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    1. Eric was untouchable through these years. He was still playing a Gibson which I love.
      Keith Richards playing bass on this makes it even better. He is playing it and making those bends. Lennon’s voice just cuts like a knife on this one.

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      1. My eye sight is going. I looked at Richards. I guess I just presumed he was on guitar also. I was thinking Yoko was behind the speakers laying a few Max riffs down. I wasnt going to leave a comment but the Clapton thing popped into my head.

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      2. I thought that was the case…you thought he was playing guitar. No…I had yoko in a choke hold behind the amps. Good hearing from you CB

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    1. Mother is not a party starter…it is just raw emotion. I do like that they jumped into the blues movement for just a song anyway…that and I Want You on Abbey Road.

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  11. ‘Yer Blues’ is a favorite Lennon track for me. He wasn’t really a blues guy but he was the only Beatle who could possibly have brought that influence in. He also does some bluesy runs on “I Want You” from Abbey Road. And the Stones R&R Circus wasn’t available for years due to the Stones’ reluctance. Bands used to do wacky shit like this all the time back then.

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    1. Yes me also Jim. The White Album is my top Beatle Album. I love the solo he did on it also…playing around with a chord basically…and I agree. I like those raw runs he did.
      I’ve read where Mick thought the Who upstaged them…and they did.

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      1. Yep, it’s hard to believe I never listened to the soundtrack, even though I knew about it!

        I guess I tend to get distracted very easily, especially when it comes to music. I start listening to one artist. Then something else comes up, and I’m on to the next thing. And before I know it, I’ve cheerfully forgotten about that artist or album I listened to before!

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      2. You should watch it Christian. A lot of good acts are on it. The Who, Jethro Tull, and of course the Stones but they are clearly tired and wasn’t at their best…the Who on the other hand was great. Here is an example.

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      3. Thanks. I was out earlier and initially listened to the soundtrack in my car.

        It’s decidedly more fun to watch the performance of The Who than listening to the audio only. Their energy level was incredible.

        The Stones, on the other hand, looked tired.

        To me, Lennon’s performance of “Yer Blues” is among the highlights. I also though Taj Mahal was pretty cool.

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      4. Lennon’s singing….to quote an author that was there… “made my hair stand up on the back of my neck” ….he said hearing him sing that close was incredible.
        Yea the Stones just sat on the film for years.

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    1. Pretty cool huh? I would have loved to hear an album by these guys. Two alpha males like Lennon and Richards in the same band…they may have killed each other lol.

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      1. Just listening to it again now. That’s going straight into the collection. Great voice and guitar – goes without saying. Wasn’t McCartney and Alpha Male although I’m not sure what that even means.

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      2. Alpha male is the leader…although Paul did some things…they all looked to John for leadership and doing the dirty work that no one else wanted to do.

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      4. No no…that name came from a dog pack…where the alpha male ruled. It also could mean maucho back then.
        Keith didn’t make the business deals but as far as the music….he was the leader…now when he was on heroin I’m not sure how much then.

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      6. Mick usually wrote the words…Keith came up with the melodies and riffs…
        Sorry Matt..,.I had to go somewhere.

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      8. There are two famous songs that were written by just the one of them. It’s so weird because you would think it would be opposite. Keith wrote Beast of Burden totally…and Mick wrote Brown Sugar totally…they didn’t do that alot…

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      13. You are my go-to man about all info from that era and those groups. That’s why I refer to your posts so often. For example, Bruce’s comment today about his connection with Mountain Dew which he alluded to in your post was Gold. But I was too lazy to read the comments in your post to round out the song history.

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      14. I don’t know if it’s a life wasted lol…but yea I like it. I appreciate it Matt.
        That was something special with Bruce that he knew… Bruce is a true renaissance man

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    1. Yes he was… according to his book…him and John were pretty close.
      Graham I’ve been brushing up on Jeff Buckley more…I’ll be at that post tomorrow. I know more of his dad…

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      1. I thought I remembered a bunch of Stones playing on You Know My Name, but looks like it was just Brian Jones. I read the two bands got on well, even though they had reversed expectations- Beatles were working class but appeared sophisticated, while the Stones were from well-off backgrounds but appeared working class.

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      2. Yes…the images were switched. The Stones played off of that image…it was smart…I give that to them. Poor Ringo…was in fact really poor …coming from a bad neighborhood.
        John and Paul also was on the Stones song “We Love You”

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