''Supershow'' (later with the subtitle "The Last Great Jam of the 60's!") is a

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

made in 1969 directed by John Crome and produced by Tom Parkinson. Tom Keylock, the Rolling Stones road manager was another figure pivotal in the production of this show. This film was intended to be

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's first music super session, with several famous blues, jazz and rock artists of the time coming together to be filmed whilst performing. The project was instigated by the Colour Tel film company, the recent credits of which included ''

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' was a concert show organised by the Rolling Stones on 11–12 December 1968. The show was filmed on a makeshift circus stage with Jethro Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and The Rolling S ...

'' and ''Jimi Hendrix at Royal Albert Hall''.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. , p. 23. Filming took place over a two-day period in March 1969 in a disused

linoleum Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canva ...

factory at Staines,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Artists who were filmed on 25 March included

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disban ...

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–1 ...

Dick Heckstall-Smith Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for pr ...

and Chris Mercer. Those filmed on 26 March included Eric Clapton, Jon Hiseman's

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

and

Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has c ...

. This project also marks one of the rare film appearances of

Glenn Ross Campbell Glenn Ross Campbell (born April 28, 1946) is a steel guitarist, most noted for being lead guitarist of cult band The Misunderstood. The Misunderstood The Misunderstood were a psychedelic rock band that originated in Riverside, California, in the ...

and

The Misunderstood The Misunderstood were an American psychedelic rock band originating from Riverside, California in the mid-1960s. The band moved to London early in their career, and although they recorded only a handful of songs before being forced to disband, ...

. Allegedly Jimi Hendrix was due to appear but missed the plane from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The whole project was planned with great secrecy and filming went ahead at a reputed cost of £100 per minute. The film received a limited run in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, premiering at the Lyceum Theatre in November 1969. It later emerged as an official video release by Virgin Vision in 1986. Footage of Led Zeppelin's performance of the song " Dazed and Confused" which was originally filmed for ''Supershow'' later appeared on the ''

Led Zeppelin DVD ''Led Zeppelin DVD'' is a double DVD set by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2003, and the United States on 27 May 2003. It contains live concert footage of the band spanning the years 1969 to 1979. The ...

'' in 2003.

Track listing

References

External links

* 1969 films Documentary films about rock music and musicians 1969 documentary films Staines-upon-Thames 1960s British films British musical documentary films {{music-documentary-film-stub