Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day

I first saw “Gimme Shelter” in 1982, when I was in high school; the mesmerizing and haunting documentary intrigued me because it clearly left many questions unanswered. The past 30+ years, I have desperately and fruitlessly searched for the missing pieces of the Altamont puzzle (even meeting a supposed Altamont attendee at a 2005 Stones concert didn’t help). Thankfully, Joel Selvin decided to fill in the blanks with his book ALTAMONT. I have never been so excited anticipating the release of a book and Selvin certainly delivered the goods.Contrary to the sunny, optimistic hope delivered by the Woodstock Festival four months earlier, the Altamont Festival (“Woodstock West”) was dark, scary and dangerous. Simply viewing the films that document both events is all that’s needed to understand the stark contrast. While the peaceful glory of Woodstock deservedly gets an abundance of attention (because it was a miracle that will never be replicated), Altamont seems to be steeped in mystery, darkness and misperception. A concert with 300,000 attendees that involved the planet’s hottest band, the Hell’s Angels, infinite drugs/alcohol and no cops is memorable because a film of it happens to capture a killing. Unfortunately, the film isn’t enough to give viewers answers to all the how and why questions it generates. The Stones don’t talk about it, most are afraid to ask the Hells Angels about it and the Grateful Dead have sheepishly avoided any connection to it at all. Selvin meticulously puts the Altamont puzzle together in its entirety. He not only finds the missing pieces, he provides context to what we see (and don’t see) in the film, clarifies misperceptions/myths and for the first time in almost 50 years, he has provided an all-encompassing account of the event. ALTAMONT is THE go-to resource that finally solves the Altamont mystery.What makes ALTAMONT so interesting is that Selvin attacks the subject matter with the tenacity of an otter cracking the shell of a clam. His meticulous and far-reaching research yield a gold mine of results that address and clarify much of the murkiness surrounding the formulation of the concert, how the Hells Angels really became such an integral part of the event and who ultimately bears the burden(s) of responsibility for the disaster that ensued. The most profound clarification centers on the financial situation of the Rolling Stones, who were more-or-less “broke” in 1969. When the band was called-out for exorbitant ticket prices on its 1969 US tour (a planned money-grabber) it countered with the “generous offering” of a free concert. The less altruistic reality was that the free concert would ultimately deliver a handsome payout to the band when the eventual film of the tour (culminating in the free concert) was released (prior to the release of the much-anticipated Woodstock movie). It was this ultimate greed and ego (the Stones wanted their own Woodstock moment) that lead to a series of rash and ill-informed decisions that would ultimately lead to rock’s “darkest day”. While numerous other factors come into play (the Dead’s suggestion to use the Hells Angels, the lackadaisical approach to the last-minute site choice and the myriad of self-serving individuals that inserted themselves for financial gain), in the end, Selvin paints a clear picture that the Stones apparent naiveté was part of the plan … they could simultaneously walk away from failure and ensure they were paid handsomely in the end (as they assumed all control of the big money maker … the eventual movie).While the storyline of the organization, planning and production of the concert is interesting enough, if you’ve seen “Gimme Shelter”, you know that there is a litany of more-intriguing individual tales to be told and Selvin doesn’t disappoint. In addition to clarifying moments/scenes/individuals depicted in the movie (I never knew the meerschaum pipe smoking sweater-wearer was Timothy Leary or the creepy scene of concert-goers exiting into the darkness at the end was footage from George Lucas filming from a hill far, far away). With Selvin’s chronological account of events, we realize that not only was the movie heavily edited and misleading, but so were the press accounts. The concert was deemed deadly, but aside from the stabbing, the lethal drugs and alcohol played a bigger role in human suffering that from violence doled out by the Hells Angels. After reading ALTAMONT, readers get a clearer picture of the Angels’ role in the concert and the violence captured on film. Yes, there were moments where Angels were problematic, but much of their “activity” centered on people damaging their bikes or prospective members eager to prove their worth for active members. Selvin certainly doesn’t excuse the problems they caused, but fairly puts things in perspective and explains that most did what they were asked to do. These detailed vignettes give readers a view of concert events from ground zero … we feel the stress, the chaos and certainly the fear. Even though we know what eventually happens, it is evident that the outcome could have and should have been much worse.ALTAMONT doesn’t simply end with the concert’s close … Selvin follows up on individuals and the repercussions faced by the major “players”, including Meredith Hunter’s girlfriend and family, as well as the man who killed Hunter. I found his post-concert research sufficiently answering all questions that lingered (at least in my mind) and I felt this is where the book really delivered. Unlike Woodstock, the media had no real interest in Altamont (save “Rolling Stone”), but the event remained a cloying issue that affected many of those involved, well into their futures. Only the Rolling Stones escaped relatively unscathed and we come to understand that that was exactly how it was planned … they set it up so everyone else would deal with the aftermath (good or bad). Selvin closes with a spot-on analysis of what it all meant and why it matters. I feel his final words satisfactorily closes the case on Altamont by giving us the full story and leaving no questions unanswered.After reading ALTAMONT, my 30+ year craving for answers and details has finally been satisfied. While many rock n’ roll books seem to embellish and glorify events/people as a means to shock and impress readers with salacious details and stories of depravity. For Altamont the simple facts are bad enough. Thank you, Joel Selvin, for shining such a bright light on this misunderstood event.

For those who are wondering, the site of the Altamont Speedway where the 1969 Free Concert took place is at 17001 North Midway Road to the west of Tracy, California. There is a worn out mailbox here marking the spot. Across from the mailbox is a wide, empty paved drive leading up to a formidable black iron gate then a small hill obstructing any view one might wish for of the speedway area. As Joel Selvin correctly points out - and he waits until the afterword at the end of the book to finally get specific - you can drive east down Interstate 580 just after Interstate 205 splits off to the left - and if you look to the right you get a brief glimpse of the closed down speedway. At 70 MPH or one of the more fashionable higher speeds out there, you can only stare to your right for so long to take things in.It is hard to imagine 300,000 largely stoned and drunk people once congregated here but somehow they squeezed together out here in the middle of nowhere, a place nobody had ever heard of prior to the concert and anybody currently under 50 would have even been alive to be present for. The place was set up hurriedly out of nowhere then torn down just as quickly as though it had all been an apparition and people must have soon been asking themselves if any of this was real. Certainly the initial press accounts were not real, describing it all like some fun filled picnic. This must have been why, despite living nearby on the San Francisco peninsula at the time of the concert I paid little attention. As Mr. Selvin pointed out, the really dark scoop was presented in the fantastic Rolling Stones article which came later and which I never saw. So now, years later, I see what I missed, including exactly where all of this took place, something I had incorrectly concluded was in somebody's cow pasture high atop Altamont Pass. So why no map in this book of the territory where all of this was focused? There are folks interested enough in this event to this day to want to come out and get the layout of this unlikely place! Why do we need to see a photo of the Sears Point Raceway where this WASN'T held when we could see what the Altamont Raceway looked like before the whole place was trampled to death? I would like to know where the band stood and something more than a fleeting glimpse of what the place looks like today. This is literally a true crime site, the kind of place the curious often flock to and where the participants in 1969 looking for trouble found exactly that as trouble went looking for them as well. People were assaulted right and left while the music played on. It was a little like the movie BLUE VELVET.Nevertheless, this book is a real page turner with vivid descriptions of all of the extreme personalities and the outlandish occurrences most of us would never dream of experiencing. And it is all so educational to me of a time I only witnessed at a distance of lives consumed by music, drugs, and sex. Anyone who was there as an adult must be in their 70's and up now and surely must wonder if they dreamed all of this so long ago and if there really was a place called Altamont. You'll have a little trouble finding the place now which makes it all even more fascinating. Did all of this REALLY happen HERE?

Eine fesselnde und akribisch recherchierte Dokumentation über das berüchtigte Altamont Free Concert vom 6. Dezember 1969. Joel Selvin’s Arbeit zieht einen detaillierten Rahmen von der ersten Idee eines freien Konzertes der Grateful Dead mit den Stones im Golden Gate Park bis zu den Nachwirkungen des desaströsen Ereignisses auf beteiligte Personen und Bands, die spärlichen juristischen Konsequenzen und die Verarbeitung in der Presse sowie im legendären Konzertfilm „Gimme Shelter“ der Gebrüder Maysles. Der durchgehend beschreibende und selten wertende Ansatz des Autors trägt zu einer düster, drohenden Stimmung bei, die ein wenig der Atmosphäre eines aufziehenden Krieges gleicht. Jeder Beteiligte kann im Grunde das Unheil kommen sehen, jedoch keiner unternimmt etwas dagegen, vor allem weil niemand klar in der Verantwortung steht. Allgegenwärtiger Drogennebel tut ein Übriges. Täter und Opfer sind kaum zu differenzieren und haben oftmals ein und denselben Namen. Der Autor produziert keinerlei einseitige Schuldzuweisungen oder gar moralische Fingerzeige, sondern lässt den Leser ein eigenes logisches Verständnis der vielfältigen Faktoren entwickeln, die zu einer Explosion von Rücksichtslosigkeit und Gewalt mit dem Fanal des Mordes an Meredith Hunter geführt haben. Allerdings stehen die Rolling Stones, insbesondere Mick Jagger, bei Selvin am Ende als die einzigen Gewinnler da, die, getrieben von einer fatalen Mischung aus Hybris, Gier und Naivität, den Lauf der Ereignisse schon im Vorfeld billigend in Kauf genommen hatten und sich am Ende aus dem Staub machen konnten ohne äußerlich Federn zu lassen.„Altamont“ ist flüssig zu lesen und bildet einen faszinierenden zeithistorischen Einblick in die Popkultur. Es ist nicht nur ein tolles Buch für kritische Leser, die bereit sind, aus Wolke Sieben einer nostalgischen Betrachtung der späten Sechzigerjahre, auf dem harten, staubigen Boden der Realität aufzuschlagen. Wen „Gimme Shelter“ mit lauter unruhestiftenden Fragezeichen im Kopf zurückgelassen hat, der bekommt hier wirklich eine Menge Antworten.

A sweeping, detailed, gossipy, opinionated but fabulous new look at a seminal event of the sixties. Did we really talk like that, cats? How did most people even remember? The writing is terrific, although it gets a bit bogged down and loses freshness towards the end in trying to skewer the Stones and taking a high moral ground where really, there seemed to be none. Everyone, even the culture itself, was culpable.

Good read overall. As someone who saw Gimme Shelter about 50 times in my misspent youth, about 80% of the first 30-50 pages were basically crib notes from that movie. It isn't until towards the latter half of the book, new information is brought forward. I have to admit my attitude towards the involvement of the Hells Angels was altered a bit through some of the commentary. The laying of blame for Altamont the concert itself on the part of the author seemed subjective to me based on which band he was a bigger fan of - there was plenty of blame to go around. Interesting to think that had anything like that happened in the modern day, it would have been litigated into the next century.

In de laatste maand van 1969 op 6 december en aan de vooravond van een nieuw decennium, worden met het concert van de Rolling Stones in Altamont de 60'er - flowerpower en love & peace - jaren macaber afgesloten (Rock's darkest day). Alles wat maar kon mislukken, mislukte ook. Te korte voorbereidingstijd, te veel toeschouwers, gedrogeerde Hells Angels als bewakers en met de moord op Meredith Hunter als tragisch dieptepunt. Een zeer goed uitgewerkt journalistiek werk van Joel Selvin over de voorbereiding, het concert zelf en de naweeën hiervan. Ruim geïllustreerd met een uitgebreide bibliografie en dito index. Een must voor iedere Stones fan

This book came up in my 'Recommended for you' and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. Very well researched, detailed in presentation, and able to keep 'the story' going through the end. Like most, all I knew was that 'The Hell's Angels killed that guy', but this book paints a very encompassing story around it all. I found myself caring about this book way more than I ever thought I would.A small challenge for me, especially at the beginning when all the players were being introduced, was keeping track of who was who, but that could have just been me.