WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AT ALTAMONT?
In December 1969 I was nineteen years old and lived halfway across the continent from California. I wasn't at Altamont or Woodstock. Being Nineteen, out of work and broke the idea of traveling to California and getting stranded in the middle of a huge drugged out crowd that would probably be attacked by the police didn't appeal to me.
In December 1969 I was nineteen years old and lived halfway across the continent from California. I wasn't at Altamont or Woodstock. Being Nineteen, out of work and broke the idea of traveling to California and getting stranded in the middle of a huge drugged out crowd that would probably be attacked by the police didn't appeal to me.
My perspective of 1969:
Jan 25, US-North Vietnamese peace talks began in Paris
Feb 23, Pres. Nixon approved the bombing of Cambodia
March of that year , The Chicago 8 were indicted in aftermath of Chicago Democratic convention.
April 69,A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
Also in April US troops in Vietnam peaked at 555,000. Over 33,000 had already been killed
Jul 20, Astronaut Neil Armstrong took his legendary "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Aug 8, Actress Sharon Tate (26) and four other people were murdered in her Beverly Hills home.
Sep 2, The first Internet message was a packet switch delivered to UCLA from BBN Corp.
Nov 12, The US Army admitted to the 1968 Vietnam massacre of civilians at My Lai.
Dec 6, The Rolling Stones staged a rock concert at the Altamount Speedway in Livermore California.
Most of my information on rock concerts came second or third hand. The TV often showed almost every large gathering of "hippies" being greeted by a large contingent of police with clubs, tear gas and dogs to keep the peace. FM radio was still kind of a weird underground thing. A friend who was into the drugs and rock & roll scene went on about how high she got and what great drugs were available at concerts. A motorcycle club I associated loaded up with weapons like they were going to war and tried to appear in strength at these gatherings for self defense. Mix in a few Marxist groups trying to have a revolution and starting a riot every chance they got. Keep in mind that several people died at Woodstock hundreds were arrested and god knows how many had their heads cracked by cops on the road to and from the concert. I didn’t like hippies and didn’t do dope. From my point of view these get togethers seemed like a great place to avoid.
ALTAMONT
The planning and logistics leading up to the concert were joke. Partially because of incompetence. Partially because of last minute venue changes. The planing and execution leading up to the concert was a tangled mess involving money and politics. A group of New York detectives in charge of Stones security were very unhappy about the preparations. Marvin Belli was involved in trying to untangle the mess. Despite Belli's involvement, the group suffered a series of canceled clearances and broken deals that led from Golden Gate Park to Sears Point to Altamont.
First venue
The concert was supposed to be held in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Park. Stories vary about the permits. Some say that the permits were issued then revoked. Others say the permits were never issued.
An effort has been made to blame this on the Rolling Stones. The Stones had been accused of gouging on ticket prices and decided to put on a free concert. Once again the Stones are accused of having evil intentions. A concert movie featuring the Stones was being filmed and they supposedly wanted a large crowd present for the filming. The film was directed by David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin released as Gimme Shelter.
Second Venue
In any case the concert venue was moved to the Sears Point Raceway, but after a dispute with Filmways Inc who controlled Sears Point. Filmways wanted the concert's film distribution rights.
Altamont
The concert was to take place on Saturday, Dec. 6 The location was switched on the night of Thursday, Dec. 4. Altamont Raceway at the suggestion of its owner, Dick Carter In time for fifty thousand people who were expected to arrive.
This resulted in a mad rush to prepare the unused race track to accommodate a huge crowd. There was not enough of anything. The logistics involved in providing even the basics for a crowd of this size are staggering. Parking, food, water, sanitary facilities, medical help, lighting, sound, stage construction and security were a mess. California Highway Patrol observed heavy traffic from as far away as Bakersfield caused by cars headed to this concert. A runaway train was headed straight to Livermore California.
Security
Apparently a few hundred, perhaps four hundred civilian security guards were on hand. A few local police; some say between four and six.
The Hells Angels security question; Damn near everything you read says the Hells Angels were hired for the occasion. Five hundred dollars worth of beer or five hundred dollars for beer are the most commonly quoted payment for providing security. The Angels say this is bullshit. The Stones agree. We do know the Frisco Chapter had been present at Grateful Dead concerts in the past and helped with crowd control. The Stones had also invited British Hells Angels as an "honor guard" at a free concert held at Hyde park earlier that year. I strongly suspect the Angels were invited. They were asked to provide security of some sort. I also suspect that an area near the stage was Angel territory and they were there to keep people off the stage. I sincerely doubt that the Angels just decided it was their civic duty to show up at the concert and lend a hand with security. On a call_in show on radio KSAN the next day in which Sonny Barger told the Hell's Angels version of the story. He claimed that the Angels were never told they were supposed to be security. They were just going to get to drink beer and sit on the stage. Regardless of the agreement when the dust settled the Stones and everyone else involved decided to blame the whole damn mess on the Angels.
Most stories circulating about the concert claim the Hells Angels were the security providers for the concert. There were several hundred security guards and local police on hand. This is often conveniently overlooked. It also sounds so much better to say that the Stones hired the Angels. As far as I know the Stones had nothing to do with hiring security. This end was handled by the track owner and promoters.
It just sounds so neat to say the Stones hired the Angels who killed some poor kid while the band played Sympathy for the Devil.
The concert
It had the potential to be a great a scene; A free concert near San Francisco with Santana, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner headlined by the Rolling Stones.
On Friday, December 5, supplies and equipment were rushed from Sears Point Raceway to Altamont Speedway, and workers rushed to prepare the stage. By nightfall, thousands of spectators had already arrived, and by 7:30 a.m. Saturday, December 6, it was clear that the estimate of fifty to one hundred thousand attendees was too low Twenty_four hours was not long enough for event planners to make adequate arrangements.
Medical personnel were on site, no arrangements were made for emergency vehicles to get in or out of the grounds. The sound system was not powerful enough, which meant that the music was barely audible to anyone at distance from the stage. Just getting the stage up and sound equipment in place was a major undertaking.
The racetrack’s owner, Dick Carter, was told to expect about 50,000 attendees, but six times that number showed up. The racetrack also supplied only 400 unarmed security guards. "We put in 1,000 portable toilets, 2,000 garbage cans, rented 16 helicopters," Carter said years later, "but all day long, they kept coming, like ants over a hill."
The Angels drove their bikes right through the crowd, since they had no other way to get to the stage without abandoning the bikes. Several people were knocked down or punched . Supposedly there were a lot of prospective members present eager to impress the members. Fights broke out, and cries of "off the Angels" rose from the audience. The Angels set up in front of the stage and around a school bus. http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/gs01.html
Santa was the opening act, followed by Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the Stones taking the stage as the final act..The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform between CSNY and the Stones, but canceled at the last minute owing to the ensuing circumstances at the venue.
Chaos soon reigned supreme. Thousands of people stoned on various drugs and as much alcohol as the could carry in danced, screwed and fought. The crowd moved tight toward the stage causing a crush. At some point one or more of the Angels bikes were knocked over. The Angels pushed and beat the crowd back with pool sticks and fists. sonny Barger later wrote: the crowd "really started messing with our bikes," "Big mistake. That’s when we entered the crowd and grabbed some of the assholes vandalizing our bikes and beat the fuck out of them"
The low stage was almost impossible to secure. People kept getting on the stage as the Angels pushed them off.
By the time Jefferson Airplane began its set, the violence began to spill onto the stage. Guitarist Marty Balin tried to intervene between a Hell's Angels member and a spectator and was punched by an Angel. Balin lay unconscious on the stage for a brief period of time. The band started and stopped as the fights continued. Gracie Slick is quoted as saying over the mike:"People get weird, and you need people like the Angels to keep people in line. But the Angels also — you know, you don't bust people in the head for nothing. So both sides are fucking up temporarily. Let's not keep fucking up." http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/gs03.html
The flying Burrito Brothers http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/gs02.html
then CSNY performed. The madness continued.
The Stones wanted to perform after nightfall. Maybe for the filming that was taking place, maybe for dramatic effect. In any case there was about a two hour wait with no music.
The Angels
"In fairness though, who hasn't wanted to jump up on stage with a pool cue and knock out some pinko hippie singing about peace and love when there's commies needing killing?"
A lot of stories have been printed and broadcast about the Angels at Altamont. First there is the famous $500 work of beer. I'm pretty sure someone bought some beer. I'm also pretty sure the Angels drank plenty. Apparently $500 bought a lot of beer in 1969 because the Angels are also accused of throwing full ones at the audience. Some people caught them, some got hit in the head. I have also heard that the Angels were given thousands of hits of Acid as party favors. I suspect that if they had eaten large quantities of acid they would have been a lot less violent. The same holds true with the large quantities of barbiturates they were supposedly taking. I have no doubt in my mind that some of the Angels were high, some were probably really high http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/gs06.html but I think that these are little embellishments to make the story more interesting. What newspaper could pass up a story like: 18_year_old teenager set upon and stabbed to death by a bloodthirsty mob of Hell's Angels, high on bad acid and the $500 worth of beer they were paid to provide security by the Rolling Stones.
One thing I am sure of is that if you pull a gun on a bunch of outlaw bikers during a fight you better use it otherwise you will probably get killed. A guy named Meredith Hunter who came to a Stones concert dressed in a green pimp suit and carrying a gun was about to discover that for himself.
The Stones come on stage.
They wanted their entrance to be as dramatic as possible. As their set began the only light would be a single spotlight on Jagger.
The Stones opened with ""Jumping Jack Flash. then Oh Carol, Sympathy for the Devil,The Sun Is Shining,"" and things quieted down, but not for long. The next song; Stray Cat Blues, was marred by more violence. Then Love in Vain and Under My Thumb.
Fights kept breaking out as the Stones played. They stopped playing on several occasions trying to restore order. http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/gs04.html
As the Stones played under my thumb an 18 year old black kid named Meredith Hunter apparently rushed toward the stage more than once. He was stopped by the Angels. I don't doubt for a second that he got roughed up. On the second or third rush he pulled a gun. He had the gun in his left hand. An Angel named Alan Passaro jumped from the stage grabbed the gun with one hand and stabbed him to death. Some say the Angels then preceded to stomp him. It soon became apparent something bad was happening, Jagger stopped singing, and tried to calm everyone down, finally calling for an ambulance. http://shrubbysteve.thedivergency.com/altamont/gs07.html
The Stones continued playing. They completed Under my Thumb then Brown Sugar for the first time anywhere. They continued with a half dozen more songs. When the set was over everyone ran for the vehicles that would take them to the helicopters.
The aftermath.
Three hundred thousand or so fans straggled out of the racetrack and the surrounding fields. Most of them were not aware of what happened. Two people were killed when a vehicle ran over them in their sleeping bags. One person drowned reportedly in a drainage ditch while doing acid. Four children were born.
The Stones made their movie. It was called Gimme Shelter and was a success.
As Mick Jagger promised the concert did set an example just not the one he wanted: "It’s creating a sort of microcosmic society which sets an example for the rest of America as to how one can behave in large gatherings."
Dick Carter went broke.
Alan Passaro beat the rap claiming self defense
The gun carried by Hunter was not recovered at the scene. It was later turned over to the Alameda County Sheriff’s office. Supposedly by the Hells Angels via Marvin Belli.
The Stones insurance eventually settled with Meredith Hunter’s mother for $10,000. While admiting no wrong doing.
There had been rumors, over the years, that a second, unidentified assailant had inflicted the fatal wounds, and, as a result, the police considered the case still open. In 2005 the Alameda County Sheriffs office officially closed the case. I always thought they should have let O.J. search for the real killer.
Altamont speedway never hosted another concert.
