Altamont

In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never before revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones infamous Altamont concert in San Francisco, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s.In the annals of rock history, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival on December 6, 1969, has long been seen as the distorted twin of Woodstock the day that shattered the Sixties promise of peace and love when a concertgoer was killed by a member of the Hells Angels, the notorious biker club acting as security While most people know of the events from the film Gimme Shelter, the whole story has remained buried in varied accounts, rumor, and myth until now.Altamont explores rock s darkest day, a fiasco that began well before the climactic death of Meredith Hunter and continued beyond that infamous December night Joel Selvin probes every aspect of the show from the Stones hastily planned tour preceding the concert to the bad acid that swept through the audience to other deaths that also occurred that evening to capture the full scope of the tragedy and its aftermath He also provides an in depth look at the Grateful Dead s role in the events leading to Altamont, examining the band s behind the scenes presence in both arranging the show and hiring the Hells Angels as security.The product of twenty years of exhaustive research and dozens of interviews with many key players, including medical staff, Hells Angels members, the stage crew, and the musicians who were there, and featuring sixteen pages of color photos, Altamont is the ultimate account of the final event in rock s formative and most turbulent decade. Best Read [ Altamont ] author [ Joel Selvin ] – kino-fada.fr Subtitled, The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels and the Inside Story of Rock s Darkest Day, this is an incredibly well written account of the Rolling Stones 1969 tour of America and, arguably, one of the best music history books that I have read It begins with Rock Scully, manager of the Grateful Dead, landing at Heathrow and being arrested on drugs charges Finally released, he met up with the Rolling Stones, who, at the end of the Sixties, were not in a good place The band were effectively Subtitled, The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels and the Inside Story of Rock s Darkest Day, this is an incredibly well written account of the Rolling Stones 1969 tour of America and, arguably, one of the best music history books that I have read It begins with Rock Scully, manager of the Grateful Dead, landing at Heathrow and being arrested on drugs charges Finally released, he met up with the Rolling Stones, who, at the end of the Sixties, were not in a good place The band were effectively broke their finances controlled by Allen Klein the man who damaged both the Stones and the Beatles, when John Lennon was seduced by the manager, despite Jagger s warnings Mick Jagger approached Prince Rupert Loewenstein, an aristocratic Austrian banker, who suggested they set up a touring operation, separate from Klein Tours could be financed from cash advances from American promoters, giving the band members a much needed method of making money that Klein was not involved in.A lo...Superb account of the events leading up to Altamont, and the aftermath Before I read this book all I knew about Altamont was gleaned from the Gimme Shelter film and a few magazine articles Joel Selvin recognised that the accepted narrative was far too simplistic and so he wrote Altamont The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock s Darkest Day to delve deeper, and set the record straight It s superb A forensic examination of all the key players, and the events that l Superb account of the events leading up to Altamont, and the aftermath Before I read this book all I knew about Altamont was gleaned from the Gimme Shelter film and a few magazine articles Joel Selvin recognised that the accepted narrative was far too simplistic and so he wrote Altamont The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock s Darkest Day to delve deeper, and set the record straight It s superb A forensic examination of all the key players, and the events that led up to what must surely be the most nightmarish musical event of all time A perfect storm of hubris, opportunism, naivety and toxic drugs that resulted in four deaths, ...Altamont The Rolling Stones, the Hell Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock s Darkest Day by Joel Selvin is a 2016 Dey Street Books publication I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review Growing up, I was always fascinated by the sixties decade So many changes took place in that ten years, so much of it sad and dark, but the music scene was absolutely dynamic and even now, all these years later, the music is a mainstay, still purchased, Altamont The Rolling Stones, the Hell Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock s Darkest Day by Joel Selvin is a 2016 Dey Street Books publication I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review Growing up, I was always fascinated by the sixties decade So many changes took place in that ten years, so much of it sad and dark, but the music scene was absolutely dynamic and even now, all these years later, the music is a mainstay, still purchased, downloaded, streamed, and listened to every single day The Rolling Stones went on to become iconic, still playing live shows and creating new music, and still widely respected But, in 1969, the band was in trouble They had recently lost Brian Jones, a founding member of the group, and were nearly flat broke ...An incredible read This is one of the great books of music history I am quite certain this will be one of my favorite non fiction books of 2016 There was a staggering amount of research done for this book and...300,000 PEOPLE DRUGS BOOZE GANGS WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG ALTAMONT has special meaning for me, since I live very close to Altamont Of course, I ve heard a lot about Woodstock, but very little about this West Coast cousin of Woodstock Much of the earlier part of ALTAMOUNT describes the decisions that led up to the concert There were lots of frustrations trying to find a venue in San Francisco Time was running short, so Altamont was a last minute choice The arrangements were hast 300,000 PEOPLE DRUGS BOOZE GANGS WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG ALTAMONT has special meaning for me, since I live very close to Altamont Of course, I ve heard a lot about Woodstock, but very little about this West Coast cousin of Woodstock Much of the earlier part of ALTAMOUNT describes the decisions that led up to the concert There were lots of frustrations trying to find a venue in San Francisco Time was running short, so Altamont was a last minute choice The arrangements were hastily thrown together.If nothing else, ALTAMONT is an example in how to NOT hold an outdoor rock festival No planned medical, two local sheriff deputies, who themselves didn t even know about the concert ahead of time There was no professional security, and no medical except a handful of doctors who happened to be available who were mostly psychiatrists Altamont was a vio...I have seen Gimme Shelter at least ten times and read various accounts of the concert in books about the Rolling Stones Although it was portrayed as a true horror show, this book by a veteran San Francisco insider sheds light on a lot of things that were whitewashed According to Selvin, the true blame falls squarely on the Stones because they were the ones who wanted a free concert to end their film on a dramatic high.It certainly seems there were those in their camp who recklessly moved the d I have seen Gimme Shelter at least ten times and read various accounts of the concert in books about the Rolling Stones Although it was portrayed as a true horror show, this book by a veteran San Francisco insider sheds light on a lot of things that were whitewashed According to Selvin, the true blame falls squarely on the Stones because they were the ones who wanted a free concert to end their film on a dramatic high.It certainly seems there were those in their camp who recklessly moved the debacle forward, although it is hard to believe that if the band understood what they were getting into, they would have gone ahead with the concert To me, the blame falls on John Ja...2 1 2 A friend of mine told me about this after hearing Selvin on NPR Selvin is a respected rock writer, I have read a couple of his books This one is mostly remarkable in the incredibly unprofessional way this concert was dealt with We perceive these guys and their operators to be big time business moguls, totally on top of everything Well, guess what it was 1969, Jagger was 25, everybody had their hands out and no one was really minding the store No surprise that it turned out to be a 2 1 2 A friend of mine told me about this after hearing Selvin on NPR Selvin is a respected rock writer, I have read a couple of his books This one is mostly remarkable in the incredibly unprofessional way this concert was dealt with We perceive these guys and their operators to be big time business moguls, totally on top of everything Well, guess what it was 1969, Jagger was 25, everybody had their ha...Three and a half stars A combination of exhaustively researched, painstaking detail and occasional airing of personal grudges, held together with sloppy overwriting Selvin s research of the events is ridiculously detailed, almost to the point of straining credulity how much does he actually know about what certain minor characters were thinking when they got up that morning to go to Altamont but the range of background is what the story needs I knew about the drowning but had no idea two peo Three and a half stars A combination of exhaustively researched, painstaking detail and occasional airing of personal grudges, held together with sloppy overwriting Selvin s research of the events is ridiculously detailed, almost to the point of straining credulity how much does he actually know about what certain minor characters were thinking when they got up that morning to go to Altamont but the range of background is what the story needs I knew about the drowning but had no idea two people wer...Standing on line at Stony Brook in 1976 for a Billy Joel concert The show was general admission, and they were four hours past showtime but still had not let anyone in A rumor of something started, and the press of the crowd lifted me off my feet and knocked the air out of me I couldn t protest I couldn t move all I could do is hope that I didn t fall and get trampled to death Of course, a couple of years later, 11 people died at a Who concert under very similar circumstances trampled to Standing on line at Stony Brook in 1976 for a Billy Joel concert The show was general admission, and they were four hours past showtime but still had not let anyone in A rumor of something started, and the press of the crowd lifted me off my feet and knocked the air out of me I couldn t protest I couldn t move all I could do is hope that I didn t fall and get trampled to death Of course, a couple of years later, 11 people died at a Who concert under very similar circumstances trampled to death in the rush for general admission seating But that sort of thing doesn t live in legend like Altamont No one captured a murder for a documentary at The Who show, or at other rock disasters And Altamont also gets pride of place It was first and popped the bubble on Woodstock and the remnants of the summer of love Instead, you have the Stones out to make a buck off a movie that caps their American tour You have a comp...Very good writing and research on this murder mysterywith the Rolling Stones I can t believe this actually happened I knew about the concert at Altamont a little having gone to SF State, where one of the Rolling Stone editors John Burks was my journalism advisor But I didn t know the whole story This IS THE WHOLE STORY Everyone and every side is talked about from the bands, to the promoters, to the Hells Angels, to the police, to the press, to the fans, to SF city council, to other sit Very good writing and research on this murder mysterywith the Rolling Stones I can t believe this actually happened I knew about the concert at Altamont a little having gone to SF State, where one of the Rolling Stone editors John Burks was my journalism advisor But I didn t know the whole story This IS THE WHOLE STORY Everyone and every side is talked about from the bands, to the promoters, to the Hells Angels, to the police, to the press, to the fans, to SF city council, to other sites not used, to other promoters not used Everyone I loved this book and was sad when it ended The fact that I live in t...If your only knowledge of the tragedy of the free concert at Altamont Raceway comes from the Maysles Brothers documentary Gimme Shelter , you haven t heard the whole story Author Joel Selvin takes us back to that dark day and examines the various unstoppable forces that to the concert and the aftermath.The film would have viewers believe that the Rolling Stones and the Hell s Angels were largely responsible for the bad trip that was Altamont Selvin aptly points fingers at plenty of other cul If your only knowledge of the tragedy of the free concert at Altamont Raceway comes from the Maysles Brothers documentary Gimme Shelter , you haven t heard the whole story Author Joel Selvin takes us back to that dark day and examines the various unstoppable forces that to the concert and the aftermath.The film would have viewers believe that the Rolling Stones and the Hell s Angels were largely responsible for the bad trip that was Altamont Selvin aptly points fingers at plenty of other culprits who could have turned it into Woodstock West or cancelled the whole thing when it became apparent that it would be a disaster The whole sad tale is told from a fan s perspective, if that fan was also an investigative journalist The music is praised but the musicians are closely scrutinized as much as the Angels, the police and the promoters It turns out that some people who were barely in the documentary had some large roles to play offscreen.This is very good book on a topi...

• English
• 17 March 2017
Joel Selvin
• Kindle Edition
• 373 pages
• Joel Selvin
• Altamont