The longest extant audience recording of the 1969 Rolling Stones and Friends Altamont Concert

I have the FLAC files, and listen on headphones on my Fiio x5 (this IS an audiophile forum, after all...)


Super eerie when you hear one person begging "let me out! Let me out of here!" Only to be answered by another faceless voice close to the mic, "There's nowhere to go."

Great mono recording, considering the era and circumstances. They sang and played their asses off...as if their very lives depended on it.

 

Indeed it is eerie. A soundboard tape wouldn't be able to achieve the atmosphere of this as well as this audience tape.

 

Nope. The dread, confusion, and paranoia are palpable in the recording. And then, there's this release after Hunter's execution, as if his death were some sort of pagan sacrifice to the God of rock and roll...

No wonder the Stones backed off all the satanic references and whatnot after Altamont. **** gets real when what you're singing about is suddenly staring you in the face.

 

While Gimme Shelter provides one perspective of this event, this audience tape gives you the whole story

 

Gimme Shelter is a Hollywood production.

Not one mention of the fact that the show was actually moved to Altamont from SPR because of the movie...

I'd think that would be central to any plot trying to tell the tale of the day.

 

"No wonder the Stones backed off all the satanic references and whatnot after Altamont"



Well, they did continue to perform Sympathy for the Devil live on stage....and there was the Dancing with Mr D ditty on Goats Head Soup.

 

Oh they became so camp by the mid 70s and you know it. There was absolutely nothing dangerous about nicking Woody's tune, dressing in sailors outfits and playing with bubbles in a tent...unless you're Charlie, poor Charlie almost drowned in that Godforsaken tent.

So dangerous. So Satanic.

 

I had a friend who was there, she and her friends got freaked out and went up in the hills, watched the whole thing from afar. She said from a distance it looked like a swirl of red and orange lights, and a sea of people, very scary. After the sun started going down, she and her friends got spooked after being there all day, and decided they wanted nothing more to do with it. She didn't know somebody got killed until much later on, but the vibe was pretty terrible. Difficult getting home afterwards while high on acid, as well. Hippie times. By contrast, around the same time frame she got a free ticket to see the Who, from a friend who was into Meher Baba, and she got to sit in the special Baba section that was down in front, second or third row, right in front of Pete. So close she could see the individual laces on his Doc Martens.

 

Oh, yeah, exactly. You're the one who said they "backed off all the satanic references and whatnot after Altamont", nothing said about being camp.
When were the Stones "so dangerous", "so Satanic"?
On Their Satanic Majesties Request? On Beggars Banquet? Me thinks not.
Mick with his wizards cap on the cover of Their Satanic is just as camp, if not more so, than the sailor uniform video you cite.

 

Are we really a bunch of grown men talking about the boogeyman?

 

So first you dog them because one should not exploit the "satanic" thing without being "burned", then you dog them for backing off.
Not much of a Stones fan then?

 

Ah! Just missed your comment! We agree, then!

 

Also:

The violence (by the Angels) at Altamont started long before the Stones ever hit the stage (and had nothing to do with what was being sung on stage).

 

No accounting for....what people believe in. Some believe in the "chief commander" , others in Satan...Lucifer the Dark Prince....others in Alien Abductions....


Only 3 years prior to Altamont some people in the US were burning Beatles records in the streets because of a comment by Lennon.
Takes all kinds.

 

Although one could say the Stones ultimately conjured the violence via their piss-poor planning of the event. Heck, after reading Joel Selvin's book Altamont last summer, I'm surprised it turned out as well as it did.

 

I didn't dog them; I stated that they backed off of such overt Satanic imagery after Altamont.

Search my posts, you'll find a fan of the Stones, one more so than most.

However, no one is on a pedestal. No one is perfect. Altamont is the Rolling Stones and Melvin Belli engaging the American youth in mass hubris.

I can be a fan of the band and understand that. I lost all my rose colored glasses long ago.

 

REALLY??

NO KIDDING??

I knew nothing about that.

(That was sarcasm, btw. I've read Selvin's book and listened to every set from Altamont. Thanks for the update though...)

 

You don't HAVE to read OR reply, ya know?

 

My all time favorite audience recording (and I have hundreds) and it's not even a very good recording. What it is however is an incredible historical document.

 

It's not a BAD AUD - it's not distorted and you can hear EVERYTHING. Turn it up, it probably sounds about like it sounded up on the hill...big speakers or headphones definitely help.

I've heard worse, that's for sure.

 

beave

 

I agree. I've heard way worse. Still it's not a very good recording. I've heard better from the 60's.

 

The true Stereo version (yes, it was recorded on a 5" reel to reel recorder in stereo, hidden near the front stage near the monitor) is even weirder/freakier/scarier. There are times when the taper put one or both mics inside his/her coat to keep from being seen with them, and all the sudden the audio gets muffles while it's swirling around your headphones. And then he/she pulls the mics out and it clears up, just in time for the next scuffle to happen.
beave

 

I guess Bob Matthews recorded it on the Alembic 16 track...

Can anyone say AAA Altamont 3 LP set, on electric lime green vinyl??

Despite all the starts and stops + the notoriety of the show itself, the Stones were on ****ing FIRE. Especially the Micks.