1969 was 50 years ago...

December 1, 1969:

The Beatles Book monthly publishes its final issue -December #77. The monthly had been active since August, 1963. This last issue includes a column from editor Sean O’Mahoney (writing as Johnny Dean), in which he criticizes The Beatles for encouraging drug experimentation among their fans. O’Mahoney made the decision to cease publication after it became obvious that The Beatles were unlikely to continue recording.

 

Interesting, so who relaunched it to carry on for decades?

 

I think it was the same guy.

 

If so I would wager he stopped the editorials criticizing their drug use!

 

The Rolling Stones started their recording sessions at Muscle Shoals today 50 years ago before heading to Altamont. Their Work Visa was only for touring and did not allow for studio work so they had to do this undercover.

When the Rolling Stones Went to Muscle Shoals




Sent from my Galaxy Tab® S2

 

December 2, 1969:

In Bristol, England, George Harrison joins the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends tour as a guitarist, making this the first tour for a Beatle since 1966. Eric Clapton is already on the tour. Harrison had watched the group plus Clapton perform at the Albert Hall in London the previous night (Dec. 1). The tour had started in Germany at the end of November. Harrison will be there for five of the tour’s six remaining dates in the UK, playing two shows each night.

Harrison had met D&B in Los Angeles in 1968 and heard their album Accept No Substitute - which they had recorded with musicians including Leon Russell, Bobby Keys, Jim Price, Bobby Whitlock and Rita Coolidge. Harrison tried to get the album released on Apple early in 1969, but the deal fell through. But Harrison suggested that Clapton take Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on as the opening act for Blind Faith in mid-1969 in the US. Clapton then helped broker a new record deal for Delaney & Bonnie with his US label, Atco (Atlantic).

 

December 2, 1969:

John Lennon is interviewed for Man Of The Decade accolade. Lennon was nominated for the accolade by anthropologist Desmond Morris. The other nominees were John F Kennedy, chosen by Alistair Cooke, and Hi Chi Min, nominated by Mary McCarthy. Each nominee will get a 20-minute segment as part of a documentary commissioned by Associated TeleVision (ATV). The documentary will air in the UK on December 30, 1969, with Lennon appearing last.

Desmond Morris visited Tittenhurst Park, Lennon’s home in Ascot, Berkshire, on this day to film an interview. The finished segment begins with Lennon describing his education, saying how little he learnt apart from reading and writing. He says musicians find success outside of the mainstream of conventional values, and contemporary music’s journey from rock ‘n’ roll through psychedelia and back down to Earth. Lennon seems positive about the future, speaking about the Woodstock and Isle of Wight festivals and the anti-war march in Washington, saying each event was less violent than an average Beatles concert despite involving more young people.

The BBC crew will spend the next five days filming Lennon in a number of locations.

 

December 2, 1969:

The Rolling Stones are at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios - a small building with a distinctive stone facade at 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama - where they will spend the next three days recording songs 'Wild Horses', 'You Gotta Move', and 'Brown Sugar'.

 

December 2, 1969:

An intruder kidnaps Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes and forces her to tie up her two companions and get in a car with him. Luckily, Birdsong escapes unharmed by jumping out of the car onto the San Diego freeway, and the man is arrested four days later in Las Vegas - a bizarre case that makes national headlines. The intruder turns out to be a maintenance man at Birdsong's apartment building.

 

Prefer 1969, to 1970.

 

I believe Muscle Shoals as a recording destination for the Stones in 69' was suggested and in part facilitated by tour writer Stanley Booth.
Booth knew it was an under the radar venue & likely figured the Stones would also dig it for its musical history and heritage as well.
Booth chose not to mention this in his book though I think it was later mentioned by Jim Dickinson.

 

December 3, 1969:

This is George Harrison's second show with the Delaney & Bonnie & Friends tour, at Birmingham Town Hall.


John & Yoko are meanwhile being followed around by a BBC camera crew for their fives-days-in-the-life 'World Of John & Yoko' segment for television.

 

December 3, 1969:

The Rolling Stones are recording 'Brown Sugar' at Muscle Shoals studios. The song will not be released for over a year, however, due to legal wranglings with the band's former label (nor will the Stones release a new studio album in 1970). When released in April, 1971, the single will go on to be a UK & US #1.

Muscle Shoals studios:

 

December 3, 1969:

Ten Years After are playing the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

 

December 3, 1969:

Grand Funk Railroad are appearing on the Playboy After Dark TV show.

 

December 4, 1969:

Keluarga Karawitan Studio RRI Surakarta led by P. Atmasunarto, with Ki Nartosabdo as conductor.
Santi Mulya, P5, 4 December, 1969. Gamelan Jawa music, Indonesia.

 

December 4, 1969:

The Who are playing in Bristol, England, at at the Bristol Hippodrome

 

December 4, 1969:

Janis Joplin appears on The Tom Jones Show.

 

December 4, 1969:

The site of the Rolling Stones' free concert - to take place on December 6th - is moved from Sears Point Raceway to Altamont Speedway, an hour east of San Francisco, California.

Mick Jagger had first hinted at the idea of a free Stones concert at a press conference in Los Angeles, the second stop of the US tour. As the tour neared its end, Jagger had announced the free concert to the press in New York City, saying, ‘We’re doing a free concert in San Francisco on December 6.’ And clafiying, ‘It’s not going to be at Golden Gate Park, unfortunately, but somewhere adjacent to it, which is a bit larger. 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.’

The city of San Jose had turned down a request, as did Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Kezar Stadium already had a 49ers game scheduled. The Sears Point Raceway was more ideal, and staging preparations were already underway, but final negotiations hit a snag over film rights and fees (the owners wanted $100,000 in escrow from the Stones). Then, local businessman Dick Carter, who had recently taken over a facility called Altamont Speedway, got involved. Carter offered his facility for free to the festival (for the free publicity). However, the biggest crowd Carter had ever hosted there was 6,000 people.

Nevertheless, the decision is made on the night of the 4th - to switch the location of the Dec. 6th free concert to the Altamont Speedway. The hasty move results in numerous logistical problems, though, including a lack of facilities such as portable toilets and medical tents. The move also creates a problem for the stage design; instead of being on top of a rise, which characterized the geography at Sears Point, the stage at Altamont will be at the bottom of a slope.

 

December 4, 1969:

Seeking to understand the so-called 'generation gap', which many people believe is a factor in anti-Vietnam War protests and the 'youth subculture', President Richard Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew, and forty US governors on this day listen to 'anti-establishment' rock music and view films of simulated LSD trips. There is apparently no record of what is on their music play list.

 

I was mostly 4 years old that year, so didn't get to experience it the way many of you did. Seems like an amazing time in many ways, especially musically. On April 27, 1969 Zeppelin played San Francisco, while Jimi played Oakland the same night! Amazing to think about 1969, almost mythical stuff...like, that really happened?

 

December 5, 1969:

It is the fourth day of a five-day shoot for the BBC documentary 24 Hours: The World Of John And Yoko - taking place in the countryside in Lavenham in Suffolk, England. The 35-minute documentary will first be shown from 10.30pm on BBC 1 on 15 December. Today, John 7 Yoko are found filming Apotheosis 2 - featuring a helium balloon ascending in the sky. Their assistant Nic Knowland agrees to go up in the balloon with a camera and soundman, filming Lennon and Ono huddled together, covered in a large black cape, as the balloon went further skyward.

 

ALTAMONT December 6, 1969

Great BBC Altamont Special


BBC Radio 4 - Seriously…, Altamont: The Death of the Hippie Dream


Excellent Two part Altamont Podcast


https://www.washingtonpost.com/podc...ost-disastrous-and-deadly-concert-came-to-be/


KSAN post-concert radio call in show



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Articles


This is a great article which discusses the making of Gimme Shelter movie which stat.es there are complete video and audio of the concert


"Gimme Shelter": The true story


Great pics


https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...5mobpdz0NDJxIAVw_wYloZzpVN2fzPlPIC04gLJLks_CM


The Chaos of Altamont and the Murder of Meredith Hunter


recommended books


Written by Stones 1969 tour manager and Allen Klein’s nephew. Has an amazing appendix with copies of contracts and other tour documents


https://www.amazon.com/Out-Our-Head...es+and+Me&qid=1575600662&s=books&sr=1-1-fkmr0


Controversial book but I thought it was a great read


https://www.amazon.com/Altamont-Rol...=books&sprefix=Altamont,stripbooks,144&sr=1-2


Eye witness 1969 tour account by one of the writers on the Stones 1969 tour. Great read


https://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Ston...=Altamont+Lydon&qid=1575601843&s=books&sr=1-1


This is a great 1969 tour short version Ethan Russell book with great photos


https://www.amazon.com/Let-Bleed-Ro...books&sprefix=Altamont,stripbooks,144&sr=1-13


The deluxe edition of the same book which is twice as long with many more photos. They used to sell a less deluxe slipcase version of the same book at half the price but looks like it is sold out. I got my copy used on ebay and not cheap but an amazing book on the 1969 tour


Home | Let It Bleed: The Rolling Stones 1969 U.S. Tour - Photos and Words by Ethan Russell


The ultimate account of the 1969 tour


https://www.amazon.com/True-Adventu...&s=books&sprefix=Stanle,stripbooks,161&sr=1-1

 

December 5, 1969:

The Rolling Stones release Let It Bleed - their 10th US studio album and 8th UK studio album. It is the first to feature new guitarist Mick Taylor, and the last to feature founding member Brian Jones. It is also their last to be released in an official Mono version (though this mono version is a 'fold-down' of the stereo version). The surreal sculpture (designed by Robert Brownjohn) on the cover of the album was inspired by the working title of the record, which was Automatic Changer. Jagger had originally asked artist M.C. Escher to design a cover for the album; Escher declined. The album doesn’t have a single released off of it (though ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ was the B-side of the ‘Honky Tonk Women’ single back in July). The album and will go to #1 in the UK (temporarily ousting Abbey Road from the top spot) and #3 in the US.

 

December 5, 1969:

The site of December 6th's free concert by The Rolling Stones is being prepared, the stage having been dismantled and brought over from the Sears Point Raceway. The Altamont site is laden with broken glass, oil stains, a pile of wrecked cars from the Demolition Derby. The stage is put up in the dark. It is only four feet high, tiny, and held together by bits of rope, at the bottom of a slope. The festival lacks any kind of facilities. The barren hills at Dick Carter’s Speedway in early December resembles a nightmarish environment - 'apocalyptic' and 'unimaginably appalling, a mini Vietnam of garbage and old car wrecks.'

Whereas the natural amphitheater and high stage at Woodstock had, for the most part, protected the performers from the crowd, the short stage at Altamont practically invites the crowd up front. Unbeknownst to the early arriving audience this night of the 5th, the Hell's Angels are going to be providing security for tomorrow's concert - at least to guard the power generators from being interfered with.

The stage lighting will only be lit from the back of the stage. Spotlights are delivered, but the operators never show up. 'We asked for eight union operators for the follow spots, and they never showed up,' says Chip Monck, stager of the concert. 'So the follow spots, about $8000 a piece, were sitting there. The kids were getting cold, so they burned the boxes and left the follow spots in the mud.'

This will explain the odd lighting on the Stones (seen in Gimme Shelter). There is no front lighting, just 48,000 watts of white lighting from the back of the stage. 'The audience was fairly well lit from the back light, and in some strange way the light managed to get around enough to light the face of the performers,' Monck says. 'Perhaps it was just bouncing off the audience.' It also meant the Stones, the only band who will play after dark at Altamont, will see the audience much more clearly than they would otherwise have been able to.

The stage and sound towers go up: