Tim Leary talks about being there in his autobiography and says his experience was totally the opposite of how it’s portrayed in the film; he claims to have had a wonderful time and that everyone around him was very cool and having a lot of fun. He was in the back far from the stage and he had an interesting observation that things were violent up in the front because the front is the center of attention and it’s a power struggle of big egos. It has been a billion years since I read his book so I might be misremembering.
I feel like it's a very under-documented event, just generally, and you're right that as time marches on, there will be less and less people who can tell us what happened.
It certainly tracks that if you were all the way in the back (and surely on 800 hits of acid, since it's Leary we're talking about) you could get away with having no idea what was going on.
That whole era was captured on tape, film, and print - but forgotten outside the frame of hype. Woodstock in particular is creepy the way all the fanfare was canned and sold, but these last 20 years of internet strangely quiet. Most of the dialog of folks recalling shows and saying "I was there too" seems to kick in around 1973-4. Not just an age thing, I have been around rock music people my whole life - word of mouth reports from Woodstock were rare all along. It is uncanny. Doesn't add up.
Generally, stuff outside of hype doesn't get covered much. As for there being nothing really on the internet about Woodstock for the last 20 years, I have to imagine Woodstock '99 had something to do with that. Not everything to do with it, but boy, that whole frat-party-with-arson vibe sure is hard to keep off your mind.
For sure...I remember when it happened I was 11....big fan...my oldest cousin got me a copy of Liver Than You'll Ever Be Christmas of 69 whne it came out....I was a big fan. My mother was a social worker and we talked about it. Of course resources were limited in 69....there is a great deal of info and books on it now. I think the saddest thing was Meredith Hunters death....he did not think...still sad. A lot of the books do a lot of speculating. The music would have made a great live lp.....The Stones were really on that night...way better than anyone else there for sure. In the Wake of Altamont: Who Hired the Hell's Angels? - The Village Voice The above article was posted earlier...good post.... First of all, Sonny Barger was just a piece of S**T.....a criminal a wife beater.....he was a horrible human...and shame on people publishing his books, having him in movies...lifetime criminal POS...a pure evil criminal. for his sins he is not RIP....he is really really hot....bet he wishes he had $500 worth of Altamont beer now! The above article quotes some girl who throws off on The Stones regarding The Dead...and she says “The Stones screwed us all over royally. The Dead paid us all of their own expenses to fly to Altamont and back by helicopter, and then they weren’t allowed to play. They put out money that hasn’t been reimbursed, and now they’re flat broke. The Stones are just not nice people, you know?" Kind of vague not sure what she was saying about expenses she must be a CA acid casualty....The Dead not allowed to play?....Thats another falsehood....The Dead elected not to play....scared I'm sure. I would have been too....but The Stones did not have that option...they do not play who knows what happens....could have been really bad. Not the first time The Dead copped out on playing. A lot of the Frisco bands were gonna play at The DNC in Chicago 68.....none showed....Airplane Dead was gonna play...peace love crowd...but they got scared...probably good for them...it ended bad. Only band who showed? The MC5!! Both places I say good judgement....DNC 68 Altamont 69......bad scenes!
Well he was already dead but if he hadn’t died, based on his relationship with the band at the time and his drug use, I doubt he would have been there.
It is out there. And yes it is good . . . More than happy to help anyone locate the recordings, PM me - only folks I know and trust from this thread please. (Sourpusses, threadcrappers and negators need not apply. You just never know, what might be behind a silly old Brian thread!)
He has a lot of good info....including the fact that not all The Angels there were bad....my wife's uncle was an Angel in FL...a president of a chapter....we visited him and I met a couple guys who were in CA/Altamont in the 60s.....and they were cool guys....not hateful or scary...young guys then who liked bikes and bike people....they said there were always bad eggs...but not everyone...which is fair. Guilt by association....Stones get that bad rap often...evil dark...not really...young curious read some books liked to talk about magic....hardly evil.... Altamont was a lot of people making unwise decisions without thinking what could go wrong and general apathy. Many people had a role in it...Stones included...and it ended badly. I think of it at times as I have all of the 69 shows...I think....the music and tour were great...The show at Altamont was great...lot of great bands Stones played great set....but haste, poor thinking by people, lack of planning, people individuals not thinking and a small group of people who love to bully and hate others lead to disaster. Just think what would have happened today....more people, especially people I know do not take S**T but so much....300,000 vs what 50 angels....those boys get killed!....not real good odds!!! They were probably lucky a rival gang was not there....who knows the outcome. Its a sad part of history of music.....and it fades more and more....
Yes indeed. Although Jones himself produces it and plays sitar on India and marimba on More Than This. The album tanks, but Ferry is so impressed with the results the band stays together and Eno is inspired to rejoin. Jones is hired for the next album but its his last one behind the knobs, as Brian feels threatened by Eno dominating the direction of the band and leaves to start a supergroup with Kate Bush and John Lee Hooker. Unfortunately they never got beyond the rehearsal stage.
I better question would be how would 'Some Girls' have sounded with Brian Jones on dulcimer, marimba, recorder and sitar?
Interesting take. I guess adding Brian Jones to the mix would have made it like a solar eclipse. I don’t know if that day could’ve gotten any darker.
