Altamont: the Decline of an Era

300,000 young, hip attendants... A mega-star lineup including Jefferson Airplanes and The Grateful Dead... Organized by one of the grooviest bands of the age - The Rolling Stones... 

At a glance, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival had all the makings to be a smash. In fact, it was actually anticipated to be the "Woodstock of the West". Held on December 6, 1969 at the Altamont Speedway in northern California, it was planned and organized by The Rolling Stones, who wanted to cap off their American tour with a concert of such magnitude and such exuberance to rival Woodstock (which had occurred four months earlier in August, 1969).

In accordance with The Stones' vision for Altamont, no professional security was hired. Instead, upon the recommendation of The Grateful Dead, the Stones hired motorcycle gang Hells Angels to provide security for the band. Hells Angels had a reputation among the hippies as "noble savages" or "outlaw brothers of the counterculture" because of their relationship with Ken Kesey, who had Angels to participate in one of his Acid Tests. So, again, the Angles seemed to effortlessly fit into the Stones' vision for Altamont. Their price?... It's rumored that the Hells Angels were hired for $500 worth of beer.

While the Stones' intention for Altamont was peaceful enough, the concert went horrifically and even tragically wrong - despite all of its initial promise. By the end of the night, the mood of the concert turned increasingly violent, agitated and aggressive, fueled by the Hells Angels, who, by that time, were completely intoxicated. The crowd, most of which had been using LSD, were unpredictable and unruly, attacking one another and members of the Angels. Before the Stones even took the stage, fights erupted, with crowd member Denise Jewkes suffering a stress fracture and Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplanes getting punched in the head by the Hells Angels. The Grateful Dead refused to even perform. 

By the time The Rolling Stones took the stage, things had clearly gotten out of hand. The picture is almost too insane to even believe. Mick Jagger, within minutes, was punched in the face by a crowd member. Thousands attempted to swarm the stage, with Hells Angels members warding them off with pool sticks. 

"Just be cool down in the front there, don't push around."

                                                                  - Mick Jagger

"I saw what he was looking at, that he was crazy, he was on drugs, and that he had murderous intent. There was no doubt in my mind that he intended to do terrible harm to Mick or somebody in the Rolling Stones, or somebody on that stage".

                                                       - Hells Angel, Rock Scully [on Meredith Hunter]

During The Rolling Stones' performance of "Under My Thumb", fan Meredith Hunter (age 18), after attempting to climb onstage, was punched and chased away by Hells Angels members. Irate, and high to the point of near insanity, Hunter returned and attempted to pull a revolver out of his suit pocket. Hells Angel Paul Passaro stabbed Hunter, killing the eighteen year old (the incident was actually caught on film by Eric Saarrinen and later featured in the documentary "Gimme Shelter"). The footage shows Passaro stabbing Hunter five different times and, afterward, Hells Angels members stomping on Hunter's dead body.

Passaro was later arrested and tried for murder in 1971. He was found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense. Autopsies of Hunter's body showed that he was high on meth at the time of his death. The Stones have maintained that, while they were aware of the unruliness of the crowd, they had no idea of the stabbing.

In many ways, Altamont represented the decline of an era. It truly closed the door on the 1960s... perhaps burying forever the idea that drugs, chaos and total, unrestrained freedom could inspire total, unrestrained peace. Instead, Altamont revealed flaws and cracks within the hippies' ideology. It made it obvious that such events had a very dangerous potential because of their combination of drugs, no security, and masses of people. It seemed, after Altamont, that many (the Stones included) began to doubt that drugs could change the world, as included in the hippies' very romanticized principles. 

Thus, Altamont represented a critical juncture in the Stones' career. It was one of their last gigs in the 60s, but, more than that, it was their last gig of the true hippie era. It demonstrated the disillusionment of the hippie dream, and The Rolling Stones emerged from Altamont a more mature and experienced band.

"Writers focus on Altamont not because it brought on the end of an era but because it provided such a complex metaphor for the way an era ended". 

                                                            - Robert Christgau, rock music critic

Certainly Altamont has been solidified as one of the most important and most infamous music festivals of all times. And, with it, history was made. Altamont, and ultimately the entire "Let It Bleed" album, truly did change history - it represented the death of Woodstock Nation, and, for that, its place in history is of indescribable magnitude.