You could tell at one point Garcia realizes he better choose his words carefully. He had a healthy fear and understanding of what he was dealing with, and knew he had to be diplomatic in his choice of words.
@@SusanDoran I met Garcia in Ventura in 1982. People try to put their own stuff on people like Garcia. Garcia was a guitar player and singer and creator of music. He was not a philosopher, politician, guru, teacher of morality, or sage, and he did not want to be. He just wanted to create music and play it live, and have some fun and party
@@matta8569 I show grace as that's they way I was raised, not because I'm afraid of some gang members. I've been friends with many crazies in my life. Black and white.
He forgot to mention that he recommended the Angels to run security for that show, then the Dead bailed on the show. Flew all the way into the speedway in a helicopter, then bailed. Screw everyone who suffered thru that shit to see them play. The boys got scared and ran.
I mean, dude they were capable of some amazing shit. All humans are capable of being amazing and the angels showed time and again their ability to have a felt presence wherever they were at and they showed an inate ability to stir and bring to the forefront people's insecurities and fears/judgements about them. Hells Angels were and should always still be free to exist
"But we do know that they are Hell's Angels and that they're capable of doing alot of pretty amazing things...and we just stay out of their way"...QUINTESSENTIAL Jerry. Man I miss him 😥
@@SusanDoran I know how he did it. By running intellectual circles around the dim witted interviewer. Jerry was light years ahead of the guy and I don't think putting the guy in his place was any big effort for Jerry.
Hyde Park on a summers afternoon is not Altamont on a cold night in Dec. And at Hyde Pk it was the St Johns Ambulance... A bit like comparing lemonade to Tequilla. Interesting piece.
Lived in Southern California in the 70's. A friend was nearly murdered by bikers for defending a black guy in a biker bar in Carlsbad. For awhile I was in a band that had a steady gig in a club frequented by Mescalero's some of them were great guys but a few on crank were psychopaths and dangerous. It was at times very stressful. I'm guessing JG was fairly guarded here lest he risk an ass whipping he might not have come back from.
When they were flown in that day to play,Jerry and Phil were totally peaking on STP. Mountain Girl was also along with them and very pregnant. By the time they arrived the vibes on site were already totally weird and menacing, and they made the call better to be safe and bounce.
Back in the Nineties there was a multi-part series on the history of rock on PBS and I distinctly remember Jerry talking about the atmosphere of Altamont resembling the sulfurous pit of Hell, or somethng to that effect. So, not the only footage..
Yeah, lots of folks were sayin that there was a kind of an unseen shadow that seemed to roll over the entire place.........not a good feeling at all......
One BIG difference between Altamont & Woodstock was preparation time. At Woodstock - even with the venue location changes in the weeks before the festival - they still had a lot more time to construct a much better stage than they did at Altamont. The very low (and very small ) stage at Altamont - along with where it was constructed - just the lay of the land if you like - was practically an engraved invitation for a massive crowd to push towards the stage - and for people to easily climb onto the stage. That led to the Hells Angels - and their beloved bikes - to be crowded - and their bikes abused by careless fans who quickly (and painfully) learned the Angels would not tolerate such things.
Don't underestimate "Free" in this. In 1969 that just meant the fans had more money for booze, and drugs, but anytime something is "Free" it's going to contribute to problems eventually. People are weird that way.
In 1974 I was at a 3 day festival in Sedalia MO. There was a tunnel with every illicit drug you wanted on sale. It was over 100 degrees each day with no real security. I saw no violence and the only bad things I heard of was done by the Outlaw Biker gang. For a small city of 300,000 with no security there should been much more violence. Lots ofstealing but very view violent crimes. A couple weeks later I was at August Jam in Charlotte NC and their security looked like a concentration camp with tons of cops with attack dogs between two barb wire fences.There was tons of violence there with gate crashers fighting security.
Guy pulled a gun and was either gonna shoot Mick or a Hells Angel so another Hells Angel stabbed him. I agree, no one shoulda got in trouble for the atabbing
Thanks for checking in, Brett. I'm sure Sam appreciated the visit from an old friend. Sam was doing pretty well in 2018. May have been living in his caravan. Who's your Mom? If you'd like to respond offline, email me at my first and last name at gmail. Cheers!
Live Was in Utah for a few years went to some concerts at Winterland the Nov 73 and Feb 74 runs. The Angels were hanging around outside both times, seemed the have back stage access. I wouldn't be shocked if they got drugs for the Dead esp Garcia.
I don't think they needed Hell's Angels to score whatever they wanted during that time. It was a single word to the proper lackey and that was all it took on their part. Not sure where the lackey got it from. That could have been the Angels I guess.
it was moved from Sears Point to Altamomt last minute (the Stones -Jagger didn’t wamt to pay $100,000 + percentage of the movie), as a result it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the sam francisco chapter,.
it was moved from Sears Point to Altamomt last minute (the Stones -Jagger didn’t wamt to pay $100,000 + percentage of the movie), as a result it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the sam francisco chapter,.
@@SusanDoran The Angels at the Human Be-in were all from the S.F. Chapter. Altamont was a mix of different chapters, Oakland, S.F. and San Jose. A lot of the violence, particularly early in the day was perpetrated by San Jose chapter prospects, not full Hells Angels. You can see during the footage where Marti Balin get's knocked out, their patches aren't the full Angel patch. So a lot of these guys were out to impress fully fledged Angels. If it had been held in San Francisco, as was originally planned, it would have only been S.F. Angels there. This is the chapter that new The Dead as close associates. Even Sonny Barger, the Oakland chapter president didn't get to Altamont until sunset.
@Susan Doran ... First time I've ever seen this conversation with Jerry Garcia. I've got some old hippie friends who were there, (and now on TH-cam) and I'm pretty sure they've sent me every video that's been posted on TH-cam about Altamont. One of them sent me this video today. Great post....thanks.
Hi blondwiththewind! Thanks for your note. Glad you appreciated. I'm making a documentary about Altamont. I'd appreciate it if you'd consider mentioning this to your friends who were there and let them know I'd like to connect with them and hear their stories, and possibly interview them. I can be reached at my firstnamelastname at geee male :)
@@SusanDoran .... Oddly enough, before I just got your message: one of them had let me know "the reason he survived that concert is because he was sitting on top of a Hell's Angels" bus". Not sure what that's all about yet......but I'll let them know you're looking for interviews and ask them to spread the word. BTW: I'm not getting messages when someone replies to me.....not sure what that's about either.......had all my settings right since I've been on YT.....but now for some reason I'm not getting notifications when anybody replies to me.....Weird. If anybody knows how to fix that, It would be great to hear about it.
The Grateful Dead were on the bill for Altamont and Jerry recommended that the stones hire the Hell’s Angels. When the show went sideways, he didn’t even show up.
The Dead showed up, but refused to take the stage at the last minute. There’s a brief scene in the documentary “Gimme Shelter” where Jerry and Phil are having a friendly chat with Michael Shrieve from Santana after stepping off their helicopters at the site. Shrieve, having played his Santana set earlier that day, grimly reports the bad vibes and scuffles he witnessed, including Marty Balin’s tussle with the Angels during Jefferson Airplane’s set.
This is like a dice rolling situation with drugged out people and no practical security. Once you luck out and have no major incidents such as Woodstock. Then reality sets in at Altamont. The streets weren’t full of flowers, peace and love sounded good on paper and transpired very well on music, but when you add this notion to real life situations it doesn’t always work out well.
Don't forget that Woodstock was a world away from the horrors that had hit California in the few months before Altamont. The Manson murders were a week before Woodstock, and while earth shaking; not as felt as strongly as in Cali. Then the trials started around the time Altamont was going on, and the end of the peace love hippy mess was well and truly dead and gone. Nam was staring to kick in full force, thousands dead, protests turned violent and deadly daily, it was a grade A shit show for sure.
The stage at Woodstock was 15' high. At Altamont it was 3' high. The Angels had been "hired" to keep people off the stage. Add drugs and alcohol and do the math.
It was a "terrible bummer" that the Grateful Dead, scheduled to perform just before the Rolling Stones, ran away like frightened mice, leaving a 2 hour gap of silence that only exacerbated the tense situation. They were in charge of security (inviting the Hell's Angels) and ran away like cowards.
It seems to me that there is a lesson to be learned from this. From this experience and from other well intended and well attended events, as a related attraction, it’s important to assure early on that all reasonable steps are taken for safety. I know you can’t do but so much when those numbers are anticipated, but determine what’s reasonable and do it. I recall the Who’s concert in Cincinnati where some were crushed and the tragedy at the Football stadium in Sheffield, UK. I am sure that lessons were learned from them and hope that related safety practices are remembered.
Gotta love the Hell's Angels. Can't tell 'em they're not welcome. Can't tell 'em not to do things especially if they're doing something good like finding lost kids or guarding band equipment. The only thing you can do is call in the police if they break the law, but by then things have to be going pretty bad.
Not true. There were prospects there, but a free concert of awesome musicians and free booze/drugs/pussy is more of a perk for full patch, not prospects.
despite how scary and violent altamont was i.ve would.ve love to have been at altamont cause every band was at their peak whether it was the stones jefferson airplane csny santana erc and i think jerry garcia was scared and showed feeling for the hells angels of course me and sonny barger both hate mick jagger
I used to perform or attend parties in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 1970s. I always felt the same at these parties as I felt when camping out in the wilderness. Nature has to be respected. At Yellowstone once, I saw a lady with a camera jogging across a meadow towards a line of trees 100 yards away in order to get a close-up picture of a mother Griz and her cub. Lucky for the lady that a ranger drove up in front of her and stopped her before she got killed. Those people at Altamont reminded me of fools like that lady with a camera. The Hells Angels have their rules. Just like nature: ignore the rules at your own peril. Hunter pulled a gun on the Hells Angels. That makes the bear lady with the camera look like Einstein.
Altamont should have never happened, it was hastily organized and the stage offered no protection to the musicians on it, unlike Woodstock. Meredith Hunter died for disorganization.
They gave up to play at Altamont living the shit for the stones. If they was playing that night was no problem because they was good friend of the angels.
Not those Angels. The Angels that they were used to hanging around with in their part of San Francisco were fairly laid back and the bands like the Dead and Airplane knew them but Altamont was under the "jurisdiction" of a different chapter of Angels (San Jose Angels, I think) and they were not so nice.
It was a calculated smart decision. The concert was completely out of control by that time. They were the only ones who were adults that day and realized there was no reason to play a concert in front of violent out of control people. In the end it was good business decision. No coincidence in later years the would become the biggest live grossing band year after year. They probably learned that having an out -clause in every gig contract is GOOD business. If the Stones had done the same this would have gone down as a minor blip in rock history.
Yeah, nobody knows if the band was on acid or not. Having heard that Angels were beating up on the crowd and had fucking just bashed their friend Marty unconscious, well, that's a heavy trip for anyone to deal with. Specially while on acid. What would have been the point on playing? The Stones were headliners. They kinda had to. Could have cancelled but their ego was too big. A murder occurred but it could have been much worse.
Phil acknowledges in his book it was not their finest hour. But hard to really know what the "right" call was in that moment. Had they played a set, there'd have been a shorter wait for the Stones and the crowd may not've been quite so worked up. But had violence occurred right in front of them and they'd stopped playing, too, that could've escalated tensions also.
Check me out first and know what I'm saying is true. Turner should be enough to make you laugh a bit but, hey, why not? Not sure my dad was there at Altamont but I'm damn sure Mom was. Gail, my mom, was there with the Grateful Dead.
Thanks for your note, Brett - very cool! Are your Mom and Dad still with us, Brett? In what capacity was your mother with the Grateful Dead at Altamont?
@@SusanDoran Rick died, obviously, and Gail is still kicking. Obviously, you've done a bit of homework. Mom was with those who flew out by helicopter once the Hell's Angels did their thing. Flew out with Mick.
What could Cutler have done differently? The Brits thought the Angels were reasonable people -- because the version they had back in the UK sometimes took the bus (!!) and were generally seen to be harmless, hairy blokes who liked to play dress-up. Cutler didn't know what sort of authentically violent morons they had invited in as "security" at Altamont.
Rubbish.I think his combativeness set the tone backstage,and he was told by Rock Scully the manager of the Grateful Dead that the California Hells Angels were no joke. He should have listened.
Hell with that short of time from finally having a venue and getting the equipment from Sears to Altamont in time to do a show, it’s a wonder there weren’t more tragedy’s. Considering in hindsight, it could have much much worse. Marty Balin got punched? Someone could have died on stage. Think about it.
@@AFaceintheCrowd01 .... Agreed. Seems the Stones thought that "Peace n' Love" would prevail and all that was going to be needed was a mild discussion to handle scuffles amongst the Flower Children. Hiring the Hell's Angels for "security"....and paying them with all the free beer they wanted was not exactly a genius move, either.
Jerry Garcia has said that the HA are capable of amazing things? Like what? Offing an innocent man in the scheme of things. I hope that in wherever he is now, he doesn't espout any rhetoric like that ❤❤🇺🇲♊☮
Love Garcia but " pretty amazing things" is a really bullspit,lame ,untrue lie which actually is a little disappointing from Garcia but understandable considering that those cretins were still going to be on the scene there at the time and would even hassle Garcia if they felt the need to but still disappointing from JG for one of the few times we can recall.
au contraire..."pretty amazing things" is not a bullshit untrue lie...it's accurate, and I suspect more neutral than you're construing it to be. I don't know who the "we" is you're referencing who can recall few instances where Jerry was more disappointing to you-all, but Jerry always spoke of the Angels precisely in this way. Jerry uses the word "amazing" here similarly to how the word "impressive" could have been used--i.e., making or tending to make a marked impression. Or "astonishing" or "remarkable." All the preceding could be said about the Hells Angels and they all would be accurate. He's making an observation rather than a judgement, which was Jerry's way in general.
For the most part what you say is so; yet, the tricky thing about what you say is treating people who have a very well-defined and unique worldview and set of principles with "respect" is not always intuitive to those not privy to that worldview and specific set of principles. It's like saying: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Marvelous until you take a closer look and realize that the way you might want others to treat you has little to do with how they would wish to be treated. With the Hells Angels it may not always be obvious to people when they have crossed a line or demonstrated what could be interpreted as a lack of respect. There are many rules and codes of this tightknit community. and outsiders do not always understand where they are treading.
believe it or not tho altamont was bad it could have been a lot worse..what was that guy doing waving a gun if he wasn't planning on using it not that there would have been any reason to.
He had been harassed and assaulted by them all day for being black, and especially for being black with a pretty white girlfriend. They were drunk and drugged out and waiting to beat on people. Which they did, and not only Hunter; lots of people including band members were assaulted and beaten by them before they murdered that kid.
@@chrislahay7086 defend murderers, cool kiddo. Do what you do. It's a damn shame some YT's still haven't learned not to hate and kill people cause of more melanin in their skin.
Well my take is this I wasn’t there. That’s where we all should stop talking.What I’ve seen in footage maybe may not have been raw fully unedited IDFK. Looks as if some in the crowd were rowdy some tripping ass some just don’t know how to act properly. By footage looks like the whole damn day was crazy on most everyone’s part. Isn’t that what makes a Stones/ Dead show fun and great excitement a little craziness of course there’s going to be a fight or two look man rock n Fuckin roll drugs alcohol always been this way always will.I know this people get Fuckin weird around HA why IDFK intimidating serious great Motorcycle Club full of exceptional serious Men! Never been treated better by anyone than them personal experience. One man Acquitted of any crime self defense so what the fuck. The guy with the gun lost. In the eyes of the gods the victor is true and honorable period. Why don’t we all start being honest honorable and just be you, there a huge gape in honor honesty doing the right thing without being told to! We all know we’re the guide rails are! We all can pull our loads our backs are that strong we don’t need to be told to do anything we just make it happen. Let’s start doing that the right thing everything is everyone’s job and responsibility. Enough of this crap about wtf ever happened 53 years ago that mostly none of us were present for except of course respectfully to those that were. The music was great love the sound of raw stones and others just wicked awesome
@@ruggid11 why not? whats the big deal? People are too sensitive today. They see a "racist" under every bed. I am perhaps too honest? I say what i think, I hate "political correctness"
You could tell at one point Garcia realizes he better choose his words carefully. He had a healthy fear and understanding of what he was dealing with, and knew he had to be diplomatic in his choice of words.
So true.
@@SusanDoran I met Garcia in Ventura in 1982. People try to put their own stuff on people like Garcia. Garcia was a guitar player and singer and creator of music. He was not a philosopher, politician, guru, teacher of morality, or sage, and he did not want to be. He just wanted to create music and play it live, and have some fun and party
Screw the Angels. Because the are white they get this folklore status. They are a violent gang just like the Bloods.
@@matta8569 I show grace as that's they way I was raised, not because I'm afraid of some gang members. I've been friends with many crazies in my life. Black and white.
@@matta8569 incisive point!
He forgot to mention that he recommended the Angels to run security for that show, then the Dead bailed on the show. Flew all the way into the speedway in a helicopter, then bailed.
Screw everyone who suffered thru that shit to see them play. The boys got scared and ran.
I could listen to Jerry’s stories all day!!
Hells yeah...his voice! 💔
I like how Jerry says the Hells Angels are capable of Amazing Things lol good choice of words Jerry.
Yeah that was pretty bad lol
Haha carefully chosen words…
Everyone is at least CAPABLE...
I mean, dude they were capable of some amazing shit. All humans are capable of being amazing and the angels showed time and again their ability to have a felt presence wherever they were at and they showed an inate ability to stir and bring to the forefront people's insecurities and fears/judgements about them. Hells Angels were and should always still be free to exist
Great thanks. Rare
"But we do know that they are Hell's Angels and that they're capable of doing alot of pretty amazing things...and we just stay out of their way"...QUINTESSENTIAL Jerry. Man I miss him 😥
So Jerry -- I don't know how he was able to be so straightforward, totally honest, tactful, and respectful at the same time.
@@SusanDoran I know how he did it. By running intellectual circles around the dim witted interviewer. Jerry was light years ahead of the guy and I don't think putting the guy in his place was any big effort for Jerry.
Amen.
@@rddavies Indeed.
@@SusanDoran Magic.
Good download, thanks.
Thanks for your comment - glad you appreciated!
Hyde Park on a summers afternoon is not Altamont on a cold night in Dec. And at Hyde Pk it was the St Johns Ambulance... A bit like comparing lemonade to Tequilla. Interesting piece.
Lived in Southern California in the 70's. A friend was nearly murdered by bikers for defending a black guy in a biker bar in Carlsbad. For awhile I was in a band that had a steady gig in a club frequented by Mescalero's some of them were great guys but a few on crank were psychopaths and dangerous. It was at times very stressful. I'm guessing JG was fairly guarded here lest he risk an ass whipping he might not have come back from.
Thanks for good posting!
LOL - never thought of that but you're right!
@@SusanDoran It's good to hear your laugh!
:D
@@SusanDoran Great to see your smile! As well...
When they were flown in that day to play,Jerry and Phil were totally peaking on STP. Mountain Girl was also along with them and very pregnant. By the time they arrived the vibes on site were already totally weird and menacing, and they made the call better to be safe and bounce.
Back in the Nineties there was a multi-part series on the history of rock on PBS and I distinctly remember Jerry talking about the atmosphere of Altamont resembling the sulfurous pit of Hell, or somethng to that effect. So, not the only footage..
Thanks - I'll look into that and in the meantime if you recall anything more about that and think to let me know I'd appreciate it.
Jerry was an amazing human being -
Is…
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
He seemed pretty good to chill with.
Yeah, lots of folks were sayin that there was a kind of an unseen shadow that seemed to roll over the entire place.........not a good feeling at all......
Jerry was scared of Hels idiots
My brother and I always characterized GD as outlaw music capturing the American spirit. It's nice to hear something similar from the horse's mouth.
"One way or another this darkness got to give"
One BIG difference between Altamont & Woodstock was preparation time. At Woodstock - even with the venue location changes in the weeks before the festival - they still had a lot more time to construct a much better stage than they did at Altamont. The very low (and very small ) stage at Altamont - along with where it was constructed - just the lay of the land if you like - was practically an engraved invitation for a massive crowd to push towards the stage - and for people to easily climb onto the stage. That led to the Hells Angels - and their beloved bikes - to be crowded - and their bikes abused by careless fans who quickly (and painfully) learned the Angels would not tolerate such things.
yep...
Don't underestimate "Free" in this. In 1969 that just meant the fans had more money for booze, and drugs, but anytime something is "Free" it's going to contribute to problems eventually. People are weird that way.
Does anyone know where this 1970 Jerry interview first aired ? - was it part of a film or just a newsreel?
In 1974 I was at a 3 day festival in Sedalia MO. There was a tunnel with every illicit drug you wanted on sale. It was over 100 degrees each day with no real security. I saw no violence and the only bad things I heard of was done by the Outlaw Biker gang. For a small city of 300,000 with no security there should been much more violence. Lots ofstealing but very view violent crimes. A couple weeks later I was at August Jam in Charlotte NC and their security looked like a concentration camp with tons of cops with attack dogs between two barb wire fences.There was tons of violence there with gate crashers fighting security.
Guy pulled a gun and was either gonna shoot Mick or a Hells Angel so another Hells Angel stabbed him. I agree, no one shoulda got in trouble for the atabbing
As they say....there's always more to the story...
The time a gun lost in a knife fight don't fuck with the angels the hell actually stands for where you going when going against them
Did you make up that up? ("The time a gun lost in a knife fight") 😄
Sam died, by the way. I think Mom went to see him in Australia, yes Sam moved to Australia, in about 2018 or so.
Thanks for checking in, Brett. I'm sure Sam appreciated the visit from an old friend. Sam was doing pretty well in 2018. May have been living in his caravan. Who's your Mom? If you'd like to respond offline, email me at my first and last name at gmail. Cheers!
Live Was in Utah for a few years went to some concerts at Winterland the Nov 73 and Feb 74 runs. The Angels were hanging around outside both times, seemed the have back stage access. I wouldn't be shocked if they got drugs for the Dead esp Garcia.
I don't think they needed Hell's Angels to score whatever they wanted during that time. It was a single word to the proper lackey and that was all it took on their part. Not sure where the lackey got it from. That could have been the Angels I guess.
Absofuckinlutely.
Mostly generalizations to avoid any responsibility by Jerry.
The Angels at the Human Be-In were not the same Angels at Altamont.
and you know this how?
@@SusanDoran I was there.
it was moved from Sears Point to Altamomt last minute (the Stones -Jagger didn’t wamt to pay $100,000 + percentage of the movie),
as a result it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the sam francisco chapter,.
it was moved from Sears Point to Altamomt last minute (the Stones -Jagger didn’t wamt to pay $100,000 + percentage of the movie),
as a result it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the sam francisco chapter,.
@@SusanDoran The Angels at the Human Be-in were all from the S.F. Chapter. Altamont was a mix of different chapters, Oakland, S.F. and San Jose. A lot of the violence, particularly early in the day was perpetrated by San Jose chapter prospects, not full Hells Angels. You can see during the footage where Marti Balin get's knocked out, their patches aren't the full Angel patch. So a lot of these guys were out to impress fully fledged Angels. If it had been held in San Francisco, as was originally planned, it would have only been S.F. Angels there. This is the chapter that new The Dead as close associates. Even Sonny Barger, the Oakland chapter president didn't get to Altamont until sunset.
@Susan Doran ... First time I've ever seen this conversation with Jerry Garcia. I've got some old hippie friends who were there, (and now on TH-cam) and I'm pretty sure they've sent me every video that's been posted on TH-cam about Altamont. One of them sent me this video today. Great post....thanks.
Hi blondwiththewind! Thanks for your note. Glad you appreciated. I'm making a documentary about Altamont. I'd appreciate it if you'd consider mentioning this to your friends who were there and let them know I'd like to connect with them and hear their stories, and possibly interview them. I can be reached at my firstnamelastname at geee male :)
@@SusanDoran .... Oddly enough, before I just got your message: one of them had let me know "the reason he survived that concert is because he was sitting on top of a Hell's Angels" bus". Not sure what that's all about yet......but I'll let them know you're looking for interviews and ask them to spread the word.
BTW: I'm not getting messages when someone replies to me.....not sure what that's about either.......had all my settings right since I've been on YT.....but now for some reason I'm not getting notifications when anybody replies to me.....Weird. If anybody knows how to fix that, It would be great to hear about it.
The Grateful Dead were on the bill for Altamont and Jerry recommended that the stones hire the Hell’s Angels. When the show went sideways, he didn’t even show up.
You might want to check the accuracy of that story.
@@SusanDoran they didnt play thats a fact
The Dead showed up, but refused to take the stage at the last minute. There’s a brief scene in the documentary “Gimme Shelter” where Jerry and Phil are having a friendly chat with Michael Shrieve from Santana after stepping off their helicopters at the site. Shrieve, having played his Santana set earlier that day, grimly reports the bad vibes and scuffles he witnessed, including Marty Balin’s tussle with the Angels during Jefferson Airplane’s set.
@@fox2mike28 exactly
This is like a dice rolling situation with drugged out people and no practical security. Once you luck out and have no major incidents such as Woodstock. Then reality sets in at Altamont. The streets weren’t full of flowers, peace and love sounded good on paper and transpired very well on music, but when you add this notion to real life situations it doesn’t always work out well.
Don't forget that Woodstock was a world away from the horrors that had hit California in the few months before Altamont.
The Manson murders were a week before Woodstock, and while earth shaking; not as felt as strongly as in Cali.
Then the trials started around the time Altamont was going on, and the end of the peace love hippy mess was well and truly dead and gone.
Nam was staring to kick in full force, thousands dead, protests turned violent and deadly daily, it was a grade A shit show for sure.
The stage at Woodstock was 15' high. At Altamont it was 3' high. The Angels had been "hired" to keep people off the stage. Add drugs and alcohol and do the math.
Wow !
Sam had nothing to do with the mayhem. Most of the trouble were with HA prospects and not full patch members. They were paid in beer.
Thanks for your comment. It is and has always been an infinitely complex reality to untangle and make sense of.
It was a "terrible bummer" that the Grateful Dead, scheduled to perform just before the Rolling Stones,
ran away like frightened mice, leaving a 2 hour gap of silence that only exacerbated the tense situation.
They were in charge of security (inviting the Hell's Angels) and ran away like cowards.
They didn't want the Marty Balin treatment
They made the right decision you dope.
Too cool
Thanks for your comment - agree!
Trying to find a way out of what was a party. So what new?
It seems to me that there is a lesson to be learned from this. From this experience and from other well intended and well attended events, as a related attraction, it’s important to assure early on that all reasonable steps are taken for safety. I know you can’t do but so much when those numbers are anticipated, but determine what’s reasonable and do it. I recall the Who’s concert in Cincinnati where some were crushed and the tragedy at the Football stadium in Sheffield, UK. I am sure that lessons were learned from them and hope that related safety practices are remembered.
fun fact. new speedway boogie was written about altamont.
he (jerry) speaks the truth
I like how he makes a point of talking about the Angel's at the be-in stepping up to take care of kids & stuff.
He can't help it.
Jerry? @
I like the new speedway boogie they did.
That is such a politician answer.
Jerry is nothing if not diplomatic - but I don't think it's manipulative (like a politician) as much as very broad-minded.
Great stuff!!
Wicked cool!
Hippies sure use a lot of words to say nothing.
It’s simple don’t bring a gun to a Hells Angels knife fight
ok - that's hilarious
Just don't bring Hell's angels and build a bigger stage
Better yet,if you know there will be hell's angels there,stay away.
@@zampieritto they did need a much bigger stage.
Merideth Hunter would be alive today if he left the pistol at home.
A stupid idea from the beginning. The Hells Angels and 300,000 people.
My man.
Young Jer
Gotta love the Hell's Angels. Can't tell 'em they're not welcome. Can't tell 'em not to do things especially if they're doing something good like finding lost kids or guarding band equipment. The only thing you can do is call in the police if they break the law, but by then things have to be going pretty bad.
Amazing things, LOL
He says so much and so little at once.
amazing jerry has words of wisdom for us all
It was almost all prospects at Altamont not full fledged members.
That's what I always heard but if you look closely lots of full Hella Angels jackets.
Not true. There were prospects there, but a free concert of awesome musicians and free booze/drugs/pussy is more of a perk for full patch, not prospects.
Jerry knew better than say anything bad about the Angels
He's being honest tho. And Jerry didn't tend to say much "bad" gratuitously about anyone. Not his style.
@@SusanDoran only person I ever heard him criticize, mildly. Was Ronald Reagan! Lol. Spot on. ✌🏽
despite how scary and violent altamont was i.ve would.ve love to have been at altamont cause every band was at their peak whether it was the stones jefferson airplane csny santana erc and i think jerry garcia was scared and showed feeling for the hells angels of course me and sonny barger both hate mick jagger
I used to perform or attend parties in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 1970s. I always felt the same at these parties as I felt when camping out in the wilderness. Nature has to be respected. At Yellowstone once, I saw a lady with a camera jogging across a meadow towards a line of trees 100 yards away in order to get a close-up picture of a mother Griz and her cub. Lucky for the lady that a ranger drove up in front of her and stopped her before she got killed. Those people at Altamont reminded me of fools like that lady with a camera. The Hells Angels have their rules. Just like nature: ignore the rules at your own peril. Hunter pulled a gun on the Hells Angels. That makes the bear lady with the camera look like Einstein.
its uncanny how much Jerry looks like david koresh here , "looks"
lol (yikes! I suspect Jerry would've found that funny, btw...)
@@SusanDoran I'm sure he would have laughed
Wow... A lucid gerry!!
I respect that they didn’t go up there and play n later that nite they cancelled their show in SF out of respect n that evening they paid respect.
Out of respect....plus they were freaked the fuck out and couldn't play....both at Altamont and later that night when they cancelled their gig.
But they left the shit for the stones. If the members of the angels were their mates
Altamont should have never happened, it was hastily organized and the stage offered no protection to the musicians on it, unlike Woodstock. Meredith Hunter died for disorganization.
That definitely was a factor!
Awesome 👍
They gave up to play at Altamont living the shit for the stones. If they was playing that night was no problem because they was good friend of the angels.
Not those Angels. The Angels that they were used to hanging around with in their part of San Francisco were fairly laid back and the bands like the Dead and Airplane knew them but Altamont was under the "jurisdiction" of a different chapter of Angels (San Jose Angels, I think) and they were not so nice.
The Angels did their job. Meredith Hunter was a bad guy with a gun.
Jerry chickend out
It was a calculated smart decision. The concert was completely out of control by that time. They were the only ones who were adults that day and realized there was no reason to play a concert in front of violent out of control people. In the end it was good business decision. No coincidence in later years the would become the biggest live grossing band year after year. They probably learned that having an out -clause in every gig contract is GOOD business. If the Stones had done the same this would have gone down as a minor blip in rock history.
Yeah, nobody knows if the band was on acid or not. Having heard that Angels were beating up on the crowd and had fucking just bashed their friend Marty unconscious, well, that's a heavy trip for anyone to deal with. Specially while on acid. What would have been the point on playing? The Stones were headliners. They kinda had to. Could have cancelled but their ego was too big. A murder occurred but it could have been much worse.
Nah! But Phil did cause I read he hid in the Van cause of one mean Hells Angels that was causing shit.
Phil acknowledges in his book it was not their finest hour. But hard to really know what the "right" call was in that moment. Had they played a set, there'd have been a shorter wait for the Stones and the crowd may not've been quite so worked up. But had violence occurred right in front of them and they'd stopped playing, too, that could've escalated tensions also.
Jerry knows better.
Check me out first and know what I'm saying is true. Turner should be enough to make you laugh a bit but, hey, why not? Not sure my dad was there at Altamont but I'm damn sure Mom was. Gail, my mom, was there with the Grateful Dead.
Thanks for your note, Brett - very cool! Are your Mom and Dad still with us, Brett? In what capacity was your mother with the Grateful Dead at Altamont?
@@SusanDoran Rick died, obviously, and Gail is still kicking. Obviously, you've done a bit of homework. Mom was with those who flew out by helicopter once the Hell's Angels did their thing. Flew out with Mick.
@@SusanDoran It's Bret with one t, btw.
Sam Cutler was not a victim of circumstance.He did nothing to help anyone but the stones.Things could have gone down a bit differently if he cared.
What could Cutler have done differently? The Brits thought the Angels were reasonable people -- because the version they had back in the UK sometimes took the bus (!!) and were generally seen to be harmless, hairy blokes who liked to play dress-up. Cutler didn't know what sort of authentically violent morons they had invited in as "security" at Altamont.
Rubbish.I think his combativeness set the tone backstage,and he was told by Rock Scully the manager of the Grateful Dead that the California Hells Angels were no joke.
He should have listened.
Hell with that short of time from finally having a venue and getting the equipment from Sears to Altamont in time to do a show, it’s a wonder there weren’t more tragedy’s. Considering in hindsight, it could have much much worse. Marty Balin got punched? Someone could have died on stage. Think about it.
@@AFaceintheCrowd01 .... Agreed. Seems the Stones thought that "Peace n' Love" would prevail and all that was going to be needed was a mild discussion to handle scuffles amongst the Flower Children.
Hiring the Hell's Angels for "security"....and paying them with all the free beer they wanted was not exactly a genius move, either.
@ blondinthewind The moron was the double digit IQ who pulled and pointed the revolver and met his fate.
Poor decision obviously....
Jerry Garcia has said that the HA are capable of amazing things? Like what? Offing an innocent man in the scheme of things. I hope that in wherever he is now, he doesn't espout any rhetoric like that
❤❤🇺🇲♊☮
He's simply speaking the truth; "amazing" is as accurate and neutral a term as "remarkable" or "astonishing."
Guy should never have been killed, but he was high as fuck, threatening and black, I mean, what do you expect
The H.A.'s are one of the last real things in America. From the old frontier. Oh how i miss the old world.
The hells angels liked the greatful dead because they digged there tunes
He sold the stones to their own dead.
Love Garcia but " pretty amazing things" is a really bullspit,lame ,untrue lie which actually is a little disappointing from Garcia but understandable considering that those cretins were still going to be on the scene there at the time and would even hassle Garcia if they felt the need to but still disappointing from JG for one of the few times we can recall.
au contraire..."pretty amazing things" is not a bullshit untrue lie...it's accurate, and I suspect more neutral than you're construing it to be. I don't know who the "we" is you're referencing who can recall few instances where Jerry was more disappointing to you-all, but Jerry always spoke of the Angels precisely in this way. Jerry uses the word "amazing" here similarly to how the word "impressive" could have been used--i.e., making or tending to make a marked impression. Or "astonishing" or "remarkable." All the preceding could be said about the Hells Angels and they all would be accurate. He's making an observation rather than a judgement, which was Jerry's way in general.
There's always societal rules Jerry, so naive...
@nanchanger - what do you mean....to which part of what he was saying are you referring?
@@SusanDoran "rules"
I've had hundreds of interactions with Hells Angels. Never a single problem. You just treat them with respect and they'll reciprocate.
Sorry dude but TOTAL GARBAGE..if that's how you feel cool...but we feel that's a total lie.
@@elliotharris9056 What possible reason would I have to lie about such a thing? If you don't give them a reason to hassle you, they won't.
@@elliotharris9056 "We" again....? Is that royal we, or a group of folks gathered around the keyboard? 😄
For the most part what you say is so; yet, the tricky thing about what you say is treating people who have a very well-defined and unique worldview and set of principles with "respect" is not always intuitive to those not privy to that worldview and specific set of principles. It's like saying: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Marvelous until you take a closer look and realize that the way you might want others to treat you has little to do with how they would wish to be treated. With the Hells Angels it may not always be obvious to people when they have crossed a line or demonstrated what could be interpreted as a lack of respect. There are many rules and codes of this tightknit community. and outsiders do not always understand where they are treading.
@@SusanDoran Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my interactions with them is always related to my classic bike restorations....
Bad cheap dealings no responsibilities from bad band manage then jumped ship.
can you please form a coherent sentence?
What crap. After. 60 years, is a party. And what happens at partys?.
sorry - no idea what this means.
Maybe the scene at Altamont would not have been as ugly if only the Grateful Dead went on when they were supposed to.
The man......
believe it or not tho altamont was bad it could have been a lot worse..what was that guy doing waving a gun if he wasn't planning on using it not that there would have been any reason to.
He brought it for self defense.Find out the story from his side.
James Kohn exactly. I don’t carry a gun in this situation unless I’m looking for trouble. And it will and did find him....stupid.
He had been harassed and assaulted by them all day for being black, and especially for being black with a pretty white girlfriend. They were drunk and drugged out and waiting to beat on people. Which they did, and not only Hunter; lots of people including band members were assaulted and beaten by them before they murdered that kid.
@@chrislahay7086 I said what I said son.
@@chrislahay7086 defend murderers, cool kiddo. Do what you do.
It's a damn shame some YT's still haven't learned not to hate and kill people cause of more melanin in their skin.
Well my take is this I wasn’t there. That’s where we all should stop talking.What I’ve seen in footage maybe may not have been raw fully unedited IDFK. Looks as if some in the crowd were rowdy some tripping ass some just don’t know how to act properly. By footage looks like the whole damn day was crazy on most everyone’s part. Isn’t that what makes a Stones/ Dead show fun and great excitement a little craziness of course there’s going to be a fight or two look man rock n Fuckin roll drugs alcohol always been this way always will.I know this people get Fuckin weird around HA why IDFK intimidating serious great Motorcycle Club full of exceptional serious Men! Never been treated better by anyone than them personal experience. One man Acquitted of any crime self defense so what the fuck. The guy with the gun lost. In the eyes of the gods the victor is true and honorable period. Why don’t we all start being honest honorable and just be you, there a huge gape in honor honesty doing the right thing without being told to! We all know we’re the guide rails are! We all can pull our loads our backs are that strong we don’t need to be told to do anything we just make it happen. Let’s start doing that the right thing everything is everyone’s job and responsibility. Enough of this crap about wtf ever happened 53 years ago that mostly none of us were present for except of course respectfully to those that were. The music was great love the sound of raw stones and others just wicked awesome
Bad acid @ Altamont.
Jerry is coping out.
lol - what do you mean?
the Angels did an excellent job at Altamont considering all the drugged out people and a Black pulling a gun. Thanks Angels.
Don't you mean the guy pulling out a gun?
@@ruggid11 yes, a black guy so as to give a better description
@@JIM87ification everyone knows he was Black, so why the description.
@@ruggid11 why not? whats the big deal? People are too sensitive today. They see a "racist" under every bed. I am perhaps too honest? I say what i think, I hate "political correctness"
@@JIM87ification what if he was white? Would you say the white pulling out a gun?
Not cool
What's not cool?
@@SusanDoran Jerry's answers (and Sam Cutler and the Angels' behavior at Altamont).
Outlaw for life!!!