The girlfriend and I caught the Maysles' documentary Gimme Shelter on IFC the other night. It's about the disastrous Rolling Stones show at Altamont in 1969 and it's very good as those things go. There's a lovely bit of moral catatonia from the Grateful Dead, who show up late and are informed that there have already been a few scuffles and that Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin, trying to break up a fight, has managed to get himself knocked unconscious. "Oh, bummer," Jerry Garcia says. "Beating people up like that... that just doesn't seem right," Bob Weir adds
But the most interesting part has to do with Meredith Hunter. You all remember Meredith Hunter, right? He's the 18-year-old teenager who was set upon and stabbed to death by a bloodthirsty mob of Hell's Angels, high on bad acid and the $500 worth of beer they were paid to provide security for the show. Hunter, the 60s martyr whose death marked the beginning of the end of Flower Power. Except that's not what happened at all. In the movie Mick Jagger watches the crucial footage in slo-mo, and it is clear that Hunter rushes the stage and pulls a gun before any Hell's Angel lays a hand on him. He may also fire a shot. There is a brief orange flash in the film but it is inconclusive, and eyewitness reports differ. What is absolutely clear is that Hunter started it; whether he should have been stabbed five times is of course another question. Yet to this day many accounts of Altamont, like this one or this one, don't even mention the gun. Others claim Hunter pulled it in self-defense, which the movie clearly contradicts, or not at all. I confess that neither the girlfriend nor I knew the gun even existed, and I doubt we were the last two in the dark.
This description from Dick Carter, owner of the Altamont Speedway, jibes in every particular with what you see in Gimme Shelter:
Most of the books and articles about Altamont are filled with bull. Like the Hell's Angels were the only security, and they were hired for $500 worth of beer. We had every off-duty police officer available and every security guard in Northern California there. There were about 17 Angels who came to the concert because they were in Oakland for a convention. Sam Cutler, the Stones' manager, asked if the Angels would escort the Stones through the crowd on motorcycle and then sit around the stage during the show to protect the band. We had purchased $500 worth of beer for the bands, and Cutler told the Angels they could have some.Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Peter Silver
I am trying to trace Sam Cutler - I was at Cambridge (UK) with his in 1964.
Any suggestions?
2 - Eric Olsen
Check out Ron Schneider here.
3 - Jules Makk
Sam Cutler
Sam Cutler lives in Brisbane Queensland Australia with his Australian Wife ....
I run a songwriters night ... Sam Has taken on the management of a young singer songwriter .. Ben Stewart...
I was chasing up some info . trying to see some pictures.. of the stones .. etc.
cheers , Jules Makk
4 - Hubert Rivey
Je suis toujours l'ami de Sam s'il passe par internet qu'il me le fasse savoir
Hubert , Michele et Alice et Paul
5 - Ai Zhen Tatelman
I knew Sam in England and would like to get in touch. Please forward email address to mine. Thanks!
6 - charlie
Hi my names charlie and was a friend of Sam, Scott and Hoss in the sixties and he got me a job for the day at hyde park in 69 AT Stones concert.Iwas a roadi at the time.Be good to hear from him.
Lots of Charlies,remind him of Blythe Road.Sheperds Bush Charlie and Scotts buddy.
Thanks
Charlie.
7 - sam cutler
I am Sam Cutler [Personal contact info deleted] for those who wish to know
cheers!
SamC
8 - BOBBY
aaron haspel if you wrote this bullshit about meredith hunter you need to be hogtied and beaten to a pulp, those filthy assholes that are known as hell's angels killed that kid for no reason, and they got away with it if he had been related to me i would have hunted them all down and made them pay
9 - bobby
wouldn't you fire a shot to get those assholes off of you, they killed him because he was there with a white girl, it is ironic that these fools were running around beating up people and when they kill this 18 year old black kid it was all the kids fault, bullshit and may those sorry filthy bastards burn in hell barger already has throat cncer i hope he suffers hard and long, before he dies.
10 - bunchy carter
I think its easy to put the blame on Meredith Hunte because he was seen pulling a gun out. The film shows that there were fights in front of the stage way before Hunte pulled out a gun but we don't see why he pulled the gun out. It's obvious he did not want to get beat up like the rest of the teens that got their heads broken and the driving factor that drove the Greatful Dead from perfoming that night. Meredith Hunte the lone Black teen in crowd full of terbulance didn't start a fight nor did he shoot his gun. If it had been a white person that had been stabbed then there would have been a huge man hunt on all Hells Angels. But the reality is that a Black man's murder cought on celluloid made the film Gimme Shelter into a huge sensation and gave the Rollimg Stones a "bad boy" image more real.
11 - Guy
I wasn't going to add anything to this discussion until I read the last three racial apoligists. I watched the crucial scene multiple times and it's clear that Meredith had a pistol... period. The Angels had every right to defend themselves and eliminate the threat once a pistol was pulled by Meredith. Using a firearm in the middle of a scuffle or fistfight usually brings a manslaughter charge at the very least in this country. Meredith may have been able to argue that he was in fear of immediate death, but the film would have convicted him since it showed not a hand had been laid on him before he employed it. Here's an 18 year old kid carrying a damn pistol at a rock concert in 1969. I think it's safe to assume that someone else's life down the line was saved because this kid had a short one. Harsh, but reality... whether this guy was black, white, yellow, or green.
12 - Pretty Fly
This is rubbish. Hunter was also shown earlier in the film just enjoying the music (unlike most of the Hells Angels present) - he wasn't there to start any trouble. The Angels were out of control beating people up - Meredith pulled a gun but he probably pulled it in self defense. Tragic.
13 - Sean Smith
There were plenty of other blacks there. You can see them throughout the movie. Prior to the stabbing, the Hells Angels are seen beating up only white people. WHAT shred of evidence is there that they stabbed him for being with a white girl? He pulled the gun out; then he got stabbed. If Meredith Hunter had been white, I doubt any of you would even remember his name. It was NOT murder. What's seen clearly on the video tape was the he pulled a gun, THEN he got stabbed. And the opinion of a jury confirms what's obvious on the tape. Only half-wits and racial demagogues would say otherwise. The Hells Angels are not good guys, but in this case they sure as hell aren't murderers.
14 - The Realm Collective Inc
Hey - we are a non for profit entity called 'The Realm Collective Inc' - we are holding a special screening of Gimme Shelter with a Q & A with none other than the legendary Sam Cutler in Melbourne at Cinema Nova on Oct 5th and in Castlemaine, Victoria on Oct 6th. If ya want more info on these sessions or if you wanna attend - let us know and I will forward info to purchase tickets!
15 - Ivan Coates
The simple fact of the matter is Aaron Haspel purports to know what the truth is, when he cannot have reason to be as certain as he claims, and Dick Carter's account is just one (perhaps selective) version of events. Other accounts emphasise elements Carter does not mention and hence create a different picture - thus, why select his as "the truth" when you can't know this with any authority. Even if Hunter did rush the stage Aaron Haspel cannot pretend to know why he did it and cannot assume he "started it" on the basis of the film's footage. Even if he DID "start it" (start WHAT exactly anyway?) can this justify murder? Hunter's actions may well have arisen out of a complex array of factors which starting "it" doesn't cover. Perhaps the language of the playground fight is too reductive to do justice to events.
16 - scott
another dead black troublemaker....thanks Angels
17 - James
The kid was stabbed 18 times and kicked to death. American Justice. Would make any Islamic jihadist, south Korean death squad very proud. Way to go Angels!!! You make me proud to be an American!
18 - amelia
As a lawyer I can state that self defense only last as long as the threat. Once they took the gun away they should have taken him to jail. I would like to hear the version of the events by his girlfrind
19 - Kathy
I was reading an article from an old newspaper ad from when this happened... and it seems like he was stabbed before he pulled the gun out. one of the angels walked by and appears to have "BUMPED" his arm and he made a face and the camera showed he had an icey glaze on his face, then there was a scuffle the angels were surrounding him, his girlfriend tried to grab him and then he appeared to be trying for his gun, i don't believe at this time she knew he had been stabbed. the film (THE ACTUAL FOOTAGE) not the movie shoes he was stabbed 2 times after that yet hte autopsy shows 5 stabbings, meaning he was stabbed 3 times when it looked like he was "BUMPED". so i think someone was thinking the could casually walk by him and stab him and get away with it.
20 - scozz
O.K fights often occur around the front of the stage at rock concerts, folk are crammed up tight as sardines usually with a few drinks and other substances inside them someone jostles someone and tempers flair. Pulling a gun in a crowd like this is a definite no-no, any sane person would retreat further back and steer clear of the trouble. Let us assume the HA had not been there, they are an organized force and collectively took meredith hunter out, imagine the consequences if Hunter had emptied his gun indiscriminately into the crowd? 6, 7 or maybe even 8 people dead.
21 - Jack
With all the drug and alcohol abuse present at Altamont I am surprised many, many other people were not killed.
Do such substances make EVERYONE present behave STUPIDLY?
I think so.
Eliminate the dope and booze and it may have been a peaceful concert.
22 - Anon
Wow, it is great to see how ignorant some of you people are. It has been stated numerous times that no one really knows the full story. The promoters, the Stone's Manger, and the Hell's Angels were all trying to cover their asses after they found out they would be charged with murder. Hey, produce that gun you took away from the kid after you beat and stabbed him to death. No one knows if he was going to shoot Mick or other people in the crowd. I agree it was stupid to take a pistol into the concert with him, but this was the 60s it wasn't a time of peace and racial harmony. All of America was messed up. Just look at groups formed duirng this time, such as the Mason Family, The Black Panthers, The Hell's Angels (formed in th 40s but more violent in the 60s), and the Weather Underground. There is no excuse for this kid to have been beaten and kicked to death. After he was on the ground and disarmed that was enough. If there really were off duty police there they would and should have known how to handle the situation a lot better then a biker gang known for violence. I mean come on pool sticks as defense weapons and the fact that one of their members attacked the guitar player from Jefferson Airplane. Even the Grateful Dead left the concert because of the violence that the Hell's Angel's presented. I mean the guy who was arrested and charged with Hunter's murder ended up dead face down in a ditch with $10,000 in his pocket. He met a deadly and violent end just like Hunter, which proves he was no saint and the Hell's Angels were really no angels. Also it shows a lot of fights breaking out and Hunter pulling the pistol with his girlfriend trying to hold him back (her statment to Rolling Stone, even though the Police were quick to silence her and no one else involved in the altercation) there is no footage of Hunter firing a shot or aiming the pistol specifically at Mick. It is almost quite obvious this story of Hunter saying he was going to kill Mick or him pointing the gun at Mick is just a way for the Stones to have their egos stroked and their bad boy image personified. Richard (Rolling Stone gutarist) stated that this would never happen in England's Hyde Park because Brits know how to act, but he forgot to mention Woodstock. This was obiviously a showdown between pig-headed macho wannabes. Hunter did not deserve to die and he didn't "ask for it". No one asks to be stabbed and beaten to death. It is easy to blame Hunter are say he was asking for it, especially when he is not alive to defend himself and his girlfriend basically dropped off the face of the planet. I can only think it might be because of the fear of being murdered for testifying or talking out against a Hell's Angel. Even the makers of Gimme Shelter were terrified of releasing the footage because they had death threats and still to this day have not released the names of the cammermen who shot the footage of Hunter's death. And for those idiots justifing his murder it saddens me for the future of America.
23 - Anon
Lead singer Marty Balin for Jefferson Airplane was the one knocked out the the Hell's Angel member. I wonder how all the people saying Hunter "asked for it" would feel if it was their child who was stabbed and beaten. I doubt there would be such a dismissal of the event then.
24 - Aaron Haspel
hahahahahahahaha holy shit thats awesome. i ahve the same name as the dude that wrote this book. and the rolling stones are awesomeeeeeeeee
25 - John MacNeil
One correction to the opening: It was Phil Lesh, not Bob Weir, who said "Beating people up like that...that just doesn't seem right" in "Gimme Shelter". Just watched it last night