The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter Full Movie

>

The 1970 documentary, “Gimme Shelter,” made by Albert and David Maysles covers the organization and execution of the Altamont Free Concert in San Francisco on December 6, 1969. The later infamous concert was a chance for the Rolling Stones to hold a Woodstock West, but it went up in flames when the Hells Angels took violence at the concert into their own hands.
The Maysles brothers’ use of Cinéma vérité created a very unique (at times) confusing look at the Concert and the Stones. This method of documentary creation is also referred to as Direct Cinema, with no voice overs and only observation. With no set up to what exactly was going on, I found the first half of the film very confusing as I tried to understand what exactly all the planning and various concert footage was leading up to.

Due to the simple and direct view of the events, I found myself part of the reality of the film, however different from my own reality, I could find myself a participant at the concert. Familiar with a new, shockingly naked and stoned reality, I was better able to relate to the people in the audience who were often in focus, surely not in the same state of mind as myself.

In hindsight, “Gimme Shelter” was a provocative and sound documentary about what happens when power hungry and big-headed people are given too much responsibility. With many of the fights being a result of merely kicking a motorcycle (as blatantly stated by a Hell’s Angel member during a radio interview), I was shocked to see how much abuse went on during the concert.

The presentation is what made the movie. My initial confusion was worth my ending respect for the directors, who seemed to be able to give their subjects a great level of comfort. The Maysles brothers created a very strong finished product, full length songs to attract Rolling Stones fans and a crime drama to attract historians and those passionate about the period of the 1960s-70s.

Rolling Stones - Sympathy for The Devil Live 1969 in Altamont

Rolling Stones at Altamont in 1969 with Hells Angels doing Security playing Sympathy For The Devil! Classic piece of Rock and Roll History.

The Altamont Speedway Free Concert was held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California. Headlined and organized by The Rolling Stones, it also featured Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, with the Rolling Stones taking the stage as the headlining act. The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform, but declined to play shortly before their scheduled appearance due to the increasing violence at the venue. “That's the way things went at Altamont—so badly that the Grateful Dead, prime organizers and movers of the festival, didn't even get to play,” someone was quoted in Rolling Stone.

The most infamous musical event of 1969 became the antithesis of the Woodstock generation's espoused ethos of free love and peace. At the concert in Altamont, a fan was stabbed to death by a member of Hell's Angels.

By some accounts, the Hell's Angels were hired as security by the management of the Rolling Stones for $500 worth of beer — a story that has been denied by parties who were directly involved. According to Rolling Stones' road manager Sam Cutler, "the only agreement there ever was ... the Angels would make sure nobody tampered with the generators, but that was the extent of it. But there was no way 'They're going to be the police force' or anything like that. That's all bollocks."

Lead singer Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, who had already been punched by a concert goer within seconds of emerging from his helicopter, was visibly intimidated by the unruly situation, urging everyone to "Just be cool down in the front there, don't push around." Within a minute of starting their third song, "Sympathy for the Devil", a fight erupted in the front of the crowd, at the foot of the stage. After a lengthy pause and another appeal for calm, the band restarted "Sympathy" and continued their set with less incident until the start of "Under My Thumb". Some of the Hells Angels got into a scuffle with Meredith Hunter, age 18, when he attempted to get onstage with other fans. 

Footage from the documentary shows Hunter (seen in the film in a bright lime-green suit) drawing a long-barreled revolver from his jacket, and Hells Angel Alan Passaro, armed with a knife, running at Hunter from the side, parrying the gun with his left hand and stabbing him with his right.

Hunter's autopsy confirmed he was high on methamphetamine when he died.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE LIVE ALTAMONT 1969

Jefferson Airplane "The Other Side of this Life"

Jefferson Airplane at Altamont Festival ... Hell Angels incidents, heavy drugs and many stoned people.