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A review by ralphz
Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day by Joel Selvin
5.0
Wow, what a ride. The story of the legendary concert that revealed the dark underbelly of the Sixties unfolds in this account.
The Rolling Stones were surround by crooks, con men and criminals. In retrospect, it's no wonder that it all fell apart at Altamont. Four dead, one on camera (interestingly, the legendary "peace and love" Woodstock four months earlier accounted for three deaths, but none as spectacular). The worst part, nobody was held accountable for Meredith Hunter's murder.
The author does two interesting things here - he places most of the blame on the Stones (an arrogant Mick Jagger, actually) and tries to absolve the Hells Angels. Honestly, there's enough blame to go around, and those groups are responsible - as are the Grateful Dead (for suggesting the Angels), the hangers-on, the dazed hippies and all the drugs and drink.
You also get the first sniff of the rock star excesses of the Seventies. The Lear jets, the on-staff drug connections, the all-too-available women, the leeches. It was late 1969 that the Stones tour commenced, but a new era had begun.
An interesting thing about this book is the impending sense of doom right from the start. Maybe it was the writing, or maybe it was just because I knew what was coming.
The Rolling Stones were surround by crooks, con men and criminals. In retrospect, it's no wonder that it all fell apart at Altamont. Four dead, one on camera (interestingly, the legendary "peace and love" Woodstock four months earlier accounted for three deaths, but none as spectacular). The worst part, nobody was held accountable for Meredith Hunter's murder.
The author does two interesting things here - he places most of the blame on the Stones (an arrogant Mick Jagger, actually) and tries to absolve the Hells Angels. Honestly, there's enough blame to go around, and those groups are responsible - as are the Grateful Dead (for suggesting the Angels), the hangers-on, the dazed hippies and all the drugs and drink.
You also get the first sniff of the rock star excesses of the Seventies. The Lear jets, the on-staff drug connections, the all-too-available women, the leeches. It was late 1969 that the Stones tour commenced, but a new era had begun.
An interesting thing about this book is the impending sense of doom right from the start. Maybe it was the writing, or maybe it was just because I knew what was coming.