The dark truth about Jagger and Altamont
the stage. And the next morning, he left the rest of the band behind – to have their breakfast of bourbon and cocaine – and flew out to Switzerland with $1.8 million in cash tour takings to deposit in a bank. But most disturbing of all is the revelation that Hunter just might possibly have survived his horrific wounds – if only doctors had been allowed to rush him to hospital in the helicopter that was… reserved for the band.
Jagger had ignored repeated warnings as he ploughed on with his plans for Altamont in his lust for glory and a fitting end to the money-spinning rock documentary he had commissioned.
In 1969 the Stones were broke. They had earned $17 million in the previous three years, but had seen only a fraction of it (because of their manager’s shady deals). Needing cash desperately, they announced their first US tour in three years – but there was an outcry over ticket prices.
Furious at the criticism, and stung at having missed Woodstock that summer, Jagger began to discuss the idea of a gigantic free concert, possibly in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, to restore the band’s credibility. (It would also provide the centrepiece of their hastily commissioned film, which Jagger hoped to sneak out before the big-budget Woodstock movie.) “Practical realities can be addressed at a later stage,” Jagger told the event organiser a few weeks earlier, when he’d queried how food, water and medical care could be provided for the hundreds of thousands of fans who would be attracted to the event. Tragically, they never were.
The movie, directed by Albert and David Maysles, was the final piece of Jagger’s evolving plan for the Stones’ world domination, but it needed a cinematic finale. Without the free concert, there would be no movie. The Hells Angels, who were paid for their vague role as a disastrous informal security force with $500 of beer, left a bloody trail all day, riding their motorbikes through the crowd to the stage and beating men and women with pool cues. Even for the Stones, the signs were there from the beginning… Moments after their arrival by helicopter, a young man stepped into Jagger’s path and punched him in the face, knocking him down. “F*** you, Mick Jagger,” he screamed. “I hate you!”
In chilling scenes, The Maysles’ film, Gimme Shelter, captured the moment when 22-year-old Hells Angel Alan Passaro leapt through the air and plunged a hunting knife into Hunter’s neck. They tumbled to the ground together. Passaro kept stabbing the boy in the back. Several other Angels stamped on him. One stood on his head.
Alta Mae Anderson, the mother of Hunter (one of four who died that day at Altamont) filed a $500 000 lawsuit against the band, their associates, the Hells Angels, the Altamont Speedway and others. She eventually settled for $10 000. She never heard from the Stones. ● Altamont: The Rolling Stones, The Hells Angels, And The Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day by Joel Selvin is published by HarperCollins. See Loot.co.za for details on ordering a copy.