In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive,
never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin
tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones' infamous Altamont
concert, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the
idealistic 1960s.
In the annals of rock history, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival on
December 6, 1969, has long been seen as the distorted twin of
Woodstock--the day that shattered the Sixties' promise of peace and love
when a concertgoer was killed by a member of the Hells Angels, the
notorious biker club acting as security. While most people know of the
events from the film Gimme Shelter, the whole story has remained
buried in varied accounts, rumor, and myth--until now.
Altamont explores rock's darkest day, a fiasco that began well before
the climactic death of Meredith Hunter and continued beyond that
infamous December night. Joel Selvin probes every aspect of the
show--from the Stones' hastily planned tour preceding the concert to the
bad acid that swept through the audience to other deaths that also
occurred that evening--to capture the full scope of the tragedy and its
aftermath. He also provides an in-depth look at the Grateful Dead's role
in the events leading to Altamont, examining the band's
behind-the-scenes presence in both arranging the show and hiring the
Hells Angels as security.
The product of twenty years of exhaustive research and dozens of
interviews with many key players, including medical staff, Hells Angels
members, the stage crew, and the musicians who were there, and featuring
sixteen pages of color photos, Altamont is the ultimate account of the
final event in rock's formative and most turbulent decade.
