Starring The Rolling Stones, Ike and Tina Turner, Jefferson Airplane, and The Flying Burrito Brothers
Directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin
Music and Lyrics by various
This week, we're getting off the beach and heading to the arena for two of the most beloved concert documentaries of all time. The Altamont Speedway Free Concert was the last stop on the Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour that also included Madison Square Garden in New York. Woodstock went over so well that summer, the Stones, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane lobbied for a similar concert on the West Coast. The Stones thought it would be the perfect capstone of their tour and some needed positive publicity after the arrests of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the death of Brian Jones, but...well...let's start with them, and see just how badly Altamont went off the track...
The Story: Zwerin and the Maysles brothers follow the Stones as they travel across the US, starting with their electrifying concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. We also get glimpses of them in Alabama, recording their eventual hits "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses." Throughout the film, we get the fall-out from the disasters at Altamont, lawyers and Hells Angels who give their side of the story, before we actually see the concert itself. The Angels are supposed to protect the Stones, but they keep provoking violence and fighting with over 300,000 drunk and stoned music fans...until an actual death occurs, and the Stones are left holding the bag and dealing with the stunned crowd.
The Song and Dance: Whoa. I've been a Stones fan for years and I know how intense their music can get, and I still wasn't expecting anything like this. This is a glimpse of the Stones in flux as they recover from the death of Jones and the darker side of the countercultural movement of the mid-late 60's. The Mayles and their "direct cinema" of close-up faces and grainy footage gives it a "you are there" vibe that works with the tense concert that got scarier than any late 60's B horror film. There's some fabulous music amid the rougher sequences, too, including some terrific performances from the Stones, Ike and Tina Turner, and country outfit The Flying Burrito Brothers.
Favorite Number: Our first songs are three classics from the Stones, an electrifying "Jumpin' Jack Flash" at Madison Square Garden, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," and "You Gotta Move." We see them working on "Wild Horses" and "Brown Sugar" at the Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama mid-way through, and we also get their cover of "Love In Vain." Ike and Tina Turner also get in on their Madison Square Garden concert with their "I've Been Loving You Too Long."
Jefferson Airplane manages to get "The Other Side of Life" in at Altamont before their lead singer is attacked and Grace Slick warns everyone to settle down. Grace's well-meaning admonishments don't get through the crowd. Several fights break out during the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Six Days On the Road" and continue through the Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Street Fightin' Man." By the time of "Sympathy for the Devil," there's fights between concertgoers and Hells Angels breaking out all over the place. It's not until "Under My Thumb" concludes that one of those fights ends with one young man dead from stab wounds. We do hear the title song from the Stones and Ike and Tina's iconic "Proud Mary" over the shocked crowd's exit and the credits.
What I Don't Like: As you can guess even just from the music played, this concert is not for young rock fans. Start them off on the Stones' or Ike and Tina's early albums instead. There's violence, bad language, insinuated sex at Altamont, and yes, the murder is seen and heavily discussed and not glossed over. This is rough stuff. The footage is in pretty rough shape, too. Don't go into this one expecting a Technicolor romp or even a more family-friendly modern pop show.
The Big Finale: An absolute must for fans of the Stones, Ike and Tina, or those who want to learn where the 60's counterculture movement truly died.
Home Media: Currently available on disc via The Criterion Collection and on several streaming services.
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