Hells Angels Couldn’t Kill Mick Jagger…
Altamont 1969, The Rolling Stones are flying high in a much publicised free concert which brought uncontrolled violence and left 3 people dead.
The Rolling Stones at the time were being hailed as the greatest rock band EVER and the Altamont concert was to be the pinnacle point in their American tour.
Hindsight questions what sort of mental breakdown would have had to have occurred for this to happen but in all the bands infinite wisdom they chose the American tangent of the Hells Angels to be the security force for the concert. The British version of the gang are supposedly more subdued than their American counterparts and having used the British version for a concert in Hyde Park on a previous occasion – without incident – the band thought of no one better than their American faction.
The reputation of the American Hells Angels was of a far louder and rowdy bunch with drink and drugs high on the agenda whenever any excuse for an “event” could be summoned.
Needless to say that when fights did break out the Hells Angels didn’t exactly act like proper security would. Instead they stood to pelt full beer cans at the crowd until they stopped. They also beat a man to death with pool cues.
The Angels took offense to Mick Jagger when he slated them for their behaviour at the event which has now gone down in history as one of the worst planned concerts ever – even though the line up of Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills Nash and Young and Santana promised much.
In a show called “The FBI at 100″, to be aired on BBC radio 4, tells a plot of how the Hells Angels attempted to seek their revenge on Mick Jagger. They boarded a boat and set sail to the Rolling Stones singers house in the Hamptons. Taking a boat was seen as the most cunning thing to do by the motorcycle maniacs as Jagger’s security guards would all be stationed at the front of the house. Unfortunately this cunning was shortsighted as the gang didn’t plan for the weather turning bad.
A storm caught the boat and all men fell overboard – must have been a dingy.
Alas Mick lives on. Imagine the world without The Rolling Stones? Maybe they wouldn’t be seen as second fiddle to The Beatles if Mick had died that night. We’ll never know….
I remember way back in the years when Mick Jagger said that Elvis was to old to perform, he should get off the stage!
You are showing your age there Susie!
Jagger probably just wanted Elvis to retire so that the Stones could get some love.
Elvis owned the industry when he was about.
Nah – the stones would never be bigger than the beatles!