The Maysles brothers' doc of the Stones' 1969 tour Gimme Shelter was grim, horrifying, numbing, chaotic, painful, bitter, sad, enraging, complex, terrifying, exhilarating, disturbing, seminal, absorbing, aaaand rocking. But also, it was occasionally hilarious. Here's Jer & Phil, with, I believe, the white guy from Santana, having just been told the Hell's Angels are beating people up.
Jump the flip for a whole gallery of bummers.
The best thing my little brother Dylan ever said took place when he was 8 years old. Jerry Garcia had just died and our mom had taken the week off of work to mourn. My brother said to her "Don't be sad Mom, it's just another dead hippie."
Posted by: will | March 20, 2008 at 03:40 PM
You are correct-- that is the then 16-year-old drum phenom Michael Shreive who played drums in Santana, and has continued to make some good records over the years (he has a jazz trio album with Bill Frisell that is pretty good).
Marty (Balin?) got beat up?
Bummer. I'm amazed they didn't beat up Jerry after hearing one of his long meandering guitar solos: "Man, you went NOWHERE with that, and I listened to the whole damn thing! NOWHERE man, NOWHERE! It was ten minutes of pointless musical babbling!!"
Posted by: illlich | March 20, 2008 at 03:42 PM
Less grimly humorous but still noteworthy is Mick watching a vid of Ike n Tina doing their opening set. "Yeh," he says, "it's nice to have a chick."
The drummer from Santana is still working? Man, I thought he had died.
Posted by: Parq | March 21, 2008 at 09:06 AM
HA!!! wow..The Hells Angels beating the shit out of concert goers doesn't SEEM right? Like, you know, there is a possibility on some level that it COULD be right if presented in a certain light not quite evident yet. Thats hippy moral equivocation for ya.
I mean, you know...the Angels could just be following their bliss and all that.
Posted by: Brandon | March 21, 2008 at 10:22 AM
my favorite part of the "Woodstock" movie/doc is the kid from Santana's mojo moment on drums. that was a long time ago. bummer
Posted by: j | March 21, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Maybe Jerry would have responded differently if this happened:
Hey Jerry, the Hell's Angles just beat up your bong. Its really weird.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! WHY MEEEEE??????!!!!! LORD, TAKE ME INSTEAD!!!!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Posted by: doctor_gogol | March 21, 2008 at 02:19 PM
LOL...yeah, loved the "doesn't seem right" comment...perhaps the Hell's Angels were beating up enemy ninjas intent on disrupting the concert? That might seem right, then...I guess.
Posted by: Galliard | March 21, 2008 at 05:58 PM
to the dude above who mentioned the Santana drummer's scene in woodstock, I felt the same way. i was so mesmerized by his drum solo, I was like, how could this guy not be famous? why don't I know his name? i still don't know his name.
Posted by: the real will | March 21, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Wait a minute. I thought we were all supposed to secretly really like the Grateful Dead. I believe my contract as drawn up by Daisy Hill Puppy Farm & Arbitration LLC specifically forbids double command scenarios. You will be hearing from my counsel.
Posted by: bartleby | March 22, 2008 at 01:23 PM
Speaking of guitar solos that go NOWHERE. Rex just called his show a 2 hour trip to NOWHERE. I love that place! Fool's Paradise!
Posted by: xangoir | March 22, 2008 at 01:31 PM
Michael Shrieve is the name of the drummer. Yes, Jerry Garcia is just another dead hippie, the same way that Rush Limbaugh will, one day, be a dead fat fuck.
Posted by: philo237 | March 22, 2008 at 03:15 PM
Oh yeah right...someone already noted it was Michael Shrieve. I gotta quit drinking. The Dead were really good in 1973, but everyone sucked at Altamont, except the Maysles Brothers. And the great cameo by Melvin Belli!
Posted by: philo237 | March 22, 2008 at 03:24 PM
(I admit, I secretly like the Grateful Dead. . . it took several years for me to appreciate them. Perhaps blame it on the rise of Phish, who are the evil-anti-Dead: they can actually play their instruments on a professional level, yet can't write songs or sing to save their lives, whereas the Dead were always amateurish musicians, but wrote truly memorable songs, and when they jammed they could sometimes transcend their amateurishness and play beyond their abilities. Phish on the other hand were just four guys showing off their chops.)
It's funny: back in the mid-80's I decided when the Dead and Black Flag were playing near my hometown on the same night to throw my lot in with the punks and go see Black Flag (I ended up working my crappy High School part time job on that night anyway and didn't see either band). And yet, Greg Ginn is JUST as noodley as Jerry, if not more so.
Didn't the Flying Burrito Brothers play Altamont? I seem to recall a short clip of them doing "3 Days on the Road" in the film. Do bootleg tapes of their set exist?
Posted by: illlich | March 23, 2008 at 12:53 PM
ILLICH: Ginn was/is a big Deadhead.
Posted by: E-Rock Smoothe | March 24, 2008 at 01:41 AM
The more I look at this clip, the more it seems staged to me. Am I imagining this, or is Phil smiling?
Posted by: Austin | March 25, 2008 at 05:13 AM
Y'ask me, I'd say Phil's practically -laughing-! Yeah, I went into this post with the memory of Jer being the asshole, but watching it now he does seem genuinely troubled, if unable to articulate it tactfully. Phil comes across as a total dick, mugging for the camera, whereas the other guys seem very uncomfortable with the camera's presence.
Posted by: Scott | March 25, 2008 at 11:28 AM