Gimme Shelter (1970)

A harrowing documentary of the Stones' 1969 tour, with much of the focus on the tragic concert at Altamont.

Directors:

Albert Maysles, David Maysles,

Stars:

Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards

Cast

Credited cast:
The Rolling Stones	...	Themselves
Mick Jagger	...	Himself
Charlie Watts	...	Himself
Keith Richards	...	Himself (as Keith Richard)
Mick Taylor	...	Himself
Bill Wyman	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marty Balin	...	Himself (as Jefferson Airplane)
Sonny Barger	...	Himself
Melvin Belli	...	Himself
Dick Carter	...	Himself
Jack Casady	...	Himself (as Jefferson Airplane)
Mike Clarke	...	Himself (as The Flying Burrito Brothers)
Sam Cutler	...	Himself
Spencer Dryden	...	Himself (as Jefferson Airplane)
Chris Hillman	...	Himself (as The Flying Burrito Brothers)

Storyline

In December of 1969, four months after Woodstock, the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane gave a free concert in Northern California, east of Oakland at Altamont Speedway. About 300,000 people came, and the organizers put Hell's Angels in charge of security around the stage. Armed with pool cues and knifes, Angels spent the concert beating up spectators, killing at least one. The film intercuts performances, violence, Grace Slick and Mick Jagger's attempts to cool things down, close-ups of young listeners (dancing, drugged, or suffering Angel shock), and a look at the Stones later as they watch concert footage and reflect on what happened.

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Plot Keywords:

rolling stones | knife | stage | speedway | california | 

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Taglines:

The music that thrilled the world ... and the killing that stunned it!

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Maysles Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rolling Stones on Tour: Gimme Shelter

Filming Locations:

Altamont Speedway - 17001 Midway Road, Tracy, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$18,576 (USA) (11 August 2000)

Gross:

$252,570 (USA) (17 November 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Maysles Films, Penforta

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original version, played to theatre audiences, Mick Jagger used foul language on two or three occasions - appropriate for the moment but later censored out for TV broadcast with a "guitar strum" sound overdub to block the "offending" word. Only early copies of the film contain the original uncensored dialogue.

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Quotes

Grace Slick: You don't hassle with anybody in particular. You gotta keep your bodies off each other unless you intend love. People get weird, and you need people like the Angels to keep people in line. But the Angels also - you know, you don't bust people in the head for nothing. So both sides are fucking up temporarily; let's not keep FUCKING UP!

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Connections

Referenced in The French Connection (1971)

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Soundtracks

"Proud Mary"
Written by John Fogerty
Performed by Ike Turner and Tina Turner

User Reviews

the end of rock 'n' roll

There's sort of two documentaries here: one shows the actual concert in Altamont, and the other shows the Rolling Stones watching the footage to see where everything went wrong. In the concert part, one can easily tell that all the peace and love inherent in Woodstock was unfortunately not to be here; in the review part, one can see that the Stones are stoned.

Yes, I guess that we have to admit that the '60s were great while they lasted, but this was unfortunately the end (no doubt the whole Manson thing also contributed). But either way, it's a great documentary. I suspect that the Stones got satisfaction by working on it.