The world's greatest rock n' roll band headlined rock n' roll's greatest cluster fuck a mere thirty nine years ago today. In theory the Altamont Free Concert was to be the West Coast Woodstock, but Hells Angels + 300,000 doped up fans + The Rolling Stones = Greek Tragedy. Of course they wouldn't pull it off, both The Stones and the Hells Angels were both palpable threats to civilized society and moral decency.

I've always maintained a morbid fascination with Altamont and The Stones 1969 North American Tour ever since I saw that VH1 special in 2000. The Stones forever changed after the Altamont catastrophe and sadly lost their "we are pals with Satan, fuck the Beatles" vibe. They never explicitly evoked the name of the devil again...only opting to refer to him as "Mr. D." in jest.

I've seen Gimme Shelter about 300 times, so I'm not going to bore myself with a clip of the calamity. I've recently discovered Let It Bleed, a fantastic book by photographer Ethan Russell, who zig-zagged across North America with The Stones on their not-so magical mystery tour in 1969. Nothing brings out the eeriness like color photos of Altamont and you can be one of 2600 people to own 420 pages, over 800 photographs weighing in at a full twenty-five pounds of Stones excess. And buy one for me, since this beast cost $650 for the cheapo version and $950 for the deluxe edition. 

www.letitbleedbook.com  

Hey, maybe Ethan Russell will send a promotional copy for all this free press...nah.