Comments on: Ten Mesmerizing Images from “Gimme Shelter,” the legendary documentary about the tragic Rolling Stones show at the Altamont Speedway

By: Drew

Drew — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:23:04 +0000

I think that was jack cassady telling Phil and Jerry about the scene. Was definitely not Bob Weir!!!!

By: Arturo Sinclair

Arturo Sinclair — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 03:48:31 +0000

I really enjoyed your narrative of the film. I had the pleasure of watching behind Charlotte Zwering as she edited the film. I was a young filmmaker then and had just met Albert. Needless to say that meeting changed my life.
I just invited him to come and present Gimme Shelter at Cinemapolis in Ithaca NY. After that he will give a master class at Ithaca College (where I teach) and introduce both Grey Gardens and Salesman.
He will be here Sunday 6th of Feb (for Gimme Shelter), through the 8th for anyone interested in meeting one of the great American Masters.

By: Contact Paper

Contact Paper — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:25:15 +0000

i kinda like the hair of Tina Turner, she has a great voice too.”;

By: Paige Flores

Paige Flores — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:36:54 +0000

Tina Turner is one of the living legends of music~`.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:19:58 +0000

That is not Phil Lesh talking with Jerry Garcia but rather the drummer from Santana, Michael Shrieve…..

By: mrut

mrut — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 20:57:18 +0000

I watched “Woodstock” for the first time a few weeks ago and just watched (and re-watched) “Gimme Shelter,” which–according to the popular narrative–is to undergo the national odyssey from hope and innocence to violence and disillusionment in almost real time (not quite four months, but anyway). The idea that the 60s began in August 1969 in Woodstock and ended in early December of the same year is patently ridiculous–let’s face it, Woodstock was a disaster waiting to happen and might have turned into Altamont if the weather in upstate NY hadn’t been so bad that people had to maintain awareness not to die of hypothermia–however, the success of Woodstock does seem to be at the root of the failure of Altamont. The wonderful commentary of the Criterion DVD (the radio show extra) stresses that Woodstock infected concert organizers with incredible hubris. People seem to have forgotten how long the organizers of Woodstock spent building the stage and arranging sanitation and medical stations, setting up information booths, etc. Altamont was scrambled together overnight. How could it not be chaotic?

In a strictly technical sense, Altamont is a tragedy arising from a heedlessness to the necessity of crowd-control and crowd guidance. In a bigger sense, it arose from a mistaken belief that Woodstock was spontaneous and self-regulating. All of the scenes you rightly point to in this post as portents of the impending disaster are scenes of people suddenly realizing that they are alone in the crowd–or, more accurately, recognizing that they are on their own, despite the crowd. The viewer of these scenes is more anxious still, realizing that the crowd is not just impassive, but actually a danger to every person in it. The naked fat guy would be much safer if he were standing alone in a field than surrounded by these people. In “Woodstock” there are no lone naked people–people are naked together. In “Gimme Shelter,” that’s the only way they appear: alone. For me, the weirdest naked moment in”Gimme Shelter” is the second or two of a guy struggling to take off his pants, and he’s got really big, old-fashioned boxers on underneath. The movie just de-aestheticizes nudity, as if in a polemic with the movie “Woodstock” about the meaning of taking your clothes off. Great post about a great movie.

By: Jessica Delfino

Jessica Delfino — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:11:25 +0000

Awesome work, Larry, I love your blog entries. Good reading!