Original subtitles

do the guys in the group still talk

about Altamonte ever and what happened

there and is it faded

we talk about it yes

I shouldn't have anything here either

forget about it yeah it's just a very

unfortunate thing it was the last show

of a tour and we all you know we weren't

going to do it it was just a live

concert yeah a free concert that was to

set up a few days before and

I mean there was a I don't know 300 000

people there there's only 30 people

fighting I mean almost all the audience

never even saw it

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all right

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hey everybody how's it going we are now

on episode 14 of my Rolling Stones

London album Deep dive and we have come

to my favorite Rolling Stones album of

all time Let It Bleed now little bleed

was released November 28

1969. the sessions began as early as

November 1968 When You Can't Always Get

What You Want was first recorded but

they began in Earnest in February of

1969 and they continued on through July

of 1969 almost up to the point where the

Rolling Stones left for their North

American tour

in the U.S which began on November 7th

it began in Colorado State University

Ike and Tina Turner were the opening act

and it was a resounding success but it

was a much different atmosphere than the

last time the Rolling Stones had gone

tour audiences had grown up there was no

longer the screaming drowning out the

music but what you did have were a lot

of stoned hippies in the audience it was

a much different atmosphere some people

would say it was a darker uh more

violent atmosphere especially as far as

the Rolling Stones were concerned which

we will see how that played out towards

the end of the year but

let's talk a little bit about the album

Now Brian Jones even though he passed

away on July 3rd he does contribute to

two tracks he plays percussion on

midnight Rambler and he plays autoharp

on you got the silver so the ghost of

Brian Jones is still hanging over this

album

and his replacement Mick Taylor also

only plays on two tracks he plays slide

guitar on Country honk and he plays

electric guitar on live with me but

we've got some guest musicians as well

we've got Ry Cooter who plays mandolin

on love and vain we've got Leon Russell

Who is credited with piano and the horn

Arrangement on live with me Nikki

Hopkins the ever reliable Nikki Hopkins

one of the most favorite session

musicians of the British bands he plays

piano on four tracks and he plays Oregon

on a fifth and for the first time we got

a Keith Richards solo vocal now of

course he had sang harmonies on a number

of songs along with Mick and he shared a

bit of the lead vocal duties on salt of

the earth but for the first time Keith

Richards has a solo local For Better or

Worse whether you like Keith Richards

vocal or not the song that he sings On

by the way is you got the silver and

there's actually a take where Mick

Jagger sings the lead on it but I'm kind

of glad Keith sings on it in his own

inimitable way I think it lends a charm

to that particular song but the album

was released on November 28th

1969 at the end of the stones U.S tour

and a lot of fans and the music press

have been complaining about the ticket

prices for the tour which were actually

three dollars to eight dollars eight

dollars being the most expensive three

dollars being the cheapest so I don't

know how that equates to today's ticket

prices but it sounds pretty reasonable

to me to see the freaking Rolling Stones

but anyway people were complaining about

it and so the stones felt obligated to

give a free concert just to kind of

Court Goodwill again with their fans

they didn't want to be seen as a band

that was trying to rip people off and so

they started making plans for this

concert they talked to uh Grateful Dead

and Jefferson Airplane about where would

be a good venue originally they were

going to have a concert at Golden Gate

Park however there was a San Francisco

49er Chicago Bears football game

um there that apparently made it

unfeasible they were going to do it next

at the Sears Point raceway that ended up

falling through because the owner of the

parkway was trying to gouge the Rolling

Stones for money so dick Carter who

apparently owned the Altamonte Speedway

stepped up and said you can have it

there and since a stone owns had no

other venue and wish to have this free

concert and it was getting down to the

wire they said fine even though they

didn't have Plumbing or toilets or I

mean it was just not an ideal place to

have a concert as it turned out and one

of the reasons being is that typically

the stones were used to playing concerts

where they were on a riser and the fans

were below the stage but at Altamonte it

sloped downwards so the stage was

actually at the bottom of a hill and

there was no barrier to keep the fans

from jumping onto the stage and

molesting the Rolling Stones and so the

decision was made in consultation with

the Grateful Dead and consultation with

Sam Cutler who was one of the people

promoting and arranging this particular

concert we could have the local chapter

of the house Angel there to keep people

off the stage and

I know there have been reports that they

were hired as security but that is not

true the Hell's Angels by all accounts

were just there to form a barrier

between the stage and between the fans

and if you believe the stories that were

told back then they were paid in beer so

they had brought five hundred dollars

worth of beer for the Hell's Angels and

said well you just keep people off the

stage well of course we know what

happened 300 000 people showed up to

this concert they were unruly hippies

they were hopped up on LSD and

methamphetamines and other drugs and it

was just a lethal toxic combination when

you've got a full day worth of bands and

you've got a bunch of Hell's Angels who

had been drinking heavily throughout the

course of the day

uh there were other acts uh besides the

Rolling Stones Santana opened there were

the Flying Burrito Brothers Crosby

Stills Nash and Young Jefferson Airplane

the Grateful Dead uh were supposed to

play but when they got wind of the fact

talking with Jefferson Airplane that

their singer Marty Balin had been

punched in the face

and probably Marty Bell and deserved to

be punched in the face he seems kind of

like an [ __ ] but anyway that's

neither here nor there but Grateful Dead

heard about all the bad stuff that was

going down and they got right back in

their helicopter and said we're getting

the hell out of here otherwise The

Grateful Dead would have been there so

Rolling Stones

it's now dark the Rolling Stones get on

stage and it's sort of at the peak of

the chaos and the violence you've got

Hells Angels with sawed off pool cues

who are beating the hell out of fans

who are drunk fans who are high fans who

are on LSD tripping out of their minds

and so you've got this back and forth

and I know the Hells Angels have been

painted to be the villains in all of

this and to a large extent that's true

but I think a lot of the fans were

probably also to some extent uh

responsible by their behaviors uh if

you've seen any of the footage a lot of

them seem like they're totally wasted

out of their minds and so it did not

need to escalate to violence but it

happened all right

how are we doing over there

all right can we still make it down the

phone Meredith Hunter was stabbed by one

of the Hell's Angels and

nobody deserves to get stabbed nobody

deserved to die however he was

brandishing a pistol he was high on

metha amphetamines and he was trying to

get onto the stage and the house Angels

kept trying to push him back there's

footage where he actually gets stabbed

and he does have a gun in his hand and

the Hell's Angel who stabbed him charges

against him were dropped after the

prosecutor saw the footage where it was

very clear that Meredith Hunter had a

gun now it's a tragedy to be sure he

should not have died

and I'm not here to you know render

judgment on either party

um but certainly

it didn't have to go down that way but

it did and it really unfortunately uh

kind of cast a dark shadow over the

Rolling Stones and the 60s for a long

while it's not the way you want to end

the decade particularly if you're the

Rolling Stones you're trying to give a

free concert I believe the hearts were

in the right place but it was just not a

well thought out

um Venture there that they undertook so

anyway that uh basically was Ultimate

but I do want to say there are a couple

of characters if you've seen the Gimme

Shelter film Albert maisel the maisels

brother uh were there they were filming

it and they issued the documentary Give

Me Shelter there's a couple of

characters there who

kind of crack me up you got this girl

here who's like there's violence all

around me but I am digging the music and

she totally looks like she's down to

party uh and then you got this guy I you

know I don't know I at first I thought

you know he's shaking his head at Jagger

like look at this

mess that you've created but then I'm

not sure maybe he's just bobbing his

head in time with the music you got this

guy who looks like the Incredible Hulk

about ready to rip off his shirt and

turn green and start wreaking havoc

the these characters have always just

stuck with me when I've seen that movie

so anyway I just had to put that out

there so anyway let's talk about Let it

bleed the album

and I haven't even showed the album

cover yet I just got so carried away but

this is

the album cover the album was originally

going to be called automatic changer and

they commissioned um I forget who it was

somebody to make this sculpture as it

were with the cake and the tire and the

movie reel thing here and everything

that's stacked upon so the title Let It

Bleed makes absolutely no sense in the

context of this album cover but the

album title was apparently changed at

the last minute for whatever reason I

don't know but I remember when I was

growing up and my dad would play this

album I would just stare at it thinking

how do they balance all that on top of

this turntable spindle it just it

boggled my mind and I loved the label on

here which would have been cool if that

had been the actual label on the album

and then I love how it's just somebody's

dug into the cake it's all messed up

here now uh the sculpture has kind of

been destroyed there's a piece of pizza

here it was just a very cool cover to

look at uh the albums are uh the album

titles are out of order here

um but nonetheless starts off with Gimme

Shelter one of the greatest anthems of

the 60s it was written by Keith Richards

um Anita pallenberg his girlfriend at

the time and Mick Jagger were starring

in a film together I'm not sure if it

was performance I think it might have

been the movie performance uh I don't

think it was Ned Kelly but anyway

um and he was convinced because they had

to do a love scene together he was

convinced that Mick Jagger was going to

steal Anita pallenberg away from him the

same way he stole Anita away from Brian

Jones and so in his book life he talks

about the fact that when he's sitting

there paranoid and worried that he's

just lost his girlfriend to his best

mate in the band he wrote that song Mick

Jagger

um I don't know that he contributed to

the lyrics I Believe Keith wrote the

entire song if I'm not mistaken and

there is a version that exists with

Keith Richards on vocals but nonetheless

it sort of conveys that whole

apocalyptic notion uh that the 60s were

ending you've got the Vietnam War you've

got violence

um and hopefully hopefully we've got

faith that Love Will Conquer All uh then

you've got Robert Johnson of Robert

Johnson cover the only cover on this

album love and Vain and this has been a

song that was on a wreath recently

Unearthed set of Robert Johnson

recordings that people didn't know

existed and in the late 60s it was

uncovered and so the Rolling Stones

heard this song as part of that

collection and they got all excited and

they just decided they wanted to cover

it but I I love the song it's one of

their great acoustic blues tracks I love

Ry Cooter uh and mandolin uh just that

ending is so perfect and then you've got

country honk which a lot of people say

is the weakest uh song on this album

you know it's a countrified version of

Honky Tonk Women much in the same way

Revolution number one is kind of a

mellow uh acoustic version of the song

Revolution and Keith Richards said

that's the way I wrote it I wrote it uh

as kind of uh you know a country blue

sort of a song and then Mick Taylor

heard it and he uh developed the

arrangement that was used on the single

but I I don't mind it and I know there's

people Aaron alamere who don't like the

stones country the way that the stones

do their country I

I don't mind it I happen to like it I

don't I don't mind Mick Jagger's twang

um I don't mind the fiddle I don't mind

the the

um car horn honking I think it's very

Charming I love it I love that it's a

different take on that song

so I'm never gonna say I hate that song

then you've got live with me which is

sort of son of stray cat Blues a little

bit it's got a nice bass line on it you

got Mick Taylor you know on lead guitar

there which is very cool uh you got Leon

Russell on piano so it's just a great

mix I love the song and then it goes

into the title track which you know this

is what the Rolling Stones

um eighth studio album and the very

first where they actually took a song as

the title of the album but I think it's

just perfect at the beginning it doesn't

even sound like Mick Jagger well we all

need that well we all need that part of

it I can't mimic his voice but it almost

doesn't sound like Mick Jagger and I

love when Mick Jagger tries not to sound

like Mick Jagger

um on here it just sounds very cool and

a sort of you know this hippie drugged

out let's have a good time

uh song and I

always loved it it's one of the songs

that was my dad's favorite that he would

always play on here and I think that's

one of the reasons why I like it so much

because I've heard it since I was a wee

lad uh and it's always just been very

effective to me I love every single part

of it works how it picks up the drums

pick up at the end and the piano

um I believe it's Nikki Hopkins uh no no

I'm sorry it's Ian Stewart Ian Stewart

is on piano on um Let It Bleed but it

all works perfectly for me and then

you've got the Rolling Stones going back

to the delta blues for Midnight Rambler

one of those

um sort of CD Sinister uh Rolling Stone

songs

um about a murderer I forget who the

um no is based on a real life

um

series of homicides but it is just so

cool and I love how it stops in the

middle you've got the harmonica the harp

the echo just that gentle guitar

strumming and then you heard about the

boss and then it just sort of like picks

back up and then it goes full blown back

into it with a chugging Rhythm and the

tempo picks up it's just so awesome it's

so much better than going home I don't

mind this song could have gone on for

like another five minutes and I would

have been happy but but if it did we

wouldn't get the other gems on here okay

you got the silver if people are going

to complain about any two songs on this

album it's going to be country hog and

it's going to be you got the silver

because it's another kind of a country

blues song it's got Keith Richards on

his slurred kind of drunken raw vocal

but I don't mind I do not care I like

the song and if you don't that's

perfectly fine I understand and then we

have monkey man which I love that Nikki

Hopkins piano intro it's so haunting

it's so beautiful it is one of my

favorite rock and roll intros of all

time and again you got drugged out

lyrics

um it's the end of the 60s and the

lyrics Don't entirely make sense I have

no idea what make a singing about what's

a monkey got to do with it who the hell

is a monkey man but it doesn't matter

because the song is one of my favorite

Rolling Stone rockers of all time and

then you have right into a boys choir

going into you can't always get what you

want and if you heard the b side of

Honky Tonk Women which was You Can't

Always Get What You Want boy what a sea

change Jack Nietzsche I believe is the

one who arranged the choir but it's such

a spectacular iconic anthemic song a

great way to end the 60s on a high

musical note uh when what I did not

realize until I did research for this

episode Charlie Watts doesn't play drums

on this song it's the only song on the

album he doesn't play drums on Jimmy

Miller plays drums because apparently

Charlie Watts couldn't get the Rhythm

right so kind of like Paul McCartney

played drums on Back in the USSR because

Ringo couldn't get the Rhythm right

Jimmy Miller stepped in and plays drums

on you can always get what you want yeah

he does I had no idea but anyway it's

the perfect Perfect album for me and my

favorite Rolling Stones album now I have

this copy which I don't know what

pressing this is I love say it's an

original 1969 pressing it may be it may

not I don't know this is a 180 gram

remastered when they were doing the

Rolling Stones remasters here so it does

have a custom label

I've got

it on cassette here I love this album so

much

got the original CD version

and I've got the s a CD version which

you know replicates very Faithfully the

back cover but then when you open it up

oh you got the little uh figurines that

were on the cake so that's pretty cool

and then it opens up and

got the credits right there so this TD

sounds amazing by the way one of the

best sounding CDs in my collection if

you love this album invest in the sacd

you will not be sorry so

this may or may not be my last Deep dive

episode I might get into get your Yaya's

out but I got to tell you a lot of work

goes into these episodes

um and I'm getting a little burned out

getting a little tired so we will see

but anyway thank you all for watching

thank you for commenting I love you all

and take care