hi All~

Today's 44th anniversary of Altamont seemed a great time to finally "go public"to my good friends and colleagues here at iorr about my projects.

I'm producing 2 documentaries about Altamont: (1) radio documentary "The Night Before Altamont" and (2) Altamont 360°, full-length film documentary (with a Multimedia Archives component). Both are productions of my company, Living Archives.

"The Night Before Altamont" radio documentary is expected to air in March 2014. Many --most key "players," who we all know, as well as awesome former-youngsters/Altamont-attendees-- have already been interviewed for "The Night Before Altamont." And one very special person who was there the night before will very likely be joining "The Night Before Altamont" project very soon with his stories.

In 2014, I'll be focusing full-time on the documentary film, Altamont 360°, currently in pre-production.

In addition to its being a full-length documentary film, Altamont 360° I've been advised to produce it as ---what's known these days--- a "transmedia" suite of storytelling vehicles (i.e., across many media types), to possibly include:
- the radio documentary
- digital book
- interactive multimedia archives-based website, with social components
- The Altamont face-to-face reunion
- Altamont graphic novel
- and more...
______________________________

Were you there? The day of? The night before? Know anyone who was? Have any stories, memories, impressions, recollections you'd be willing to share? If so, I would love to interview you for one or both of the Altamont documentaries I'm producing. Have any artifacts that could be photographed and made part of the Altamont Multimedia Archive? If so please post here, or contact me via the email address listed above or via Facebook.

Thanks & best wishes~
swiss


PS -- this clip was the impetus for producing "The Night Before Altamont" - when someone here on iorr first
posted it I remember asking whether anyone had any idea of what Mick was all gassed up about re: the night
before? I started looking into it, and now I know the whole story, which has never been told before.







Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-07 01:13 by swiss.

Quite a job you are busy with swiss. I have nothing to contribute, but I do want to wish you all the best with your project.

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Quote
Rolling Hansie
Quite a job you are busy with swiss. I have nothing to contribute, but I do want to wish you all the best with your project.

thanks, Rolling Hansie - seeing your name always makes me happy, and I appreciate your post

I know someone who went to Altamont and I've sent a message to him, with the Facebook links you've posted here. As soon as I get an answer of him, I will let you know if he's interested in help you with this.

Good luck with the job, swiss!

Quote
Cristiano Radtke
I know someone who went to Altamont and I've sent a message to him, with the Facebook links you've posted here. As soon as I get an answer of him, I will let you know if he's interested in help you with this.

Good luck with the job, swiss!

Thank you, Cristiano - very kind of you!

best wishes
swiss

Good luck with the project swiss, hopefully you'll get some great stories from IORR members.

Your archives facebook page is very cool; I never knew about the alleged Led Zep/Wheaton, MD concert. I'd love to make it to one of the documentary showings. What a story!

Once completed you might want to do a screening at the Grammy Museum. Bob Santelli, Executive Director, would be your contact.

Scotty,
Irvine, CA

swiss, congrat on your projects coming out soon!!
I got nothing for you except the one contact...

~"Love is Strong"~

best of luck swiss ... sure you'll nail it



ROCKMAN

Great job Swiss...............

__________________________

Fascinating projects, Swiss. I can only help you with my moral support.

- Doxa

Not that it's usefull to you Swiss but yeah I did know someone that as a young man attended the Altamont show way back when. He and two other Canadian kids drove down from Vancouver BC and took in the show from way back so they weren't involved in any of the rough stuff and in fact hadn't been aware of many of the problems until seeing the papers the next day. Thankyou for your hard work in putting these documentaries together and I hope I get to take in both of these most interesting projects someday soon?

Good luck, Swiss!
I'm really looking forward to those projects.

There were lots of festivals all over Europe after the Woodstock hype.
Some great, some disasters, some tried to cheat people with lots of famous bands on the bill who wouldn't appear.

Still some of them had a great spirit and I remember some outstanding performances: Sly Stone, Taste, Colloseum, Faces, C. Berry, Free come to my mind.
Sorry, nothing about Altamont.But I just remember those days . .

Best of luck.

Great news swiss!, I have always been fascinated with Altamont so really look forward to your efforts. Any chance of new live audio/video from the concert?

What a cool project. Good luck, looking forward to this.

Vilhelm
Nordic Stones Vikings

The Altamont disaster has been a bit too much focussed on to my taste. I mean, during those mass meeting things happen. The most fascinating thing however was the way the Stones were surrounded by events they didn't control at all. When you see how they really flew into that helicopter. It seemed like saving their lives and it scared the hell out of them (very understandable). Funny thing is that they played so damned well at Altamont. Symphathy The Devil, for instance.

Be cool if the Angel's dog that was on stage could talk...
Bet it could tell a story or two ...



ROCKMAN

Quote
Rockman
Be cool if the Angel's dog that was on stage could talk...
Bet it could tell a story or two ...

"I dare that MF'er to try and hit me with that there cue stick".

Quote
kleermaker
Funny thing is that they played so damned well at Altamont. Symphathy The Devil, for instance.

Naturally they would, since the Altamont show was at the end of the tour (by which time they were "getting their Ya Ya's out" so to speak), whereas if Altamont had been at the beginning they might have sounded the way they did at Hyde Park--shaky and out of tune.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-08 02:03 by stonehearted.

Great news swiss. Do you know how much footage was shot by the Maysels?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-09 22:34 by Silver Dagger.

I wish I understood what approach you're taking. It's been pretty well documented, or at least I thought it was.

Best of luck swiss...

Quote
Silver Dagger
Greast news swiss. Do you know how much footage was shot by the Maysels?

I have posted this in several other threads before but here you go again.

According to one of the Gimme Shelter Film Directors, Charlotte Zwerin, she mentions getting an uncut film copy of the complete Altamont performance to review:

Quote


"The performance of 'Gimme Shelter' was one of the most powerful things I'd ever heard. At one point the Maysles sent me tapes of the entire Stones performance uncut; it's out of a horror movie."

[www.salon.com]

In this article it claims that one of the sound guys at Altamont has the complete SB for that concert.

[www.insidebayarea.com]

Quote

The Stones, who may or may not have known that Hunter had died, returned after the melee to play eight more songs. According to Matthews, who recorded the performance and still holds the tapes, the band delivered an inspired second set that closed with "Street Fighting Man," a song that might have rung the closing bell on the Woodstock era.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-08 18:33 by oldschool.

Excellent Swiss, really looking forward to these. I'm guessing there is so much we don't know etc. Can't wait. Will us in the Uk get to see them?

hi everyone - thanks for all the comments - hope I respond to each of them below.

btw....Sam Cutler and Stones bodyguard Tony Funches just shared some very kind words about these 2 Altamont documentary projects here

---

Posted by: latebloomer ()
Date: December 7, 2013 02:02

Good luck with the project swiss, hopefully you'll get some great stories from IORR members.

Your archives facebook page is very cool; I never knew about the alleged Led Zep/Wheaton, MD concert. I'd love to make it to one of the documentary showings. What a story!

----------> thanks for your note, latebloomer. All IORR member stories welcome! I hope you can make it to one of the screenings of the Wheaton/Led Zeppelin documentary. That [alleged?] gig is the stuff of legend.

---

Posted by: micknkeef@cox.net ()
Date: December 7, 2013 02:17

Once completed you might want to do a screening at the Grammy Museum. Bob Santelli, Executive Director, would be your contact.

----------> Thank you, Scotty! I'm hoping to do just that, and believe I have a lead for once the time comes, unless you know Bob. Also, looks like I have leads at EMP Museum in Seattle, RRHoF, and a couple of places abroad. Hope you're well - it's been a bit over a year since our brush with fame in LA

---

Posted by: angee ()
Date: December 7, 2013 04:16

swiss, congrat on your projects coming out soon!!
I got nothing for you except the one contact...
----------> Thank you, dear angee! I appreciate your contact very much. Several other people have said "You must speak with her!" - and I will. "The Night Before Altamont" radio documentary will be Spring 2014. The film, Altamont 360° will be...? realistically 2015, since I don't even go into production until mid-2nd Q 2014. Hopefully the interactive archives-based website wil launch in 2014. Possibly the digital multimedia book in late 2014. Possibly the graphic novel, but those are suborindate to the film.

---

Posted by: Rockman ()
Date: December 7, 2013 11:14

best of luck swiss ... sure you'll nail it

ROCKMAN

----------> Thanks v much, Rockman! You're always so positive, and know just what to say.

---

Posted by: NICOS ()
Date: December 7, 2013 12:15

Great job Swiss...............

----------> Thanks, NICOS! Appreciate the supportive words

---

Posted by: Doxa ()
Date: December 7, 2013 12:50

Fascinating projects, Swiss. I can only help you with my moral support.thumbs up

- Doxa

----------> Ah, Doxa -- that means a lot to me! Thank you

---

Posted by: rob51 ()
Date: December 7, 2013 23:05

Not that it's usefull to you Swiss but yeah I did know someone that as a young man attended the Altamont show way back when. He and two other Canadian kids drove down from Vancouver BC and took in the show from way back so they weren't involved in any of the rough stuff and in fact hadn't been aware of many of the problems until seeing the papers the next day. Thankyou for your hard work in putting these documentaries together and I hope I get to take in both of these most interesting projects someday soon?

----------> Thanks, rob51. Interesting story about the Canadian kids! With 300,000 people there, many people were far away -- and I've found a lot of people left early. It was colder than usual night--and the nights out in the Livermore/Tracy/Altamont Pass area in December tend to be relatively cold anyway--but in 1969. altho it was in the mid 60°s during the day, it appears to have gone below freezing both the night before Altamont and the after the sun went down during the concert on December 6th. As the man I interveiwed today who worked for Chet Helms/The Family Dog/Avalon Ballroom "We were used to the cold in San Francisco - the fog rolled in everynight off the Pacific Ocean -- but the cold at Altamont was completely different -- it cut right through you." That, and other factors, led to some % of people fleeing before then Stones were on. As said, I've been surprised by how many admit to splitting before the Stones played. I wonder as some people left, whether additional people moved forward, exacerbating the already brittle, negatively charged conditions to that point.

-------------> As to "sometime soon" "The Night Before Altamont" radio documentary will be released in Spring 2014. The film, Altamont 360° will be...? realistically 2015, since we don't even go into production until mid-2nd Q 2014. Hopefully the interactive archives-based website wil launch in 2014. Possibly the digital multimedia book in late 2014. Possibly the graphic novel, but those are suborindate to the film.

---

Posted by: CousinC ()
Date: December 7, 2013 23:34

Good luck, Swiss!
I'm really looking forward to those projects.

There were lots of festivals all over Europe after the Woodstock hype.
Some great, some disasters, some tried to cheat people with lots of famous bands on the bill who wouldn't appear.

Still some of them had a great spirit and I remember some outstanding performances: Sly Stone, Taste, Colloseum, Faces, C. Berry, Free come to my mind.
Sorry, nothing about Altamont.But I just remember those days . .

----------> Good to hear from you, CousinC! Love hearing your memories of those days. I know a teeny bit about some of those European festivals, but you were actually there - maybe you'll write about it someday!

---

Posted by: odean73 ()
Date: December 8, 2013 00:41

Best of luck.thumbs up

----------> Thanks odean73!

---

Posted by: oldschool ()
Date: December 8, 2013 00:54

Great news swiss!, I have always been fascinated with Altamont so really look forward to your efforts. Any chance of new live audio/video from the concert?

----------> oldschool, thank you Fantastic question. We shall see on the new live audio/video from the concert!

---

Posted by: mickijaggeroo ()
Date: December 8, 2013 01:11

What a cool project. Good luck, looking forward to this.

Vilhelm

----------> Thanks, Vilhem! I look forward to sharing with IORR as soon as "The Night Before Altamont" is aired (maybe some excerps prior to that. And any interesting on Altamont 360° as they unfold if I think people would be interested.

---

Posted by: kleermaker ()
Date: December 8, 2013 01:32

The Altamont disaster has been a bit too much focussed on to my taste. I mean, during those mass meeting things happen. The most fascinating thing however was the way the Stones were surrounded by events they didn't control at all. When you see how they really flew into that helicopter. It seemed like saving their lives and it scared the hell out of them (very understandable). Funny thing is that they played so damned well at Altamont. Symphathy The Devil, for instance.

----------> kleermaker, aaah, I thought you'd be psyched about these projects. Alas, to think several years ago HootOwl or whatever his name swore we were the same person The thing is...to us Rolling Stones fans the story of Altamont is a chapter in Stones history. However, it's a lot more than that. It's not just the Stones story. Albert Maysles himself, with whom I spent an afternoon, and had an incredible, positive, extended interview/discussion in New York, believes Gimme Shelter shouldn't be the only document on Altamont, and is excited that the story/history will be revisited while people are still alive. Altamont definitely shook the Stones---and traumatized pretty much every person who was near the stage, regardless of who they were, as well as the Bay Area music culture, and the American counterculture.

---

Posted by: Rockman ()
Date: December 8, 2013 01:39

Be cool if the Angel's dog that was on stage could talk...
Bet it could tell a story or two ...

ROCKMAN
---------->
swiss: Mister Dog, please complete this sentence: "Altamont was--"
Angel Dog: --RUFF!

---

Posted by: stonehearted ()
Date: December 8, 2013 02:02

Naturally they would, since the Altamont show was at the end of the tour (by which time they were "getting their Ya Ya's out" so to speak), whereas if Altamont had been at the beginning they might have sounded the way they did at Hyde Park--shaky and out of tune.

----------> stonehearted, interesting point. I hope I'll remember to ask the Stones about that theory.

---

Posted by: Silver Dagger ()
Date: December 8, 2013 10:28

Greast news swiss. Do you know how much footage was shot by the Maysels?

----------> Silver Dagger, thanks. How much footage shot...? A lot. Wasn't just the Maysles...there were approximately 2 dozen other cameramen. So....lots. And a few independent people filming.

---

Posted by: 24FPS ()
Date: December 8, 2013 11:21

I wish I understood what approach you're taking. It's been pretty well documented, or at least I thought it was.

----------> 24FPS, really...? have I missed a documentary other than the 1970 film paid for by the Rolling Stones about their American tour, Gimme Shelter? And how many books have I missed? The film is called Altamont 360° because I have found ---and it's obvious being a Stones' fan, if you Search the IORR archive, there are so many vagueries and things people aren't sure of---or are totally sure of and they're incorrect. Not to mention the misinformation, straight-up fabrications based on sometimes bizarre highly personal speculations, and mythos regularly strewn around the internet, and going into print. There is one dominant mainstream somewhat linear narrative, repeated over and over again. But once you start talking to people -- asking even simple "straightforward" questions, the "truth" splinters into myriad shards and fragments---stories don't mesh, and sometimes 180° contradict each other.

It was an early conversation with bodyguard Tony Funches (among the most brilliant humans I've met), where I was musing on the challenge to reconcile the stories of Altamont in search of one definitive narrative of What the Hell Happened---which I've been wrestling with since I was 14---and saying I believed I was going to have to allow the multiple perspectives to co-exist as multple truths, there IS not one truth. And he laughed (best most hearty laugh ever)


and exclaimed: "It's like Rashomon!" Referring to the Kurosawa flick, which is structured around several people's completely different eye witness versions of a rape/murder.

I'm a rock and cultural/social historian--and, no, there is no comprehensively researched documented history of Altamont.

Many people carry a burden of that day--seriously. Al Maysles agrees with me it's time to revisit Altamont, and is very supportive of these projects


I'll post my formal "pitch" and/or promo piece when it's ready. I first must wrap up "The Night Before Altamont" radio documentary---and incidentally, THAT story has not ever been told---and then will focus on the film etc.

---

Posted by: 2000 LYFH ()
Date: December 8, 2013 17:36

Best of luck swiss...

----------> Thank you, 2000 LYFH - awesome images!

---

Posted by: crumbling_mice ()
Date: December 8, 2013 18:10

Excellent Swiss, really looking forward to these. I'm guessing there is so much we don't know etc. Can't wait. Will us in the Uk get to see them?

----------> Thank you, crumbling -- so nice to see your name/comment "The Night Before Altamont" radio documentary -- hoping for UK distribution. The film Altamont 360° I want to say it will be worlwide, but I don't know the distribution business well enough to know what I'm talk about. Will it be pay-per-view, streaming, (I hope---I want Altamont 360° to contain as many analog components as possible---including face-to-face reunions and meet-ups) And, at the very least, I'll be shooting in England, AND in 2015 so far I know I'll be screening Altamont 360° in England and Holland

---

You know what? it makes a difference to hear all these well wishes...I guess that's obvious, but I don't know I's ever realized that before.

thanks again - all best,
swiss
The Night Before Altamont Facebook
Sam and me from this summer




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-09 14:36 by swiss.

Cannot get enough of Altamont - best of luck to you.

My Altamont interest was also artistically inspiring.

Good luck Swiss

Swiss, the BBC broadcast a radio documentary in 2009, if you'd like to hear it let me know.


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

It Look very promising, wish you all the best and good luck !

HMN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-11 18:58 by Honestman.