I haven't seen Get Back yet, but I've heard all about how it re-writes the history of those sessions as it was portrayed in Let It Be film.

The shots in this footage of Mick and Keith standing in the sun and casually watching the Flying Burrito Brothers from the side of the stage breaks from the doom and gloom narrative of Gimme Shelter.

Many who were at Altamont (At least those who weren't close enough to the stage to witness the security mayhem) say they actually had a good time.

Like Get Back, this unseen footage now opens the door for us to consider a whole other perspective that differs from how this event has been framed in our collective cultural history.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-09 08:50 by loog droog.

The new footage, now also on YT: [youtu.be]

Some of the Stones footage is quite similar to Gimme Shelter in the way it's shot from the side of the stage. How did the cameraman get there and stay there through the chaos?

The Flying Twins



HMN

Quote
dph
Some of the Stones footage is quite similar to Gimme Shelter in the way it's shot from the side of the stage. How did the cameraman get there and stay there through the chaos?

All sorts of people, authorised, associated, and unapproved, were on stage. That was part of the problem!

--
Captain Corella
59+ Years a Fan

Thanks for posting. Amazing stuff. Hippy love is in the air to start. Santana, Airplane, FBB, CSNY, Stones! Keef n Mick watching Gram n Burritos just offstage is pure gold!! Matching white hollow bodies by Stephen and Neil. Interesting jewelry choice by Jorma considering his partial ethnic/religious background.
Then the Hells Angels menacing appearance changes the vibe. Well worth your time to check out!!

Thanks for posting - check out Ira Schneider Altamont - some vids with sound

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runaway
Thanks for posting - check out Ira Schneider Altamont - some vids with sound

Wow! I'd never heard of that stuff before. It's as essential as the Library of Congress stuff.

It reinforces a point I was going to make even before I saw this posting. That is that there were so many people filming (some on stage etc) that someone somewhere must have spotted the person taking the 'Library of Congress' film!

--
Captain Corella
59+ Years a Fan

Quote
CaptainCorella

Quote
runaway
Thanks for posting - check out Ira Schneider Altamont - some vids with sound

Wow! I'd never heard of that stuff before. It's as essential as the Library of Congress stuff.

It reinforces a point I was going to make even before I saw this posting. That is that there were so many people filming (some on stage etc) that someone somewhere must have spotted the person taking the 'Library of Congress' film!

Both films are amazing and wonder what’s more in the can and who’s the Library filmer

I wonder if the cameraman was this guy:

[ibb.co]

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Eleanor Rigby
I wonder if the cameraman was this guy:

[ibb.co]

It could be the cameraman

The Rolling Stones
Lost footage of Rolling Stones at notorious Altamont festival uncovered

Carlos Santana, Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young also appear in 26 minutes of home video at event that marked end of hippy dream

Ben Beaumont-Thomas
Mon 10 Jan 2022 11.22 GMT

Twenty-six minutes of unseen footage of the vast and notoriously violent Altamont music festival held in northern California in 1969 have been unexpectedly uncovered.

The home-movie footage – which is vividly shot on 8mm film, but frustratingly silent – has been published by the Library of Congress on its website.

It is not known who filmed it, as the footage had been left with a film development company and never collected. When the company, Palmer Films, went out of business in the mid-1990s, a cache of its films were acquired by archivist Rick Prelinger, whose large collection was in turn acquired by the Library of Congress who have been working to edit and publish the footage ever since.

The Rolling Stones’ headline performance is filmed from the side of the stage, with closeup shots of a smiling, clapping Mick Jagger – as well as more tense and frenetic scenes, as burly Hells Angels flank the stage.

The motorcycle gang had been hired to provide security, but had attacked both performers and attenders during the day. During the Stones’ set, one festival-goer, Meredith Hunter, attempted to get on stage along with a number of other fans. Separate film footage showed that Hunter was carrying a gun, and he was stabbed and killed by Hells Angel member Alan Passaro. Mike Mashon of the Library of Congress states that the footage “doesn’t add anything to our understanding” of the killing.

Hunter’s death, and the reportedly bleak mood of the event more generally, has become symbolic for the corruption of 1960s hippy idealism. The festival was separately chronicled by directors Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin for the film Gimme Shelter.

As well as giving a sense of the huge scale, and some choice dance moves and fashion of the era, the lost footage is an opportunity to see performances in more detail that were edited out of the Stones-focused Gimme Shelter. It features an energetic and clearly funky performance by Carlos Santana and his band, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are filmed in the golden light of sunset – they didn’t appear in Gimme Shelter at all, as they told the directors they weren’t happy with their performance.

Grace Slick is filmed charismatically fronting Jefferson Airplane, and the film-maker captures scuffles with Hells Angels on stage, including one audience member being pushed off and threatened; singer Marty Balin was infamously knocked unconscious by one of the bikers during the performance.

Mashon writes of a barechested and magnificently hirsute Gram Parsons: “It was especially great to see Gram Parsons fronting the Flying Burrito Brothers, since you only see the back of his head in Gimme Shelter. Even better, there are good shots of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards off-stage watching him perform.”

Mashon told the Washington Post regarding the unknown film-maker: “If an owner emerges, certainly we’d be interested in hearing that. Somebody with proof. But as far as we know this film was abandoned.”

[www.theguardian.com]

The best footage is of course at 4:07 and 4:08.

"If you don't c sharp you'll b flat". - Muhammad Ali.

We must bear in mind that no one knew in advance what the Altamont concert would become. Regardless of media and hippy hopes for a kind of “Woodstock West”, there is no way the Maysles wanted to make a film like the Warner Bros. blockbuster, “Woodstock”.

The Maysles brothers' approach to documentary film-making ("direct cinema" as they called it) was, ironically, not 'to direct' but to capture events as they were unfolding without rehearsals, props, pre-planned camera angles, cranes, multitrack sound, etc.

In the days before cell phones, preparing to make a film of any kind was a complex and tedious process. Portable video equipment was in its infancy, was low quality, hard to obtain and used rarely. Film reels had a short running time and had to be changed often.. (16mm reels for the Maysles' cameras were reloaded every 12 minutes.) Sound and visuals were often recorded separately. Making a movie 'on the run', as it were, was a technical nightmare.

Due to the last minute/ad hoc nature of the Altamont concert, it was not possible for Albert and David Maysles to capture enough decent footage on their own. Nor was it possible to hire a group of experienced camera people and obtain the most basic professional equipment on such short notice.

It is my understanding, probably from reading a posting here, that the Maysles requested/encouraged local Bay area film-makers to take cameras to the raceway, film whatever they could of the event and send the footage to the Maysles to be (possibly) included in a movie they were making. (I am unsure of the logistics of this rather loose process). That is why there are so many camera people listed in the credits of “Gimme Shelter”.

I believe that this Library of Congress film is one of those unused submissions.

I would also advise anyone interested in the background of the “Gimme Shelter” movie to read Ronnie Schneider's book, “Out Of Our Heads”.

I'm working on the audio sync.
"Stray Cat Blues" seems to be the last song filmed.

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lenchik
I'm working on the audio sync.
"Stray Cat Blues" seems to be the last song filmed.

Cool! Anything from Altamont is welcome

Quote
Eleanor Rigby
I wonder if the cameraman was this guy:

[ibb.co]

Good call. Well spotted.

--
Captain Corella
59+ Years a Fan

Quote
CaptainCorella

Quote
Eleanor Rigby
I wonder if the cameraman was this guy:

[ibb.co]

Good call. Well spotted.

There is a guy on the left close to the speeker next to the organ. Some of the shots are from Jaggers left side. I don't know, but at least it seems he also got a film camera.

....filming up front and photo cameras everywhere .....



ROCKMAN

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Rockman


....filming up front and photo cameras everywhere .....

That's particularly interesting. There's a lady there with a Really Big Camera pretty much sitting on her shoulder.

Not wanting to offend anyone, in my ignorance I don't know if Ira Schneider is/was a bloke or a lady. (The only other "Ira" I've ever heard of was George Gershwin's wife).

So perhaps that's Ira Schneider?

Remember, right at the end of the Ira Schneider film there's a bit that says it was very early vidoetape, which is unlikely to have been small in size.

--
Captain Corella
59+ Years a Fan

[en.wikipedia.org]



ROCKMAN

Ira used a Sony Portapak to shoot the Altamont footage. The camera/mic connected to the recorder, which used 1/2 open-reel b/w videotape, like this:



1/2 videotape is the same format used for the LA and Detroit footage from the 69 tour.

I was enraged...with the Joel Selvin "they put his dead body on the stage" I wondered why the producer didn't send me a copy after he interviewed me,always a sign... It was quite good until it was cheapened with histrionics. I did confront Selvin at a book signing..there was no body placed on the stage..!!

That's exactly what happened...Maysles called out to camerapeople to film..We bought the footage from them. Here is the estimate cost from David Maysles .George Lucas was one of them....thanks for the recommendation..Ronnie Schneider

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thkbeercan
We must bear in mind that no one knew in advance what the Altamont concert would become. Regardless of media and hippy hopes for a kind of “Woodstock West”, there is no way the Maysles wanted to make a film like the Warner Bros. blockbuster, “Woodstock”.

The Maysles brothers' approach to documentary film-making ("direct cinema" as they called it) was, ironically, not 'to direct' but to capture events as they were unfolding without rehearsals, props, pre-planned camera angles, cranes, multitrack sound, etc.

In the days before cell phones, preparing to make a film of any kind was a complex and tedious process. Portable video equipment was in its infancy, was low quality, hard to obtain and used rarely. Film reels had a short running time and had to be changed often.. (16mm reels for the Maysles' cameras were reloaded every 12 minutes.) Sound and visuals were often recorded separately. Making a movie 'on the run', as it were, was a technical nightmare.

Due to the last minute/ad hoc nature of the Altamont concert, it was not possible for Albert and David Maysles to capture enough decent footage on their own. Nor was it possible to hire a group of experienced camera people and obtain the most basic professional equipment on such short notice.

It is my understanding, probably from reading a posting here, that the Maysles requested/encouraged local Bay area film-makers to take cameras to the raceway, film whatever they could of the event and send the footage to the Maysles to be (possibly) included in a movie they were making. (I am unsure of the logistics of this rather loose process). That is why there are so many camera people listed in the credits of “Gimme Shelter”.

I believe that this Library of Congress film is one of those unused submissions.

I would also advise anyone interested in the background of the “Gimme Shelter” movie to read Ronnie Schneider's book, “Out Of Our Heads”.

Quote
automaticchanger
Ira used a Sony Portapak to shoot the Altamont footage. The camera/mic connected to the recorder, which used 1/2 open-reel b/w videotape, like this:



1/2 videotape is the same format used for the LA and Detroit footage from the 69 tour.

yes i belevie that it used eiaj-1 which was the first standardized video tape format

there where actually several different incompatible open reel video tape recorders (vtr) made for the consumer market before the portapak

i have a big box full of open reel video tapes from a local tv station here in washington state of local programing and news reports

but no machine to play them back with eiaj-1 tapes decks are kinda hard to come by

Quote
bmuseed
That's exactly what happened...Maysles called out to camerapeople to film..We bought the footage from them. Here is the estimate cost from David Maysles .George Lucas was one of them....thanks for the recommendation..Ronnie Schneider

Quote
thkbeercan
We must bear in mind that no one knew in advance what the Altamont concert would become. Regardless of media and hippy hopes for a kind of “Woodstock West”, there is no way the Maysles wanted to make a film like the Warner Bros. blockbuster, “Woodstock”.

The Maysles brothers' approach to documentary film-making ("direct cinema" as they called it) was, ironically, not 'to direct' but to capture events as they were unfolding without rehearsals, props, pre-planned camera angles, cranes, multitrack sound, etc.

In the days before cell phones, preparing to make a film of any kind was a complex and tedious process. Portable video equipment was in its infancy, was low quality, hard to obtain and used rarely. Film reels had a short running time and had to be changed often.. (16mm reels for the Maysles' cameras were reloaded every 12 minutes.) Sound and visuals were often recorded separately. Making a movie 'on the run', as it were, was a technical nightmare.

Due to the last minute/ad hoc nature of the Altamont concert, it was not possible for Albert and David Maysles to capture enough decent footage on their own. Nor was it possible to hire a group of experienced camera people and obtain the most basic professional equipment on such short notice.

It is my understanding, probably from reading a posting here, that the Maysles requested/encouraged local Bay area film-makers to take cameras to the raceway, film whatever they could of the event and send the footage to the Maysles to be (possibly) included in a movie they were making. (I am unsure of the logistics of this rather loose process). That is why there are so many camera people listed in the credits of “Gimme Shelter”.

I believe that this Library of Congress film is one of those unused submissions.

I would also advise anyone interested in the background of the “Gimme Shelter” movie to read Ronnie Schneider's book, “Out Of Our Heads”.

wow so it really is that george lucas

i always wondered after i noticed it in the credits but figured it was someone else

huh wonder if he's ever talked about it in interviews?

Quote
ProfessorWolf

Quote
automaticchanger
Ira used a Sony Portapak to shoot the Altamont footage. The camera/mic connected to the recorder, which used 1/2 open-reel b/w videotape, like this:



1/2 videotape is the same format used for the LA and Detroit footage from the 69 tour.

yes i belevie that it used eiaj-1 which was the first standardized video tape format

there where actually several different incompatible open reel video tape recorders (vtr) made for the consumer market before the portapak

i have a big box full of open reel video tapes from a local tv station here in washington state of local programing and news reports

but no machine to play them back with eiaj-1 tapes decks are kinda hard to come by

I have a playback deck (Sony AV-3650) that I bought for transferring some EIAJ tapes I have at work, but it needs a tune up.

Quote
automaticchanger

Quote
ProfessorWolf

Quote
automaticchanger
Ira used a Sony Portapak to shoot the Altamont footage. The camera/mic connected to the recorder, which used 1/2 open-reel b/w videotape, like this:



1/2 videotape is the same format used for the LA and Detroit footage from the 69 tour.

yes i belevie that it used eiaj-1 which was the first standardized video tape format

there where actually several different incompatible open reel video tape recorders (vtr) made for the consumer market before the portapak

i have a big box full of open reel video tapes from a local tv station here in washington state of local programing and news reports

but no machine to play them back with eiaj-1 tapes decks are kinda hard to come by

I have a playback deck (Sony AV-3650) that I bought for transferring some EIAJ tapes I have at work, but it needs a tune up.

good luck with the tune up

your lucky to have one

may i ask what you do for a living that requires transferring presumably 50 year old eiaj tape reels

are you an archivist?

sorry you just got me curious

I'm a technician in a education-related archive, yes - the reels are (presumably) school related-footage.