Gimme Shelter (documentary)
Encyclopedia
Gimme Shelter is a 1970
documentary film
directed by Albert and David Maysles
and Charlotte Zwerin
, chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones
' 1969 US tour
, which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter
", the lead track from The Rolling Stones' 1969 album Let It Bleed
. The film was screened at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival
, but was not entered into the main competition.
movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The Maysles Brothers, who directed it, are strong figures of the era. The movement revolves around the philosophy of being a "reactive
" filmmaker. Rather than investigating a subject matter through such documentary techniques as interviews
, reconstruction and voiceover
, direct cinema simply records events as they unfold naturally and spontaneously — like a fly on the wall
.
concert, later featured on the live album, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert
, as well as the photography session for the cover, featuring Charlie Watts
and a donkey. It also shows the Stones at work in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
, recording "Brown Sugar
" and "Wild Horses". The film also includes footage of Ike
and Tina Turner
opening for the Stones at their Madison Square Garden concert, to Mick Jagger
's comment, "It's nice to have a chick occasionally".
The Maysles brothers filmed the first concert of the tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City. After the concert, the Maysles brothers asked the Rolling Stones if they could film them on tour, and the band agreed.
Much of the film chronicles the behind-the-scenes dealmaking that took place to make the free Altamont concert happen, including much footage of well-known attorney Melvin Belli
negotiating by telephone with the management of the Altamont Speedway. The movie also includes a playback of Hells Angels leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger's famous call-in to radio station KSAN-FM's "day after" program about the concert, where he recalls, "They told me if I could sit on the edge of the stage so nobody could climb over me, I could drink beer until the show was over."
(armed with pool cues). As the day progresses, with drug-taking and drinking by the Angels and members of the audience, the mood turns ugly. Fights break out during performances by The Flying Burrito Brothers
and Jefferson Airplane
; Grace Slick
pleads with the crowd to settle down.
At one point Jefferson Airplane lead singer Marty Balin
is knocked out by a Hells Angel; Paul Kantner
attempts to confront "the people who hit my lead singer" in response. He tells one of the Angels on stage that violence isn't what the event is about, to which the clearly intoxicated biker replies, "No, man - YOU are what's happening." Jerry Garcia
and Phil Lesh
arrive, but The Grateful Dead
opt not to play after learning of the incident with Balin from Santana drummer Michael Shrieve
. (Santana
and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young also performed at the concert but are not shown in the movie).
By the time The Stones hit the stage, it was evening, and the crowd was especially restless. The Stones opened with "Jumpin' Jack Flash
", and are also shown performing "Sympathy for the Devil
", as the tension continues to build. It is during the next song, "Under My Thumb
", that a member of the audience, 18 year old Meredith Hunter
, attempted, with other crowd members, to force his way onto the stage, and as a result is struck by the Hells Angels members guarding the band. He is then seen to draw a revolver and fire it in the air, before being subdued by Hells Angel Alan Passaro; he is stabbed and killed.
Baird Bryant
, one of the many cameramen in the film, caught Meredith Hunter's stabbing on film. The film sequence clearly shows the silhouette of a handgun in Hunter's hand as Passaro enters from the right, grabs and raises the gun hand, turning Hunter around and stabbing him at least twice in the back before pushing Hunter off camera.
Amongst the camera operators for Altamont was a young George Lucas
, who later went on to become a successful film director. At the concert, Lucas's camera jammed after shooting about 100 feet (30.5 m) of film. None of his footage was incorporated into the final cut.
Ike and Tina Turner
Jefferson Airplane
Flying Burrito Brothers
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
and Charlotte Zwerin
Charlotte Zwerin
Charlotte Zwerin was a documentary film director and editor best known for work concerning artists or musicians, although she also made films concerning other subjects....
, chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' 1969 US tour
The Rolling Stones American Tour 1969
The Rolling Stones' 1969 Tour of the United States took place in November 1969. Rock critic Robert Christgau called it "history's first mythic rock and roll tour", while rock critic Dave Marsh would write that the tour was "part of rock and roll legend" and one of the "benchmarks of an...
, which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter
Gimme Shelter
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelled "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling...
", the lead track from The Rolling Stones' 1969 album Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American album by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in December 1969 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States...
. The film was screened at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival
1971 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Michèle Morgan *Pierre Billard *Michael Birkett *Anselmo Duarte *István Gaál *Sergio Leone *Aleksandar Petrović *Maurice Rheims *Erich Segal...
, but was not entered into the main competition.
Context
The documentary is associated with the Direct CinemaDirect Cinema
Direct Cinema is a documentary genre that originated between 1958 and 1962 in North America, principally in the Canadian province of Quebec and the United States...
movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The Maysles Brothers, who directed it, are strong figures of the era. The movement revolves around the philosophy of being a "reactive
Reactive
Reactive may refer to:*Generally, capable of having a reaction*Reactance , the imaginary component of AC impedance*Reactive mind*Reactive programming...
" filmmaker. Rather than investigating a subject matter through such documentary techniques as interviews
Interviews
Interviews is:# the plural form of "interview"# a compilation album by Bob Marley & the Wailers, see Interviews # a C++ toolkit for the X Window System, see InterViews...
, reconstruction and voiceover
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, iOS and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind...
, direct cinema simply records events as they unfold naturally and spontaneously — like a fly on the wall
Fly on the wall
Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in filmmaking and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them...
.
Production
The film depicts some of the Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
concert, later featured on the live album, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert
`Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!´ The Rolling Stones in Concert is a live album by The Rolling Stones, released 4 September 1970 on Decca Records in the UK and on London Records in the US. It was recorded in New York and Maryland in November 1969, just before the release of Let It Bleed...
, as well as the photography session for the cover, featuring Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.-Early life:...
and a donkey. It also shows the Stones at work in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, recording "Brown Sugar
Brown Sugar (song)
"Brown Sugar" is a song by The Rolling Stones. It is the opening track and lead single from the English rock band's 1971 album Sticky Fingers...
" and "Wild Horses". The film also includes footage of Ike
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
opening for the Stones at their Madison Square Garden concert, to Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
's comment, "It's nice to have a chick occasionally".
The Maysles brothers filmed the first concert of the tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City. After the concert, the Maysles brothers asked the Rolling Stones if they could film them on tour, and the band agreed.
Much of the film chronicles the behind-the-scenes dealmaking that took place to make the free Altamont concert happen, including much footage of well-known attorney Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
Melvin Mouron Belli was a prominent American lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and by detractors as 'Melvin Bellicose'. He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Errol Flynn, Chuck Berry, Muhammad Ali, Sirhan Sirhan, the Rolling Stones, Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker, Martha...
negotiating by telephone with the management of the Altamont Speedway. The movie also includes a playback of Hells Angels leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger's famous call-in to radio station KSAN-FM's "day after" program about the concert, where he recalls, "They told me if I could sit on the edge of the stage so nobody could climb over me, I could drink beer until the show was over."
Altamont Free Concert
The action then turns on the concert itself at the Altamont Speedway, the security for which was provided by the Hells AngelsHells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
(armed with pool cues). As the day progresses, with drug-taking and drinking by the Angels and members of the audience, the mood turns ugly. Fights break out during performances by The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers was an early country rock band, best known for its influential debut album,The Gilded Palace of Sin . Although the group is most often mentioned in connection with country rock legends Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes.-Original...
and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
; Grace Slick
Grace Slick
Grace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
pleads with the crowd to settle down.
At one point Jefferson Airplane lead singer Marty Balin
Marty Balin
Marty Balin is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.-Early life:Martyn Buchwald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...
is knocked out by a Hells Angel; Paul Kantner
Paul Kantner
Paul Lorin Kantner is an American rock musician, known for co-founding the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off band Jefferson Starship.- Overview :...
attempts to confront "the people who hit my lead singer" in response. He tells one of the Angels on stage that violence isn't what the event is about, to which the clearly intoxicated biker replies, "No, man - YOU are what's happening." Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
and Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
arrive, but The Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
opt not to play after learning of the incident with Balin from Santana drummer Michael Shrieve
Michael Shrieve
Michael Shrieve is an American drummer, percussionist, and later, an electronic music composer. He is best known as the drummer in Carlos Santana's eponymous band, playing on their first eight albums from 1969 through 1974...
. (Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young also performed at the concert but are not shown in the movie).
By the time The Stones hit the stage, it was evening, and the crowd was especially restless. The Stones opened with "Jumpin' Jack Flash
Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding...
", and are also shown performing "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
", as the tension continues to build. It is during the next song, "Under My Thumb
Under My Thumb
"Under My Thumb" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for The Rolling Stones. Its first appearance was as an album track on 1966's Aftermath...
", that a member of the audience, 18 year old Meredith Hunter
Meredith Hunter
Meredith Curly Hunter was a male spectator at the Altamont Free Concert. During the performance by The Rolling Stones, Hunter pulled out a gun after being punched by a Hells Angel and was then stabbed to death by a Hells Angel serving as a security guard...
, attempted, with other crowd members, to force his way onto the stage, and as a result is struck by the Hells Angels members guarding the band. He is then seen to draw a revolver and fire it in the air, before being subdued by Hells Angel Alan Passaro; he is stabbed and killed.
Baird Bryant
Baird Bryant
Wenzell Baird Bryant was an American filmmaker. He is best known as the cameraman on the Albert Maysles film Gimme Shelter who filmed the fatal stabbing of Rolling Stones concertgoer Meredith Hunter by Hells Angel Alan Passaro at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969.As a cinematographer,...
, one of the many cameramen in the film, caught Meredith Hunter's stabbing on film. The film sequence clearly shows the silhouette of a handgun in Hunter's hand as Passaro enters from the right, grabs and raises the gun hand, turning Hunter around and stabbing him at least twice in the back before pushing Hunter off camera.
Amongst the camera operators for Altamont was a young George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
, who later went on to become a successful film director. At the concert, Lucas's camera jammed after shooting about 100 feet (30.5 m) of film. None of his footage was incorporated into the final cut.
Songs performed
The Rolling Stones- "Jumpin' Jack FlashJumpin' Jack Flash"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding...
" - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
" - "You Gotta MoveYou Gotta Move (song)"You Gotta Move" is a song written by Fred McDowell and Rev. Gary Davis. Being a well-known song of McDowell's as "You Got to Move", it was most famously recorded by the British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones and is featured on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers.The song has a haunting and raw...
" - "Wild Horses" (in studio at Muscle ShoalsMuscle Shoals Sound StudioThe Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...
) - "Brown SugarBrown Sugar (song)"Brown Sugar" is a song by The Rolling Stones. It is the opening track and lead single from the English rock band's 1971 album Sticky Fingers...
" - "Love in VainLove in Vain"Love in Vain" is a 1937 blues song written by Robert Johnson.The song is noted for its sad lyrics, tone, and style. In the 1991 documentary film The Search for Robert Johnson, John P. Hammond plays Robert's recording of "Love in Vain" for the elderly Willie Mae Powell, the woman for whom it was...
" - "Honky Tonk WomenHonky Tonk Women"Honky Tonk Women" is a 1969 hit song by The Rolling Stones. Released as a single on 4 July 1969 in the UK and a week later in the US, it topped the charts in both nations.-Inspiration and Recording:...
" - "Street Fighting ManStreet Fighting Man"Street Fighting Man" is a song by English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet. Called the band's "most political song", Rolling Stone ranked the song #295 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-Inspiration:Originally titled and recorded...
" - "Sympathy for the DevilSympathy for the Devil"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
" - "Under My ThumbUnder My Thumb"Under My Thumb" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for The Rolling Stones. Its first appearance was as an album track on 1966's Aftermath...
" - "Gimme ShelterGimme Shelter"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelled "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling...
" (live version, over closing credits)
Ike and Tina Turner
- "I've Been Loving You Too LongI've Been Loving You Too Long"I've Been Loving You Too Long" is a song written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. It appeared as the A-side of a 1965 hit single by Otis Redding - and subsequently appeared on his third album, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul...
" (at Madison Square Garden)
Jefferson Airplane
- "The Other Side of This Life" (at Altamont)
Flying Burrito Brothers
- "Six Days on the RoadSix Days on the Road"Six Days on the Road" is an American song written by Muscle Shoals Sound Studio songwriter Carl Montgomery and Earl Green, made originally famous by country music singer Dave Dudley...
" (at Altamont)
External links
- Official website at Mayslesfilms.com
- Criterion Collection essay by Ralph "Sonny" Barger
- Criterion Collection essay by Georgia Bergman
- Criterion Collection essay by Stanley Booth
- Criterion Collection essay by Godfrey Cheshire
- Criterion Collection essay by Michael Lydon
- Criterion Collection essay by Amy Taubin
- Gimme Shelter Producer, Ron SchneiderRonnie SchneiderRonald Schneider is best known for being the business presence at the epicenter of pivotal 1960s events including the Altamont Free Concert, the dissolution of the Beatles and the reorganization of their business arm, Apple Corps...
- "Gimme Shelter: The true story" at Salon.com