rolling stones tour 1969

Rolling Stones "Storm America" - US Tour 1969

The Stones make a claim for the high ground in 1969 with the Beatles broken-up and a new guitarist in the band whose main purpose is to facilitate touring and live performance which would have otherwise been doubtful with founding member Brian Jones whose ability to freely enter the US (drug busts) and play grueling consecutive nights and two shows a day would have been unpredictable at best. The Stones are more or less living together after the Hyde Park free concert on July 5, 1969. They stay at "Oriole House" in LA and are rehearsing at Stephen Stills' basement in Laurel Canyon prior to the tour launch on November 7, 1969. By the time they open in Colorado it's clear that this isn't the nervous unrehearsed line up that debuted in Hyde Park, they are loud and menacing. New guitarist Mick Taylor is blending in and band is coming together as a live force to be reckoned with. This is our journey through America 40 years on with "The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band In World"!

Jagger Cruising LA 1969

The Rolling Stones 1969 US Tour

* CD releases of the these shows exist.

"Catch Your Dreams (Before They Slip Away)"

Black Light Records, BL 101

State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, November 7, 1969

Sound Quality: Fair Audience

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:34/Carol 3:39/Sympathy For The Devil 4:49/Stray Cat Blues 3:39/Midnight Rambler 9:14/Under My Thumb 3:50/Prodigal Son 3:42/Love In Vain 5:13/I'm Free 6:20/Little Queenie 4:45/Gimme Shelter 3:49/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:15/Honky Tonk Women 3:54/Street Fighting Man 4:06

Comments: A quiet college town 90 minutes drive north of Denver for a warm-up gig prior to West Coast performances. Highlights are the "new" song Midnight Rambler and I'm Free.

"Don't You Wanna Live With Me"

(TTCD-6405 DAC-071-1/2)

Sound Quality: Fair Audience. Kinda boomy.

CD 1: Sam Cutler Introduction 0:56/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:58/Carol 3:51/Sympathy For The Devil 5:06/Stray Cat Blues 4:25/Midnight Rambler 9:02/Under My Thumb 3:57/Prodigal Son 3:58/Love In Vain 6:09/I'm Free 5:58/Little Queenie 4:57/Gimme Shelter 4:21/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:37/Honky Tonk Women 4:15/Street Fighting Man 4:37

"Kick Off The US Tour 1969"

One Hundred Club - Idol Mind Production

Introduction: Sam Cutler 0:54/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:57/Carol 3:49/Sympathy For The Devil 5:05/Stray Cat Blues 4:27/Midnight Rambler 9:02/Under My Thumb 3:57/Prodigal Son 3:57/Love In Vain 6:09/I'm Free 5:55/Little Queenie 5:04/Gimme Shelter 4:18/Satisfaction 6:29/Honky Tonk Women 4:11/Street Fighting Man 4:32

"LA Queenie"

(RISK DISC 002)

LA Forum, California, November 8, 1969 1st Show

Sound Quality: Good Audience

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:14/Carol 4:01/Sympathy For The Devil 5:19/Stray Cat Blues 4:47/Prodigal Son 4:02/Love In Vain 5:27/I'm Free 6:12/Midnight Rambler 8:13/Live With Me 4:02/Little Queenie 2:33/Satisfaction 6:22/Honky Tonk Women 4:22/Street Fighting Man 4:41

Comment: First release of LA November 8, 1969 (1st Show). Comes with a mini booklet of articles and photos from the '69 tour. Nice cardboard packaging.

"Welcome To The Breakfast Show"

(VGP - 337)

Vinyl Gang Product

LA Forum, November 8, 1969 1st Show

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:05/Carol 3:59/Sympathy For The Devil 5:15/Stray Cat Blues 4:44/Prodigal Son 3:59/Love In Vain 5:22/I'm Free 6:08/Midnight Rambler 8:10/Live With Me 3:58/Little Queenie 2:31/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:16/Honky Tonk Women 4:21/Street Fighting Man 4:38

"The First L.A. Forum 1969"

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:06/Carol 3:56/Sympathy For The Devil 5:11/Stray Cat Blues 4:40/Prodigal Son 3:56/Love In Vain 5:18/I'm Free 6:03/Midnight Rambler 8:00/Live With Me 3:54/Little Queenie 2:31/Satisfaction 6:15/Honky Tonk Women 4:19/Street Fighting Man 4:09/Outro Announcer 0:27

Keith & his National Steel Guitar - Live '69

"L.A. 69 - Nov.8, - 2nd show"

(WP-69-1/2)

Outsider Bird Records

LA Forum, California, November 8, 1969 2nd Show

Side 1: Sam Cutler/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Carol/Sympathy For The Devil/Stray Cat Blues/Prodigal Son/You Gotta Move/Love In Vain Side 2: I'm Free/Under My Thumb/Live With Me/Little Queenie/Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Women/Street Fighting Man

Comment: Black & blue vinyl plus 45 rpm on blue wax - Sister Morphine (outtake) b/w Midnight Rambler 5:51

"Special Collector's Series Volume 18"

Comment: Re-issue of "L.A. 69" on black vinyl. Copy 19 of 130 pictured.

"Born In The Crossfire Hurricane"

(IFPI L601)

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:07/Carol 3:31/Sympathy For The Devil 5:30/Stray Cat Blues 4:50/Prodigal Son 3:40/You Gotta Move 2:56/Love In Vain 5:04/I'm Free 6:01/Under My Thumb 3:11/Midnight Rambler 7:44/Live With Me 2:34/Little Queenie 4:13/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:51/Honky Tonk Women 3:48/Street Fighting Man 4:02

"Street Hassle In L.A."

Stonehenge 001

Carol 4:18/Sympathy For The Devil 5:32/Stray Cat Blues 4:48/Prodigal Son 3:45/You Got To Move 2:56/Love In Vain 5:20/I'm Free 6:09/Under My Thumb 3:17/Live With Me 3:24/Little Queenie 4:17 /(I Cant't Get No) Satisfaction 5:55/Honky Tonk Women 4:01/Street Fighting Men 4:00

"Lost Satanic Tour '69"

Picaresque Sound

Carol 3:59/Sympathy For The Devil 5:32/Stray Cat Blues 4:53/Prodigal Son 3:42/You Gotta Move 2:53/Love In Vain 5:22/I'm Free 5:35/Under My Thumb 3:04/Live With Me 3:53/Little Queenie 4:12/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:57/Honky Tonk Women 4:00/Street Fighting Man 4:01

"C0caine On A Dentist Chair"

(VGP-068-1)

CD 1: Intro By Sam Cutler 1:15/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:45/Carol 3:46/Sympathy For The Devil 5:28/Stray Cat Blues 4:45/Prodigal Son 3:43/You Gotta Move 2:52/Love In Vain 5:16/I'm Free 6:06/Under My Thumb 3:17/Midnight Rambler 7:46/Live With Me 3:20/Little Queenie 4:12/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:48/Honky Tonk Women 3:55/Street Fighting Man 3:59

"Liver Than They'll Ever Be"

(305 020-1)

Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California, November 9, 1969 1st Show

Sound Quality: Very Good Audience

Sam Cutler Explains Being Late - Jumpin' Jack Flash 6:15/Prodigal Son 3:58/You Gotta Move 3:16/Carol 3:28/Sympathy For The Devil 6:49/Stray Cat Blues 4:13/Love In Vain 5:17/I'm Free 5:54/Under My Thumb 3:13/Midnight Rambler 8:07/Live With Me 3:58/Little Queenie 3:53/Satisfaction 6:51/Honky Tonk Women 4:14/Street Fighting Man 4:10

Comments: The amps blow during the Jumpin' Jack Flash opener. Taylor gets as close to the familiar riff as possible in standard tuning until his amp blows too. They switch to the acoustic set while the amps are being replaced. This show was first released about 10-12 years ago by OBR. It's the Trade Mark of Quality tape of the 1st show, so the sound quality is pretty good.

"Bring It Back Aliver"

Gold Standard

Sam Cutler - Jumpin' Jack Flash 5:49/Prodigal Son 4:16/You Gotta Move 3:13/Carol 4:03/Sympathy For The Devil 6:02/Stray Cat Blues 5:10/Love In Vain 5:12/I'm Free 3:58/Under My Thumb 3:37/Midnight Rambler 8:03/Live With Me 4:17/Little Queenie 4:11/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:32/Honky Tonk Women 5:08/Street Fighting Man 4:36

"Pot Boiler"

Sam Culter Introduction 1:31/Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:51/Prodigal Son 4:02/You Gotta Move 3:19/Carol 3:34/Sympathy For The Devil 6:56/Stray Cat Blues 4:18/Love In Vain 5:49/I'm Free 5:16/Under My Thumb 3:12/Midnight Rambler 8:22/Live With Me 4:01/Little Queenie 3:57/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:57/Honky Tonk Women 4:18/Street Figthing Man 4:04

"Secret Garden"

Jumpin' Jack Flash 6:24/Prodigal Son 4:02/You Gotta Move 3:19/Carol 3:32/Sympathy For The Devil 6:55/Stray Cat Blues 4:18/Love In Vain 5:19/I'm Free 4:35/Under My Thumb 3:12/Midnight Rambler 8:20/Live With Me 4:00/Little Queenie 3:56/Satisfaction 6:56/Street Fighting Man 4:15/Honky Tonk Woman 4:03

"Stone From The Bay"

(WBRCD 9014)

Wild Bird Records

Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California, November 9, 1969 2nd Show

Carol 3:45/Gimme Shelter 3:52/Sympathy For The Devil 6:16/I'm Free 5:22/Live With Me 3:03/Love In Vain 5:19/Midnight Rambler 8:04/Little Queenie 4:55/Honky Tonk Women 4:09/Street Fighting Man 4:04

Comments: Made from a fairly clean "Liver Than You'll Ever Be" LP.

"Have A Beer"

Teddy Bear Records

Comments: A repackaged copy of "Stone From The Bay" right down to the matrix number and running times.

"Vintage But Vigorous"

(WPOCM D052)

World Productions Of Compact Music

Carol 3:49/Gimme Shelter 3:51/Sympathy For The Devil 6:42/I'm Free 5:18/Live With Me 3:30/Love In Vain 5:20/Midnight Rambler 8:03/Little Queenie 5:01/Honky Tonk Women 4:01/Street Fighting Man 3:58

Comments: Made from a fairly clean "Liver Than You'll Ever Be" LP. Both this CD and "Stone From The Bay" have crackles in the same spot during the solo in I'm Free, so one of these may actually be a musical copy of the other.

"Live'r Than You'll Ever Be"

(TSP-CD-043)

The Swingin' Pig

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:15 (New York, November 28, 1969 2nd)/Carol 3:43/Sympathy For The Devil 6:15/Stray Cat Blues 4:19/Prodigal Son 3:54/You've Gotta Move 3:12/Love In Vain 5:24/I'm Free 5:14/Under My Thumb 3:24 (San Diego, November 10, 1969)/Midnight Rambler 7:43/Live With Me 3:29/Gimme Shelter 4:19/Little Queenie 4:23/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:04/Honky Tonk Woman 3:59/Street Fighting Man 4:04

Comments: First CD release of this show from the Trade Mark of Quality tape source. Signal level fluctuations in the original recording resulted in the two song substitutions from other show sources as indicated.

"Revolution Sixtinine"

Great Dane Records

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:13 (New York, November 28, 1969 2nd) /Carol 3:44/Sympathy for the Devil 6:16/Stray Cat Blues 4:19/Prodigal Son 3:51/You Gotta Move 3:14/Love in Vain 5:25/I'm Free 5:15/Under My Thumb 3:24 (San Diego, November 10, 1969) /Midnight Rambler 7:43/Live with Me 3:29/Gimme Shelter 4:19/Little Queenie 4:23/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:05/Honky Tonk Women 3:59/Street Fighting Man 4:05

Comments: Copy of The Swinging' Pig's "Live'r Than You'll Ever Be" .

"Liver Than You'll Ever Be"

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:09/Carol 3:43/Sympathy for the Devil 6:27/Stray Cat Blues 4:08/Prodigal Son 3:49/You Gotta Move 3:28/Love in Vain 5:24/I'm Free 5:16/Under my Thumb 3:23/Midnight Rambler 7:42/Live With Me 3:30/Gimme Shelter 4:17/Little Queenie 4:21/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:01/Honky Tonk Women 4:04/Street Fighting Man 4:04

Comments: Contains original Oakland '69 2nd show versions of Jumpin' Jack Flash with level problems and a spliced Under My Thumb. Note the newer edition of this CD has the "for members only" logo on the disc.

Master Of Sounds

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:05/Carol 3:43/Sympathy For The Devil 6:27/Stray Cat Blues 4:14/Prodigal Son 4:02/You Gotta Move 3:10/Love In Vain 5:24/I'm Free 5:07/Under My Thumb 2:44/Midnight Rambler 7:42/Live With Me 3:17/Gimme Shelter 4:24/Little Queenie 4:29/(I Can't Get No)Satisfaction 5:59/Honky Tonk Women 4:04/Street Fighting Man 4:03

Comments: All the original Oakland 2nd show songs but also the rawest in terms of the level problems. No attempts made here to smooth out the sound. Cardboard sleeve.

Turd On The Run Records

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:07/Carol 3:43/Sympathy For The Devil 6:26/Stray Cat Blues 4:14/Prodigal Son 4:00/You Gotta Move 3:12/Love In Vain 5:24/I'm Free 5:07/Under My Thumb 3:24/Midnight Rambler 7:43/Live With Me 3:17/Gimme Shelter 4:25/Little Queenie 4:22/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:00/Honky Tonk Women 4:04/Street Fighting Man 4:04

Comments: Interestingly enough this CD has the original Jumpin' Jack Flash without the level problems. The thing that is interesting is that it's the TMoQ tape. Audience talking near the taper's microphone is the same as the Trade Mark tape, so this is no new source, maybe just nicely compensated. Best sound of all CD's in my opinion.

"From San Francisco to Paris"

(VGP-276-1)

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:25/Carol 3:41/Sympathy For The Devil 6:23/Stray Cat Blues 4:15/Prodigal Son 3:52/You Gotta Move 3:14/Love In Vain 5:22/I'm Free 5:06/Under My Thumb 2:45/Midnight Rambler 7:41/Live With Me 3:30/Gimme Shelter 4:16/Little Queenie 4:20/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:58/Honky Tonk Women 4:02/Street Fighting Man 4:35

Comments: Contains original Oakland '69 2nd show versions of Jumpin' Jack Flash with sound drops and a partial version of Under My Thumb. Cover is a copy of the original Toasted (TMoQ) 2LP.

"The Rolling Stones Vol. 1"

Little Queenie 4:03/Gimme Shelter 3:55/Live With Me 3:05/Sympathy For The Devil 6:12/Carol 3:33

Comments: Five songs included on this compilation CD. Link: Click this Link for LP References of November 9, 1969 2nd Show

"Out Of Joint"

(RSBB-2004/5)

Black n' Blue

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 6:19/Prodigal Son 3:59/You Gotta Move 3:32/Carol 3:28/Sympathy For The Devil 6:48/Stray Cat Blues 4:17/Love In Vain 5:23/I'm Free 4:24/Under My Thumb 3:07/Midnight Rambler 8:27/Live With Me 3:52/Little Quenie 4:00/Satisfaction 6:54/Honky Tonk Woman 4:20/Street Fighting Man 4:02

CD 2: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:08/Carol 3:43/Sympathy For The Devil 6:17/Stray Cat Blues 4:21/Prodigal Son 3:55/You Gotta Move 3:09/Love In Vain 5:24/I'm Free 5:09/Under My Thumb 2:44/Midnight Rambler 7:43/Live With Me 3:33/Gimme Shelter 4:19/Little Queenie 4:19/Satisfaction 5:59/Honky Tonk Women 3:54/Street Fighting Man 3:58

Comments: Oakland 2nd show has the original Jumpin' Jack Flash and Under My Thumb with some sound drop-outs.

(TCDRS-1-1/2)

CD 1: Sam Cutler Introduction 1:36/Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:51/Prodigal Son 4:03/You Gotta Move 3:18/Carol 3:33/Sympathy For The Devil 6:55/Stray Cat Blues 4:18/Love In Vain 5:13/I'm Free 5:08/Under My Thumb 3:15/Midnight Rambler 8:17/Live With Me 4:00/Little Queenie 3:56/Satisfaction 6:56/Honky Tonk Women 4:17/Street Fighting Man 4:03

CD 2: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:04/Carol 3:44/Sympathy For The Devil 6:23/Stray Cat Blues 4:13/Prodigal Son 3:59/You Gotta Move 3:12/Love In Vain 5:24/I'm Free 5:07/Under My Thumb 3:23/Midnight Rambler 7:40/Live With Me 3:33/Gimme Shelter 4:18/Little Queenie 4:13/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:04/Honky Tonk Women 4:04/Street Fighting Man 4:10

Comments: Released in 2001 with 200 copies made. Oakland 2nd show has the same cleaned-up source for Jumpin' Jack Flash and Under My Thumb as the Turd On The Run Records release.

(SODD-013-R.S-SS)

Singer's Original

CD: Jumpin' Jack Flash 6:24/Prodigal Son 4:02/You Gotta Move 3:20/Carol 3:33/Sympathy For The Devil 6:56/Stray Cat Blues 4:18/Love In Vain 5:49/I'm Free 5:16/Under My Thumb 3:17/Midnight Rambler 8:16/Live With Me 4:03/Little Queenie 3:56/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:57/Honky Tonk Women 4:18/Street Fighting Man 4:04

CD-R: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:25/Carol 3:41/Sympathy For The Devil 6:23/Stray Cat Blues 4:13/Prodigal Son 3:58/You Gotta Move 3:11/Love In Vain 5:22/I'm Free 5:04/Under My Thumb 2:45/Midnight Rambler 7:41/Live With Me 3:30/Gimme Shelter 4:22/Little Queenie 4:16/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:01/Honky Tonk Women 3:57/Street Fighting Man 4:35

Comments: The Oakland '69 2nd show CD-R is a clone copy of VGP-276-1 "From San Francisco to Paris" .

"Hangout"

Sound Quality: Very Good Soundboard (Broadcast). The sound is compressed.

Gimme Shelter 3:37/Sympathy For The Devil 5:53/Stray Cat Blues 3:23/Love In Vain 4:48/Live With Me 2:52/Prodigal Son 3:22/You Gotta Move 2:24/Little Queenie 3:49/Satisfaction 5:07/Honky Tonk Women 3:03/You Can't Always Get What You Want 4:39

Comment: Probably the first CD release of the infamous Oakland '69 soundboard.

"Oakland '69"

Sound Quality: Excellent Soundboard (Broadcast). Upgraded sound compared to "Hangout" .

Sympathy For The Devil 5:58/Stray Cat Blues 3:25/Prodigal Son 3:29/You Gotta Move 2:29/Love In Vain 5:06/Live With Me 2:53/Gimme Shelter 3:46/Little Queenie 3:52/Satisfaction 5:10 Bonus Tracks: Little Queenie 3:11/Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On 3:34 (Keith Richards with Jerry Lee Lewis, US TV July 16, 1983)

Comment: This title incorporates the official 1969 Tour Program artwork into the cover design. Best sound of the Oakland 2nd soundboard sources.

"Oakland Sixty-Nine"

Sound Quality: Very Good Soundboard (Broadcast). Lotsa tape hiss.

CD Run-TIme (36:49): Sympathy For The Devil 6:15/Stray Cat Blues 3:29/Prodigal Son 3:27/You Gotta Move 2:42/Love In Vain 4:49/Live With Me 3:08/Gimme Shelter 3:44/Little Queenie 4:00/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:20

Comment: Cover artwork is from the classic vinyl release of the same material.

"Oakland Coliseum Arena 1969 FM-SB"

Sound Quality: Very Good Soundboard (Broadcast). Somewhat compressed and bassy.

Sympathy For The Devil 6:04/Stray Cat Blues 3:28/Prodigal Son 3:31/You Gotta Move 2:30/Love In Vain 4:57/Live With Me 2:55/Gimme Shelter 3:48/Little Queenie 3:54/Satisfaction 5:17/Brown Sugar (Hot Rocks Aternate Version) 3:51/Wild Horses (Hot Rocks Aternate Version) 5:45

Keith Richards Live 1969

"Stoneaged"

(RS 545-A/B)

Trade Mark Of Quality

Sports Arena, San Diego, California, November 10, 1969

Side 1: Sam Cutler Introduction/Carol/Sympathy For The DevilProdigal Son/You Gotta Move/Under My Thumb Side 2: Live With Me/Little Queenie/Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Woman/Street Fighting Man

"San Diego '69"

Sound Quality: Very Good to Excellent Audience

Carol 4:04/Sympathy For The Devil 6:32/Prodigal Son 4:00/You Gotta Move 2:45/Under My Thumb 3:09/Live With Me 3:06/Little Queenie 4:00/Satisfaction 6:03/Honky Tonk Woman 4:30/Street Fighting Man 4:02/Leather Jacket 3:21 ("Trident" instrumental outtake)

Comment: This is Rock 'n' Roll baby. By San Diego the "Engine Room" is starting to congeal. This show was taped by the same taper using the same equipment as Oakland, so the same sort of presence and frequency response in this recording. Even though this old CD was made from a very clean LP I like it the best. Raw and gritty. No digital signal processing rework to juice the sound.

"San Diego Sixty-Nine"

TMoQ (Vinyl Gang Product)

Sam Cutler Introduction - Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:13/Carol 3:48/Sympathy For The Devil 5:43/Stray Cat Blues 4:27/Prodigal Son 3:59/You Gotta Move 3:14/Love In Vain 5:28/I'm Free 5:44/Under My Thumb 2:57/Midnight Rambler 6:39/Live With Me 3:05/Little Queenie 4:08/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:06/Honky Tonk Women 4:30/Street Fighting Man 4:06

Comment: The reason why Jumpin' Jack Flash wasn't on any of the classic Trade Mark of Quality LP releases is because even though the Stones got better by the time they reached San Diego the taper (who shall remain nameless) didn't. He would set the recording levels on the first song thereby rendering it nearly useless. The trick here is to try and get the levels during the warm-up acts, just to get you in the "ball park", then a little careful tweaking when the Stones hit the main PA's. Also note that since this is made from the Trade Mark tape that the complete show is now in circulation.

(TSP CD 214)

Sam Cutler Introduction - Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:19/Carol 3:49/Sympathy For The Devil 5:43/Stray Cat Blues 4:27/Prodigal Son 4:12/You Gotta Move 2:50/Love In Vain 5:33/I'm Free 5:36/Under My Thumb 3:18/Midnight Rambler 7:17/Live With Me 3:05/Little Queenie 4:08/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:54/Honky Tonk Women 4:30/Street Fighting Man 4:06

Comment: Level problems on Jumpin' Jack Flash spliced and corrected.

"Nasty Habits, Water Rats, & A Woman's Touch"

Sister Morphine

Sam Cutler Introduction 0:42/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:32/Carol 3:48/Sympathy For The Devil 5:44/Stray Cat Blues 3:44/Prodigal Son 4:42/You Gotta Move 2:43/Love In Vain 5:51/I'm Free 5:20/Under My Thumb 3:20/Midnight Rambler 7:24/Live With Me 3:11/Little Queenie 4:11/(I Can't Get No) Satsifaction 5:26/Honky Tonk Women 4:38/Street Fighting Man 4:24

Comment: Sourced from The Swingin' Pig release.

(RS3-SAN DIEGO)

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:18/Carol 3:49/Sympathy For The Devil 5:43/Stray Cat Blues 4:27/Prodigal Son 4:12/You Gotta Move 2:50/Love In Vain 5:33/I'm Free 5:36/Under My Thumb 3:18/Midnight Rambler 7:17/Live With Me 3:05/Little Queenie 4:08/Satisfaction 5:54/Honky Tonk Women 4:30/Street Fighting Man 4:06/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:29 (from the London, Saville Theatre gig on December 14, 1969)

Comment: Same source as The Swingin' Pig. Digipak.

"It's No Hangin Matter"

(VGP-096-1)

CD 1: Jumping Jack Flash 4:14/Carol 3:45/Sympathy For The Devil 5:40/Stray Cat Blues 4:24/Prodigal Son 3:58/You Gotta Move 3:11/Love In Vain 5:27/I'm Free 5:41/Under My Thumb 2:57/Midnight Rambler 6:36/Live With Me 3:03/Little Queenie 4:06/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:02/Honky Tonk Women 4:28/Street Fighting Man 4:04

"Second Incarnation"

(VGP-369-1)

Sound Quality: Fair to Good Audience

Introduction: Sam Cutler 3:41/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:34/Carol 3:48/Sympathy For The Devil 5:44/Stray Cat Blues 4:28/Prodigal Son 3:57/You Gotta Move 3:17/Love In Vain 5:30/I'm Free 5:46/Under My Thumb 3:04/Midnight Rambler 7:20/Live With Me 3:09/Little Queenie 4:05/Satisfaction 6:06/Honky Tonk Women 4:31/Street Fighting Man 4:10

Comment: This was made from a different and inferior tape source than the Trade Mark Of Quality release and all other derivatives. It sucks, avoid it like the plague.

Rare "blue omega/Leo" shot of Jagger 1969 Belt on the stage means this was taken during Midnight Rambler...

"Gathering Madness - Phoenix '69"

Phoenix Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona, November 11, 1969

Sound Quality: Good to Very Good Audience

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:20/Carol 3:37/Sympathy For The Devil 5:51/Stray Cat Blues 4:01/Prodigal Son 3:41/You Gotta Move 2:29/Love In Vain 5:40/Under My Thumb 3:08/Midnight Rambler 8:02/Live With Me 3:53/Gimme Shelter 4:07/Little Queenie 2:35/Brown Sugar (Altamont 1969) 3:44

Comment: The recording level is pretty saturated, so some distortion overall on the louder numbers. Batteries are loosing their charge by Little Queenie, so the show is also incomplete for this reason.

Mick Jagger Live in '69

"Sky Pilots"

Comment: CD 1 is a reissue of "Gathering Madness"

(VGP-068-2)

(see artwork in LA, November 8th section)

Assembly Hall, University Of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, November 15, 1969 1st Show

CD 2: Sam Cutler & Mick Jagger Introduction 0:56/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:49/Carol 3:43/Sympathy For The Devil 5:46/Stray Cat Blues 4:09/Love In Vain 6:01/Prodigal Son 3:39/You Gotta Move 2:27/Under My Thumb 1:28/Midnight Rambler 8:53/Little Queenie 4:24/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:26/Honky Tonk Women 4:31/Street Fighting Man 3:52

Comment: Jagger is having way too much fun being in the heartland of America. Sound problems at the beginning of Jumpin' Jack Flash are from the digital age. VGP jacking with the noise reduction and EQ on the recorded tape. Really lazy to use this.

"Vintage Champaign"

(TTCD-7682 DAC-081-1/TTCD-7683 DAC-081-2)

Dog n Cat Records

Assembly Hall, University of Illinois, Champaign, November 15, 1969 1st Show

CD 1: Sam Cutler & Mick Jagger Introduction 0:55/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:46/Carol 3:41/Sympathy For The Devil 5:42/Stray Cat Blues 4:07/Love In Vain 5:59/Prodigal Son 3:37/You Gotta Move 2:25/Under My Thumb 1:18 (Tape Change) /Midnight Rambler 9:00/Little Queenie 4:23/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:25/Honky Tonk Women 4:33/Street Fighting Man 3:48

Palaido Palazzo Dello Sport, Milan, Italy, October 1, 1970 2nd Show

Sound Quality: Good To Very Good Audience

CD 2: Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:45/Roll Over Beethoven 2:32/Stray Cat Blues 4:11/Prodigal Son 1:31/Dead Flowers 4:04/Midnight Rambler 10:10

Assembly Hall, University of Illinois, Champaign, November 15, 1969 2nd Show (Partial)

Midnight Rambler 8:28 (In Progress)/Little Queenie 4:19/Satisfaction 6:13/Honky Tonk Women 4:15/Street Fighting Man 4:00

Comment: CD 1 also issued as "C0cain On A Dentist Chair" on VGP-068. Sound problems with Jumpin' Jack Flash corrected on this release. First six tracks CD 2 are from the audio track of a 1970 Super 8 video.

"We Didn't Really Get It On Until Detroit"

(Side 1/-4/-2/-3)

Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, November 24, 1969

Side 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash/Carol/Sympathy For The Devil Stray Cat Blues/Love In Vain/Prodigal Son/You Gotta Move/Under My Thumb Side 3: Midnight Rambler/Live With Me/Little Queenie Side 4: Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Women/Street Fighting Man

Comment: This LP is rare.

"Live From Detroit"

(3-1/2/3/4)

Bash Records

Comment: Copy of 2LP "We Didn't Really Get It On Until Detroit" .

"R.S."

(S-1/S2/S4A/S4-B)

"We Never Really Got It On Till Detroit"

Contra Band Music

Side 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash/Carol/Sympathy For The Devil/Stray Cat Blues/Love In Vain/Prodigal Son/You Gotta Move/Under My Thumb Side 2: Little Queenie / Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Women/Street Fighting Man

Comment: This is a single LP release, so it's a partial show. Midnight Rambler and Live With Me are missing.

"Mick Taylor We Thank You"

Tongue-In-Cheek

Side 2: Sympathy For The Devil/Stray Cat Blues/Little Queenie

Comment: Three sound board tracks from Detroit included on Side 2.

The Space Monkey Records

Comment: Repackage of the above title and LP.

"Live From Detroit 1969"

Minotauro Records

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:16/Carol 3:56/Sympathy For The Devil 7:07/Stray Cat Blues 3:46/Love In Vain 5:27/Prodigal Son 3:41/You Got To Move 2:23/Under My Thumb 3:31/Midnight Rambler 10:17/Live With Me 3:09/Little Queenie 4:06/Satisfaction 6:28/Honky Tonk Woman 4:08/Street Fighting Man 3:54

"Hawaiian Top"

Weeping Goat

CD 2: Sympathy For The Devil 7:12/Stray Cat Blues 3:46/Little Queenie 4:08

Comment: Three sound board tracks from Detroit included on CD 2.

(VGP-369-2)

(see artwork in San Diego, November 10th section)

Spectrum Sports Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1969

Sound Quality: Fair Audience. Distant.

Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:53/Carol 4:03/Sympathy For The Devil 7:55/Stray Cat Blues 3:39/Love In Vain 4:54/Prodigal Son 3:19/Under My Thumb 4:02/Midnight Rambler 7:48/Live With Me 3:05/Little Queenie 4:03/Satisfaction 7:18/Honky Tonk Women 3:52/Street Fighting Man 3:41

"Devil's Disciple"

Raring Records

Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland, November 26, 1969

Side 1: Carol/Sympathy For The Devil/Love In Vain/Under My Thumb-I'm Free Side 2: Stray Cat Blues/Midnight Rambler/Live With Me/Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Women

"Baltimore 1969"

Digger Productions

Performance: Excellent

Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:51/Carol 3:49/Sympathy For The Devil 10:52/Stray Cat Blues 4:03/Love In Vain 5:40/You Gotta Move 1:58/Under My Thumb-I'm Free 6:49/Midnight Rambler 8:53/Live With Me 3:54/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:01/Honky Tonk Women 3:14

Comment: Probably the first release of this show on CD. Note that it is a partial recording of the show. Interestingly enough, Jagger does a "Hey Jude" verse at the outro of Sympathy For The Devil!

"A Shot of Salvation"

(OM90-64-17)

Scorpio Records

Sound Quality: Excellent Soundboard

Love In Vain 5:10

"Live In Washington 1969 & More"

Moonlight Records

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:34/Carol 3:37/Sympathy For The Devil 10:38/Stray Cat Blues 3:56/Love In Vain 4:54/Jumping Jack Flash 4:31/Satisfaction 5:32/Love In Vain 4:07/Honky Tonk Women 4:17/Sympathy For The Devil 10:55/Under My Thumb 4:27/Gimme Shelter (Gimme Shelter Movie Mix) 2:05

Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:56/Carol 3:39/Sympathy For The Devil 10:40/Stray Cat Blues 4:00/Love In Vain 5:27/You Gotta Move 2:00/Under My Thumb-I'm Free 7:05/Midnight Rambler 8:20/Live With Me 3:32/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:51/Honky Tonk Women 3:10/Little Queenie 4:09

"Stoned-M.S.G."

(102 - A/B)

Head Records

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, November 27, 1969

Side 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash/Carol/Sympathy for the Devil/Under My Thumb-I'mFree (medley)

Side 2: Midnight Rambler/Love In Vain/Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Women

Comment; "Stoned-M.S.G." provided the earliest look at the level of overdubbing that took place on "Ya-Ya's". There are at least two variations of the disc; one with a plain white jacket, and the other with a dark (TMoQ) green jacket.

"Play With Fire"

Trade Mark of Quality

Side 2: Under My Thumb-I'm Free(medley)/Satisfaction/Honky Tonk Women

Comment: The TMoQ matrix is scratched out and replaced with (HHCER108-A/B). This matrix is indicative of the TMoQ front label Highway Hi-Fi.

"Who Killed Brian"

(HHCER108-A/B)

Dreamlab Records

Comment: A reissue of "Play With Fire" using a reworked "Reggae 'n' Roll" cover as its artwork. 100 numbered copies were made.

"Stoned-M.S.G. 1969"

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:28/Carol 3:33/Sympathy for the Devil 7:52/Stray Cat Blues 4:04/Love In Vain 5:02/Prodical Son 2:48/You Gotta Move 2:27/Under My Thumb-I'm Free 6:40/Midnight Rambler 9:29/Live With Me 3:05/Little Queenie 4:12/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:03/Honky Tonk Women 3:14/Street Fighting Man 4:36

"M.S.G. 69"

(HLRR 5010)

Hot Lips Records

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:07/Carol 4:02/Sympathy For The Devil 7:57/Stray Cat Blues 3:57/Love In Vain 5:29/Prodigal Son 3:10/You Gotta Move 2:43/Under My Thumb 4:02/I'm Free 2:46/Midnight Rambler 9:30/Live With Me 3:32/Little Queenie 4:27/Satisfaction 5:40/Honky Tonk Women 3:58/Street Fighting Man 7:27

(VGP-096-02)

CD 2: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:26/Carol 3:32/Sympathy For The Devil 7:50/Stray Cat Blues 4:03/Love In Vain 5:09/Prodigal Son 3:02/You Gotta Move 2:13/Under My Thumb - I'm Free 6:39/Midnight Rambler 9:30/Live With Me 3:10/Little Queenie 4:07/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:03/Honky Tonk Women 3:20/Street Fighting Man 4:28

"New York City - The Big Apple - 1969"

Concert Introduction_ 0:44/Jumping Jack Flash 3:42/Carol 3:31/Sympathy For The Devil 7:44/Stray Cat Blues 3:38/Love In Vain 5:17/Prodigal Son 3:20/You Gotta Move 2:22/Under My Thumb 3:36-I'm Free 3:05 (Medley)/Midnight Rambler 8:52/Live With Me 3:43/Little Queenie 4:12/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:40/Honky Tonk Women 3:32/Street Fighting Man 4:35

"Madison Square Garden New York- November 27, 1969"

Penetration Records

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:30/Carol 3:30/Sympathy For The Devil 7:51/Stray Cat Blues 3:56/Love In Vain 4:43/Prodigal Son/You Gotta Move 5:41/Under My Thumb 3:44/I'm Free 3:26/Midnight Rambler 8:42/Live With Me 3:09/Little Queenie 4:06/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:02/Honky Tonk Women 3:20/Street Fighting Man 4:01

"Live In New York"

Idol Mind Productions

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:21/Carol 3:26/Sympathy For The Devil 7:41/Stray Cat Blues 3:57/Love In Vain 4:34/Prodigal Son 3:17/You Gotta Move 2:19/Under My Thumb-I'm Free 6:31/Midnight Rambler 8:39/Live With Me 3:43/Little Queenie 4:07/Satisfaction 5:55/Honky Tonk Women 3:10/Street Fighting Man 4:29

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, November 28, 1969 2nd Show

CD 2: Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:31/Carol 3:26/Sympathy For The Devil 7:45/Stray Cat Blues 3:19/Love In Vain 5:21/Prodigal Son 3:27/You Gotta Move 2:18/Under My Thumb 3:37/Midnight Rambler 9:00/Live With Me 2:52/Little Quennie 4:01/Satisfaction 6:13/Honky Tonk Women 2:56/Street Fighting Man 3:34

Link: Check this web site for complete analysis of the New York "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" & "Gimme Shelter" shows

"That's No Way To Get Along"

Morganfield

Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, November 29, 1969

Jumping Jack Flash 4:01/Carol 3:26/Sympathy For The Devil 7:30/Stray Cat Blues 3:36/Love In Vain 5:12/Prodigal Son 3:29/You Gotta Move 2:05/Under My Thumb 4:02/Midnight Rambler 9:03/Live With Me 4:01/Little Queenie 4:00/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:51/Honky Tonk Women 3:29/Street Fighting Man 3:32

"Some Satanic Tour"

(DAC-015-1/2)

Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland, November 26, 1969

CD 1: Sam Cutler Intro - (Audience marker: Girl - "Can you see his t-shirt?; Guy - ...his uncle sam hat") Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:32/Carol 3:34/Sympathy For The Devil 10:34/Stray Cat Blues 3:58/Love In Vain 5:26/You Gotta Move 1:56/Under My Thumb-I'm Free 6:52/Midnight Rambler 8:43/Live With Me 3:32/Satisfaction 5:51/Honky Tonk Women 3:23/Street Fighting Man 4:16 (Audience marker: The girl speaking at the end of the tape is the same voice as the beginning, so no splice on SFM. It's the missing song!)

The Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, November 29, 1969, 2nd show

Sound Quality: Good Audience. You can even hear piano in spots, but the drums are nearly lost in an otherwise balanced audience mix.

CD 2: Sam Cutler Intro-Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:19/Carol 3:33/Sympathy For The Devil 7:54/Stray Cat Blues 3:49/Love In Vain 5:38/Prodigal Son 3:39/You Gotta Move 2:09 (missing opening chords, must be a tape change)/Under My Thumb 3:49/Midnight Rambler 10:26/Live With Me 3:42/Little Queenie 4:16/Satisfaction 6:16/Honky Tonk Women 3:32/Street Fighting Man 3:42

Comments: The cover shot is taken from an early 70's poster. This release uses different tape sources than both "Baltimore 1969" and VGP's "Devil's Disciple" which have tape stops at the end of show (the taper is clearly running out of tape as Street Fighting Man is also missing). This release is from the same (better) tape source as "Live In Washington 1969 & More" except that it includes the last song Street Fighting Man. In addition to the audience "marker" noted above, I checked SFM against the New York audience sources just to be sure, and they are different. This is really the missing SFM. See "Well You Heard About The Boston...Live 1969" on the Exile label for comments on the Boston '69 recording.

"Well You Heard About The Boston...Live 1969"

(EXCD - 038)

Exile Original Masters

(No Sam Cutler Intro) Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:11/Carol 3:28/Sympathy For The Devil 7:42/Stray Cat Blues 3:44/Love In Vain 5:35/Prodigal Son 3:28/You Gotta Move 2:07 (missing opening chords, must be a tape change)/Under My Thumb 3:41/Midnight Rambler 10:11/Live With Me 3:36/Little Queenie 4:09/Satisfaction 6:07/Honky Tonk Women 3:27/Street Fighting Man 3:36

Comment: This is a the same tape source as the release "That's No Way To Get Along" on the Morgonfield label (MG-004) and also by Dog n Cat Records on the release "Some Satanic Tour" (DAC-015). It has been sonically enhanced in a rather remarkable way with a limited amount of added hiss.

"Have You Heard About The Boston..."

(TOURING HI)

Bad Wizard (Touring History Vol. 7)

Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, November 29, 1969, 2nd Show

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:12/Carol 3:27/Sympathy For The Devil 7:42/Stray Cat Blues 3:44/Love In Vain 5:35/Prodigal Son 3:28/You Gotta Move 2:09/Under My Thumb 4:37/Midnight Rambler 9:13/Live With Me 3:37/Little Queenie 4:10/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:07/Honky Tonk Women 3:27/Street Fighting Man 3:36

Comment: Also released from the same (Bit-Torrent) source as "Well You Heard About The Boston...Live 1969" on Exile Records, and "Some Satanic Tour" DAC-15. This show originaly released as "That's No Way To Get Along" on Morganfield MG-004 on an inferior source (Fair to Good Audience).

"Palm Beach 1969"

International Raceway, West Palm Beach, Florida, November 30, 1969

Sound Quality: Fair to Very Good Audience. Tape speed problems.

Sam Cutler Diatribe 1:53/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:42/Carol 3:55/Sympathy For The Devil 7:58/Stray Cat Blues 4:37/Love In Vain 5:13/Under My Thumb 3:33/Midnight Rambler 10:28/Gimme Shelter 5:09/Live With Me 3:27/Little Queenie 4:44/Satisfaction 6:18/Honky Tonk Women 3:19/Street Fighting Man 3:37

Comment: It was billed as "Woodstock South". The Stones arrived late in the night due to airport delays. It was freezing cold. Note that the acoustic set was omitted from this festival performance.

"One Day Before From Altermont!!"

Shaved Disc

Sam Cutler Diatribe 1:20/Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:13/Carol 3:55/Sympathy For The Devil 7:46/Stray Cat Blues 4:32/Love In Vain 5:08/Under My Thumb 4:52/Midnight Rambler 9:01/Gimme Shelter 4:58/Live With Me 3:21/Little Queenie 4:37/Satisfaction 6:17/Honky Tonk Women 3:22/Street Fighting Man 3:43

"Miami Pop Festival"

Sam Cultler Introduction 1:51/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:51/Carol 4:04/Sympathy For The Devil 8:16/Stray Cat Blues 4:47/Love In Vain 5:29/Under My Thumb 5:01/Midnight Rambler 9:27/Gimme Shelter 5:19/Live With Me 3:35/Little Queenie 4:55/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:33/Honky Tonk Women 3:39/Street Fighting Man 3:31

Comment: Newer "For Members Only Not For Sale" edition is on a gold CD.

"Altamont"

Altamont Motor Speedway, Livermore, California, December 6, 1969

Side 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash/Carol/Sympathy For The Devil I/Sympathy For The Devil II/The Sun Is Shining Side 2: Stray Cat Blues/Love In Vain/Under My Thumb I/Under My Thumb II/Brown Sugar

"Altamont '69"

Side 1: Carol/Sympathy For The Devil I/Sympathy For The Devil II/Stray Cat Blues/Love In Vain Side 2: Under My Thumb I/Under My Thumb II/Midnight Rambler/Live With Me/Gimme Shelter/Little Queenie

Comment: LP on red splash vinyl.

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:58/Carol 3:43/Sympathy For The Devil 12:33/The Sun Is Shining 4:23/Stray Cat Blues 3:40/Love In Vain 5:28/Under My Thumb I & II 7:43/Brown Sugar 3:17

CD 2: Midnight Rambler 10:35/Live With Me 3:19/Gimme Shelter 4:39/Little Queenie 4:29/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 7:14/Honky Tonk Women/Street Fighting Man 3:54/Gimme Shelter (Studio Outtake) 4:23

Comment: This was released in the early 90's as a small and large 12" box set. It was the first time the complete concert had been released and was really pretty amazing to have at the time.

"Altamont Speed Way"

Carol 4:28/Sympathy For The Devil 12:40/The Sun Is Shining 4:26/Stray Cat Blues 3:42/Love In Vain 5:30/Under My Thumb 6:46/Midnight Rambler 10:35/Live With Me 3:20/Gimmie Shelter 4:45/Little Queenie 4:15

Comment: Single CD, so a partial show.

"(The Killer Festival) Altamont 1969"

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:10/Carol 3:49/Sympathy For The Devil I 2:53/Sympathy For The Devil II 10:44/The Sun Is Shining 3:54/Stray Cat Blues 3:48/Love In Vain 5:42/Under My Thumb I 3:17/Under My Thumb II 3:41

CD 2: Brown Sugar 4:31/Midnight Rambler 9:12/Live With Me 3:23/Gimme Shelter 4:45/Little Queenie 4:16/Satisfaction 7:26/Honky Tonk Women 3:59/Street Fighting Man 4:13

Altamont Speedway, Livermore, California, December 6, 1969

Sound Quality: Very Good Audience & Fair to Good Broadcast

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:08/Carol 3:48/Sympathy For The Devil 12:57/The Sun Is Shining 4:31/Stray Cat Blues 3:47/Love In Vain 5:40/Under My Thumb 7:58/Brown Sugar 3:22/Midnight Rambler 3:48/Live With Me 3:56/Gimme Shelter 5:40/Little Quennie 4:12/Satisfaction 6:33/Honky Tonk Women 2:53/Street Fighting Man 3:31

Comments: The first part of this recording uses the familiar audience source, but cuts-in at the mid-point of Midnight Rambler with a previously unknown French broadcast of the show. It's the strangest thing! Complete with French speaking announcer talking over the music just like the mid-60's live French broadcasts. The cover is from a rare Japanese LP that was issued on red vinyl (M3/A/B) which is the audience source that ends on side 2 with Brown Sugar.

"The Sun So Dark And The Hour So Late"

Palladium Records

Altamont Motor Speedway, Livermore, CA, December 6, 1969

Sound Quality: Very Good Audience.

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:08/Carol 3:48/The Sun Is Shining 3:53/Stray Cat Blues 3:46/Love In Vain 5:39/Under My Thumb 1 3:15/Brown Sugar 3:24/Midnight Rambler Introduction 1:31/Midnight Rambler 9:14/Live With Me 3:24/Little Quennie 4:18/Satisfaction 7:26/Honky Tonk Women 3:59 (There was a sound problem at 2:00 during this song, power or mixing board screw up)

Comment: Same old tape source. The following songs were omitted in order to make this a single CD release: Sympathy For The Devil 1 & 2, Under My Thumb 2 (restarted), Gimme Shelter, & Street Fighting Man.

"Altamont Speedway Free Festival"

(TCD-001-1 DISC 1/TCD-001-2 DISC 2)

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:10/Carol 3:49/Sympathy For The Devil #1 2:58/Sympathy For The Devil #2 10:28/The Sun Is Shining 4:06/Stray Cat Blues 3:46/Love In Vain 5:42/Under My Thumb #1 3:16/Under My Thumb #2 4:42/Brown Sugar 3:27

CD 2: Midnight Rambler 10:56/Live With Me 3:27/Gimme Shelter 4:51/Little Queenie 4:22/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 7:32/Honky Tonk Women 4:03/Street Fighting Man 4:17

Comment: Same old tape source. Entire audience show .

"Altamont Free Concert 1969"

(IMP-N-030-1, 2, 3 + DVD-R)

CD 1: Sound Check - Moog Synth 1:14/Opening Announcement - Sam Cutler "Greatest Party of 1969" 1:12/Savor 3:34/Jingo 3:41/Evil Ways (Partial) 0:51(Santana)/Sam Cutler - Annoucement 0:25/The Other Side Of This Life 5:38/3/5th Of A Mile 5:43/Fat Angel 3:48/White Rabbit 2:16/Free Bird (Partial) 1:27/Ballad Of You, Me, & Pooneil 10:22 (Jefferson Airplane)/Introduction - Six Days On The Road 2:54/High Fashion Queen 1:47/Cody Cody 2:53/Lazy Day 3:39 (The Flying Burrito Brothers)/Black Queen 4:58/Pre-Road Downs 2:40/Long Time Gone 4:51/Down By The River (Partial) 2:09 (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young)/Pre-Announcement for The Rolling Stones 0:22

CD 2: Sam Cutler - Introduction* 1:30/Jumpin' Jack Flash* 4:18/Carol 3:51/Sympathy For The Devil 13:01/The Sun Is Shining 4:39/Stray Cat Blues* 3:54/Love In Vain 5:41/Under My Thumb 8:42/Brown Sugar 3:26/Midnight Rambler 10:53/Live With Me 3:24/Gimme Shelter (Soundboard from "A Shot Of Salvation") 4:30 *Spliced from previously uncirculated soundboard source.

CD 3: Little Queenie 4:35/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 7:26/Honky Tonk Women 4:00/Street Fighting Man 4:15 Bonus Tracks: MC by The Taper on Radio 0:35/Introduction 1:38/Jumping Jack Flash 4:18/Carol 3:48/MC by The Taper on Radio 0:21/Sympathy For The Devil 10:19/Evil Ways 2:23/Jumpin' Jack Flash 0:20/Carol 1:52/Mick Jagger Live MC 1:14/Sympathy For The Devil 0:27

"Altamont Was The Nightmare" - Silent 8mm film segment with sound overdubbing. CSNY & Stones footage.

" Altamont Weekend" - "Newswatch" report KRON-TV, San Francisco, December 8, 1969 telecast.

Introduction/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Carol/Let's Get Together/Report & Interviews/Evil Ways/Carol/Jagger/Sympathy For The Devil/Report & Interviews/Outro/Let's Get Together

Comment: A different audience source than previous releases in similar sound quality.

Link: The Legend of Altamont 1969

"Broadway"

(SMR-101-A/B)

Codger Records - Old 153

Side A: No introductions/Jumpin' Jack Flash (Contains the lost Richards solo overdubs)/ Carol/ Stray Cat Blues/ Love In Vain/ Midnight Rambler (Part 1: Fades at 7:26)

Side B: Midnight Rambler (Part 2)/ Sympathy for the Devil (Verses #2 & #3 edited out. Add lost verse #4)/ Live With Me/ Little Queenie/ Honky Tonk Women/ Street Fighting Man (Fades early at 3:01)

Comment: The very rare "Broadway" LP is the first glimpse given to fans of the alternate mixes, in-between Jagger chatter, and missing verses contained on the released version of "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!". The disc was made by the same people who put out the rare "Happy Birthday, Mick!! " on "Wizardo" as evidenced by the same fonts and artwork being used for both covers. This recording is from a different acetate than those used on both CD versions. There are differences in the edits made on the in-between words. Information on the songs is the same. Also note that this recording is in mono where CD versions are in stereo.

"GET YOUR YA-YAS OUT"

( RS 1 Sapromo )

The alternate cover shot of "Charlie and the Donkey" that was also used on the rare CD "Live in New York 1969" is used on the cover inlay for this title. Probably a still shot taken from the opening sequence of the "Gimme Shelter" movie.

Intro 0:55/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:17/Carol 3:41/Stray Cat Blues 3:49/Love In Vain 5:50/Midnight Rambler 8:38/Live With Me 3:07/Little Queenie 4:52/Honky Tonk Women 3:21/Sympathy For The Devil 6:06/Street Fighting Man 4:04 Bonus Tracks: From the "Original Reels" Intro 0:27/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:33/Carol 3:45/Stray Cat Blues 3:47/Love In Vain 5:10/Midnight Rambler 8:43

I was very skeptical about the bonus tracks from the original reels claim especially since "Reels" is mis-spelled as "Reers" on the CD inlay. I did an A-B sound comparison using an original Decca LP as a reference. The sound on these CD tracks is incredibly clear and distinct. The best quality sound source for "side one" of "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" in existence.

Comment: First CD release of the Glyn Johns Apple acetate version of "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" . The running order of with Live With Me starting at the equivalent of "Side 2" differs from "Ya-Ya's". This is possibly an experiment in the running order of the side. Ultimately, a strong opener is needed for the "side" of any LP, and this may have been the reason why Sympathy for the Devil ended-up leading off side 2 of "Ya-Ya's".

"F_ck Yer Ya Ya's Out!"

Paint It Black Girl - Sam Cutler Introduction "Collage"- Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:12/Carol 3:40/Stray Cat Blues 3:48/Love In Vain 4:55/Midnight Rambler 9:40/Sympathy For The Devil 5:52/Live With Me 3:03/Little Queenie 4:43/Honky Tonk Women 3:17/Street Fighting Man 4:04 Bonus Track from "Gimme Shelter" movie soundtrack: Jumping Jack Flash 5:14/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:49/Honky Tonk Women 3:47

"In The Park 1969"

(Bonus CD-R)

Glyn Johns Apple acetate version of "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!"

Paint It Black Girl - Sam Cutler Introduction "Collage"- Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:10/Carol 3:39/Stray Cat Blues 3:48/Love In Vain 4:56/Midnight Rambler 9:40/Sympathy For The Devil 5:52/Live With Me 3:06/Little Queenie 4:39/Honky Tonk Women 3:25/Street Fighting Man 4:01

"Get Yer Alternate Ya-Ya's Out 1969"

(IMP-N-020)

MSG, New York November 27 & 28, 1969 1st-2nd shows and Baltimore, November 26, 1969.

Opening 0:59/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:18/Carol 3:41/Stray Cat Blues 3:50/Love In Vain 4:58/Midnight Rambler 9:45/Sympathy For The Devil 5:57/Live With Me 3:09/Little Queenie 4:43/Honky Tonk Women 3:25/Street Fighting Man 4:07

Channels Reversed - Acetate versions as above.

Stray Cat Blues 3:53/Love In Vain 5:06/Sympathy For The Devil 5:58

Comment: This all comes down to whether this a cleaner acetate than the one that has already been released since the musical takes and mixes are all the same as previously released versions. And the answer is: Yes, overall this is a cleaner disc although not perfect. You're gonna hear a little surface noise and crackles in places, but hey, as acetates go this is cleaner than the previous disc. And as far as the Glyn Johns mix goes you get more guitar and more Keith back-up vocals. Previously released as "Get Your Ya-Yas Out" (RS 1 Sapromo) and "F**k Your Ya Ya's Out!" VGP-160 released with two editions and cover versions, but both of these titles are from a different acetate than this one used for this release.

(TCI-1264 DAC-91-1/TCI-1265 DAC-92-2/TCI-1266 DAC-92-3)

CD 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:28/Carol 3:34/Sympathy For The Devil 7:50/Stray Cat Blues 4:04/Love In Vain 5:08/Prodigal Son 3:06/You Gotta Move 2:11/Under My Thumb - I'm Free 6:38/Midnight Rambler 9:27/Live With Me 3:10/Little Queenie 4:07/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 6:03/Honky Tonk Women 3:20/Street Fighting Man 4:29

CD 2: Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:38/Carol 3:34/Sympathy For The Devil 8:05/Stray Cat Blues 3:26/Love In Vain 5:35/Prodigal Son 3:34/You Gotta Move 2:27/Under My Thumb 3:48/Midnight Rambler 9:22/Live With Me 2:59/Little Quennie 4:12/Satisfaction 6:29/Honky Tonk Women 3:04/Street Fighting Man 3:42

Ya-Ya's "Upgraded" Acetate

Sound Quality: Very Good to Excellent Soundboard

CD 3: Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:16/Carol 3:40/Stray Cat Blues 3:49/Love In Vain 4:54/Midnight Rambler 9:34/Sympathy For The Devil 6:07/Live With Me 3:08/Little Queenie 4:40/Honky Tonk Women 3:23/Street Fighting Man 3:57

Comment: These shows and acetate upgrade previously released as "Live In New York 1969" Idol Mind & "Get Yer Alternate Yer Ya-Ya's Out 1969" (New) Idol Mind, but in case you missed them here they are again.

"Gimme Shelter"

(RS 550-A/B/C/D)

Comment: " Gimme Shelter" Movie soundtrack. Deluxe printed cover version.

"Some Satanic Tour '69"

(RSSST 1969-A/B)

"Gimme Shelter" Movie soundtrack excerpts

Side 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/You Gotta Move/Wild Horses/Brown Sugar/Love In Vain/Honky Tonk Women Side 2: Street Fighting Man/Sympathy For The Devil I/Sympathy For The Devil II/Under My Thumb/Street Fighting Man (Reprise)/Gimme Shelter

Comment: LP is on clear vinyl.

"The Breakfast Show"

(SBBS-GS-1/2/3/4)

Stereo Master

"Gimme Shelter" Movie soundtrack

Side 1: Jumpin' Jack Flash/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/You Gotta Move/Wild Horses Side 2: Brown Sugar/Love In Vain/I've Been Loving You Too Long/Honky Tonk Women Side 3: Six Days On The Road ( The Flying Burrito Brothers) /The Other Side Of This Life ( Jefferson Airplane) Side 4: Sympathy For The Devil I & II/Under My Thumb/ Street Fighting Man (Reprise)/Gimme Shelter

"There's No Angel Born In Hell..."

(TSP-CD-028)

Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:34/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:42/Love In Vain 4:08/Honky Tonk Woman 4:19 Altamont, December 6, 1969: Sympathy For The Devil I 2:21/Sympathy For The Devil II 8:27/Under My Thumb 4:35/Gimme Shelter 2:06

Comment: One of the first CD releases of the "Gimme Shelter" movie soundtrack.

"Sympathy for the Devil"

Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:31/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:26/Love In Vain 4:07/Honky Tonk Woman 3:16/Sympathy For The Devil 6:11/Under My Thumb 3:46/Gimme Shelter 2:08

Philadelphia, Ft. Worth, & Houston 1972 sources

You Can't Always Get What You Want 7:57/Midnight Rambler 10:12/Sweet Virgina 4:04/Brown Sugar 3:33/Bitch 4:29

"Rock and Roll Circus"

(LLR CD 036 01)

Living Legend

Rock 'n' Roll Circus December, 1968

Introduction To Rock 'n' Roll Circus 0:50/Dirty Mac Jam (Richards, Clapton, Lennon) 3:45/Yer Blues 4:02

Madison Square Garden, New York, 1969

Jumping Jack Flash 4:57/Satisfaction 5:25/Love In Vain 4:31/Honky Tonk Women 3:05/Street Fighting Man 4:28

Sympathy For The Devil 9:24/Under My Thumb 3:42/Gimme Shelter 2:06

Comment: Sources are the Rock 'n' Roll Circus TV Special and "Gimme Shelter" Movie soundtrack.

"Gimme Shelter The Movie"

Save The Earth

Jumping Jack Flash 4:50/I Can't Get No Satisfaction 5:32/Love In Vain 4:06/Honky Tonk Women 3:58/Sympathy For The Devil 10:42/Under My Thumb 3:43/Gimme Shelter 2:05/I've Been Loving You Too Long 3:21/Six Days On The Road 2:34/The Other Side Of Life 4:14/Street Fighting Man 3:41

Comment: Made from LP, probably "The Breakfast Show" .

Sam Cutler Introduction 0:54/Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:59/Satisfaction 5:31/Honky Tonk Women 3:24/Carol (MSG 69-GS DVD) 3:29/Little Queenie (Vocal Overdub-GS DVD) 0:22/Little Queenie (MSG 69-GS DVD) 4:09/Prodigal Son (MSG 69-GS DVD) 2:43/I've Been Loving You Too Long (Ike & Tina Turner) 2:58/You Gotta Move (Muscle Shoals 12/69) 0:47/Wild Horses (Muscle Shoals 12/69) 2:47/Brown Sugar (Muscle Shoals 12/69) 1:22/Love In Vain 4:04/Street Fighting Man (Movie Edit) 3:20/Six Days On The Road (The Flying Burrito Brothers) 2:34/The Other Side Of Life (The Jefferson Airplane) 4:14/Sympathy For The Devil I & II 8:44/Under My Thumb 3:38/Gimme Shelter 2:03/Backstage Jam-Little Queen Of Spades (Jagger-Ike & Tina Turner-GS DVD) 4:56

Das Rolling Stones - USA 1969

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The Rolling Stones’ 1969 Hyde Park concert has become the stuff of legend: a gig that helped define the band during a moment of crisis.

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At London’s Hyde Park, on July 5, 1969, at 5:25 PM, there was a moment that has come to define The Rolling Stones .

“The greatest rock and roll band in the world. They’re incredible; let’s hear it for the Stones!”

It was the first time The Rolling Stones had been branded such. Today, of course, that phrase – the greatest rock and roll band in the world – and The Rolling Stones are inseparable.

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Sam Cutler was the one who said it. Cutler worked for Blackhill Enterprises, the company that staged the first free concerts in Hyde Park. At the time, he was looking out at an audience later estimated between 250,000 and 500,000 people.

The Rolling Stones’ gig in 1969 was not the first rock concert in London’s famous park. Pink Floyd headlined the first free gig a year before, and several other bands followed, including Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood ’s short-lived Blind Faith in June 1969. (Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull both attended.) But The Rolling Stone concert is the one that everyone seems to talk about. Ask anyone of a certain age: “Were you at the Hyde Park concert?” They know exactly what concert you’re referring to.

Paying tribute to Brian Jones

There are many things that make that concert both unique and special. It was the band’s first concert in almost two years, and marked the debut of guitarist Mick Taylor. (Taylor had previously been part of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and had only joined the group a few months earlier, replacing Brian Jones.) Looming over the entire concert, of course, was Jones’s tragic death in a swimming pool, two days earlier.

The group decided to soldier on, and beautifully paid tribute to Jones. “Alright! Ok now listen,” said Mick. “Will you just cool it for a minute ‘cos I really would like to say something for Brian. I’d really dig it if you would be with us while I do it. I’d like to say a few words that I feel about Brian… I’m going to say something written by Shelley.”

Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep -– He hath awakened from the dream of life -– ‘Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep With phantoms an unprofitable strife…

The poem was “Adonais” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. And, as Mick finished reciting the poem, Tom Keylock, the band’s road manager released over 3,000 white butterflies, a gesture that cost the band £300, but one that came to define the concert.

One of the other defining features of The Rolling Stones’ Hyde Park concert was Jagger’s attire. The singer was wearing a Michael Fish Greek-inspired voile “dress.” (When the band played Hyde Park in 2013, Mick nodded to it by wearing a blue jacket covered in a white butterfly motif.)

The Rolling Stones concert

The stage for the concert was tiny. “When Blind Faith did it, they set this stage in the middle of the grass, put the drums and amplification on it and everyone turned up and went around it,” Charlie Watts remembered in 2013. “When we did it, we had a Mickey Mouse little stage, a tiny thing on metal scaffolding, drums, a bit of backdrop for Mick with his white dress on, and everybody just came. Now, of course, it’s a proper enclosed area.”

But no matter. The group’s opener, somewhat surprisingly was “I’m Yours and I’m Hers.” The song wasn’t a Stones’ original, but one written by Texan albino blues guitarist Johnny Winter. The tune had featured on his just-released debut Columbia album. Keith Richards had bought it back in June, and it was his suggestion that they opened the show with it. It was the first – and only – time the band has ever performed it on stage.

Next up was another first, the first time the Stones ever performed “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” on stage. The crowd knew this one well. The song had topped the charts for a couple of weeks the previous summer. On their tour of the US in the autumn of 1969, it became their usual opener. Don Covay’s “Mercy Mercy” came next and it was another less than obvious choice, given that it was recorded way back in May 1965. Following it, “Stray Cat Blues,” “No Expectations,” and “I’m Free” also got their live debut.

“Down Home Girl” was the oldest number in their set, having been recorded in late 1964 and released on the band’s second British album. From there, they moved on to a very old song: a cover of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain” which he had recorded way back in 1937. It was a new song for the band, though. They had recorded it a few months earlier, and would eventually appear on Let It Bleed later in 1969.

“Loving Cup” was a new song from The Glimmer Twins, which the group had been working on in the studio; it finally made it onto Exile on Main St. in 1972. They followed with “ Honky Tonk Women ,” their new single, and next came “Midnight Rambler,” which became the opening track of side two of Let it Bleed . (In some press reports of the Hyde Park concert, it was referred to as “The Boston Gambler.”)

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was the only survivor from the Stones’ previous tour in April 1967. “Street Fighting Man” preceded “Sympathy for the Devil,” which were both off Beggars Banquet . During “Sympathy for the Devil,” The Rolling Stones were joined on stage by Ginger Johnson’s African Drummers. (Johnson was a veteran of the London jazz club scene.)

Sam Cutler’s introduction of “the greatest rock and roll band in the world” was spontaneous, but it’s become an entirely appropriate way to describe the group. Cutler used the phrase to introduce them throughout their US tour later in the year, and it can be heard on Get Your Ya Yas Out , the live album recorded on the tour. It reflected just how far they came from their local blues band beginnings. Or their pop heartthrob status, for that matter. As one music paper said in an issue that came out a week after the Hyde Park concert, “99% of the audience came to listen and not (as they might have done five years ago) to scream.” The times were a-changin’…

Listen to more classic live Rolling Stones performances on Spotify .

Mark Jaeger

July 5, 2016 at 3:56 pm

“Neither ‘Stray Cat Blues’ nor ‘No Expectations’ had ever been performed live before…”

Minor point: The Stones did, in fact, perform “No Expectations” (with Brian Jones on slide guitar) in front of a live audience as part of their segment of the abortive “Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus” film in December 1968. As is well known, “Circus” finally saw commercial release in 1996.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KZsvbR3Cnw

Steve Rocovitz

July 5, 2016 at 5:30 pm

When I go see them in Las Vegas in Oct.it will be my 13th or 14th time l’ve seen them,1972 Long Beach Ca. was the 1st,they were great then and they were great every time I’ ve seen them,people ask me why I go see them every time they are around,my answer is I love Rock&Roll,and they are the worlds greatest Rock&Roll Band and always will be!

February 24, 2021 at 7:27 pm

I wanted to love this concert film but truth be told, it’s not good.

July 31, 2021 at 8:08 pm

Their concerts have never let me down from the first time I saw them live in Hyde Park in ’69.

July 5, 2023 at 7:37 pm

painful watching Mick Taylor trying to remember how to play his guitar. fortunately for all of us and especially the stones, he soon figured it out. He was key to their becoming the worlds ggrnrb

January 4, 2024 at 4:26 pm

They did perform Jumpin Jack Flash , live , initially , at the NME polwinners concert , in 1968 , from what ive read , in the past.

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The Rolling Stones 1969: live'r than you’ll ever be

The Rolling Stones' Get Yer Ya-Yas Out presented the band as they appeared on their 1969 American tour: on the edge, and at the very peak of their powers.

Get Yer Ya-Yas Out has been hailed as the greatest live rock ‘n’ roll album of all time, being one of the few times this much-abused medium actually managed to capture the excitement of a band on top form. Not just any band either. As Sam Cutler’s introduction declared, it was the newly-titled greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world, enhanced by top notch sound quality and crowd going apeshit. At the time, Lester Bangs called it the best rock concert ever put on record, and 44 years later, I still have to agree.

Ya-Ya’s captured the demonic power of the Stones’ return to the live arena after three years; the emergence of Keith Richards as the ultimate rhythm guitarist, his metronomic churning riffs clamping onto Charlie Watts’ syncopated, jazz-inflected roll and Bill Wyman‘s understated momentum. It was also the first major showcase for the keening, liquid blues virtuosity of new guitarist Mick Taylor, who’d replaced the recently-deceased Brian Jones but only appeared on a couple of tracks on Let It Bleed . Meanwhile, Mick Jagger managed to be straddle being both laconic and on heat, totally in control of proceedings.

Released on September 4 1970, Ya-Ya’s was the first live album to reach number one in the UK. But, rather than a planned bit of strategy, it was released as both a contract-fulfilling finale with Decca and, more to the point, an official band release designed to trump the bootleggers. Five months after Dylan had been the first victim of the new pirate phenomenon with Great White Wonder and two months after the Beatles’ Kum Back studio set, the Stones found the show they played at Oakland Coliseum, California, on November 9, 1969 released in a plain white, rubber-stamped sleeve (copied by The Who for 1970‘s Live In Leeds) on the Trademark of Quality label as Live’r Than You’ll Ever Be . The first audience-recorded rock bootleg, it became a screamingly-hot potato in London that December and went on sell an estimated 250,000 copies. Considering the Stones hadn’t yet toured the UK, who wouldn’t want this raw record of the new Stones lineup in its live element?

As the bootleg appeared the same month as Let It Bleed , the Stones had to wait before they could release their own live album but, although Ya-Ya’s was cleaned up and vocals overdubbed at Olympic studios on some tracks, it still packed enough punch and live Stones magic to stand as one of the most exciting listening experiences ever captured on record.

Named after a 1938 Blind Boy Fuller single called Get Yer Yas Yas Out , the album was drawn from shows recorded at New York’s Madison Square Garden on November 27-28 (with Love In Vain taken from Baltimore on the 26th). The album displayed the new ‘grown-up’ Stones which this writer had first witnessed the previous year when they were surprise guests at the NME Pollwinners Concert and came on at the end to play their new single, Jumpin’ Jack Flash . Even then the band were still drowned out by screaming girls so the 1969 US tour was the first time they could actually hear themselves play, while the audiences now listened instead of howling.

Jagger had the crowd in the palm of his hand, whipping up the girls with teasing announcements about his “trahsers” falling down or a well-placed “Charlie’s good tonight, inn’e?”. In this new setting, the four musicians positively sparked off each other, whether storming the barricades with a tumultuous Street Fighting Man or turning in one of their best ever Chuck Berry covers on Carol . Taylor’s searing slide reduces the arena to rapt silence on Love In Vain before the cataclysmic sado-psychodrama of Midnight Rambler looms as one of the most show-stopping Stones performances of all time, malevolently weaving the blues’ darkest spirit into their own vision as it episodically careered from the main song through the Keith-steered locomotive chug section into Jagger’s belt-flailing vamp inspired by Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo, before going out on the raging climax.

This was in the days before the Stones had backing singers and brass sections so, apart from Ian Stewart’s occasional piano, it’s the sound of the band delivering a string of compact knock-out punches from within their own ranks. The album’s packed with great moments, including a lascivious Honky Tonk Woman , leeringly effortless Little Queenie with Ian Stewart on piano actually cutting the Chuck original and sleazed up Live With Me . Keith can finally be heard in his naked element, disgorging pure blues groove power, while imitating a shipyard panel-beater on Sympathy For the Devil . But, such is the intimacy achieved, it sounds like they could be sharing this magical alchemy in their front room instead of Madison Square Garden, .

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Three months later, the Gimme Shelter movie would appear as the usually-referenced souvenir of that landmark US tour, the terrifying Altamont finale branding this episode in Stones history forever. The Stones’ 1969 US tour actually stood for a whole lot more. With Chip Monck’s lighting design and PA system making it the first time the band were seen and heard properly live, it set the template for what’s now taken for granted as the modern rock show; the first such jaunt to sell over a million bucks’ worth of tickets with the band controlling the cash, with merchandise now adding to their income. Nothing would ever be the same again, except for the beautiful music still being produced by the band up there 44 years later.

The full story of the Rolling Stones’ infamous 1969 American tour is told in Classic Rock 199, available as digital or print editions from MyFavouriteMagazines .

Kris Needs is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. Previously secretary of the Mott The Hoople fan club, he became editor of ZigZag in 1977 and has written biographies of stars including Primal Scream, Joe Strummer and Keith Richards. He's also written for MOJO, Record Collector, Classic Rock, Prog, Electronic Sound, Vive Le Rock and Shindig!

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“Let It Bleed”: Behind the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S. Tour

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Courtesy of Let it Bleed , the book, text and photographs by Ethan Russell. Available from Rhino .

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Courtesy of Let It Bleed , the book, text and photographs by Ethan Russell. Available from Rhino .

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Chaos, Violence and Rock and Roll: the Story of the Rolling Stones' 1969 U.S. Tour

The shows were bigger, louder and more spectacular than ever. But success came with a body count.

It might have been the first rock and roll tour of any real consequence. Today, if it’s remembered at all, it’s usually for the body count left in its wake.  

But Bill Wyman recalls the Rolling Stones’ 1969 American tour for a different reason. “In 1969, they listened,” the former Stones bassist says. “It was the first time that the audiences had actually listened to us.” 

Woodstock may be the musical event of 1969 that defined a generation, but the Rolling Stones’ 1969 American tour set the standard for the future of rock and roll concerts. Launched in November of that year, a little more than two months after Woodstock, the cross-country jaunt isn’t regarded with the same reverence as the festival. 

Fans know it as the tour captured on the 1970 release Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! , the Stones’ second live album and a favorite concert album among those who have sunk a needle into its grooves. 

But the group’s U.S. hitch not only changed how rock and roll shows were presented – it also showed a new way to finance them and make a profit, opening the door to the barnstorming extravaganzas launched by artists like Led Zeppelin, Yes, Elton John and others in the 1970s and the decades that followed.

It was, as Wyman notes, the start of a new time, when the fans stopped screaming and began to listen, as well as turn on and become immersed in the live-music experience.

Anyone who witnessed the British Invasion first-hand knows all too well how awful rock and roll concerts could be in the mid 1960s, when primitive sound systems were unable to project a band’s music above the noise of the crowd.

As a budding guitarist looking forward to a show from your favorite players, you’d have strained to hear their instruments, whose frequency range was well matched to that of the screaming girls.

You’d probably have trouble seeing the band too. Under the glare of stage lights or spots, acts played with little to no staging – no set, no props, no lighting effects. As performances went, it was as rudimentary as it could be.

After sitting through three or four opening acts, the band you’d shelled out your hard-earned allowance to see came onstage and played its hits for 20 to 30 minutes before abruptly departing. The Rolling Stones certainly knew the drill.

Their previous U.S. tour, in 1966, in support of their album Aftermath , opened in Lynn, Massachusetts, where 17,000 fans packed the Manning Bowl for the evening’s entertainment.

The outdoor show opened with the Mods, a local act who had won their spot through the promoter of a battle of the bands contest. They were followed by the McCoys, then riding high on their hit “Hang on Sloopy” and the Standells, the L.A. act whose breakthrough hit, “Dirty Water,” celebrated Boston, Lynn’s neighbor to the south.

Things got a little blurry in the ’60s. Tear gas – that was the other continuous smell of the ’60s. I can’t say I miss it Keith Richards

The Stones’ set, consisting of a mere 10 songs, lasted just over 30 minutes. That was short enough, but the Manning Bowl show ended early when a rainstorm broke out. Teens stormed the stage, and the police responded with tear gas.

The Stones escaped to their limos and fled. “It was a bit of an outdoor crazy,” Mick Jagger recalls. ”It wasn’t well secured. A few people got a bit drunk. There were a few cops, and that was the end of it.”

“Things got a little blurry in the ’60s,” Keith Richards says. “Tear gas – that was the other continuous smell of the ’60s. I can’t say I miss it.”

But by the decade’s end, much had changed in music and the youth movement. Those screaming teens had grown up. Many were now out on their own, burning their draft cards, marching to protest the Vietnam War, experimenting with drugs and defining their own place in society.

Rock and roll had evolved as well, with bands like the Beatles introducing elements of spirituality in their music, while groups like the Stones met social and political issues head on.

Their 1968 hit “Street Fighting Man” had been embraced by youths in France, who fought in the streets of Paris that May for social reforms, and by young Americans protesting the Vietnam War at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that August. Older and radicalized, rock and roll fans went to shows, smoked weed, or took something stronger, and actually listened to the music.

Unfortunately, the new arenas and civic auditoriums that began dotting the U.S. landscape in the latter half of the 1960s weren’t suited to rock shows. Vast, with seating for 10 to 20 thousand attendees, they were ill-equipped to handle musical events, their underpowered public-address systems designed for sporting events rather than sold-out concerts.

Fans furthest from the stage weren’t only deprived of the music – the performance itself looked like a distant skirmish under the floodlights.

Remarkably, England’s Rolling Stones would provide the solution to this uniquely American problem. By 1969, nearly three years had passed since the group’s 1966 tour, their last in the United States. At that time, they, along with the Beatles and Bob Dylan, made up pop music’s Big Three.

But the Beatles had stopped performing and were in the midst of breaking up, while Dylan was a recluse in Woodstock. Somehow, the Rolling Stones were still standing, and with a new guitarist in tow – John Mayall’s young blues protégé Mick Taylor – they were ready to claim the field for themselves.

This time they wanted a spectacle – a show that was bigger and louder than before, with proper sound reinforcement and set design. 

They hired lighting designer Chip Monck – who lit Monterey Pop and as Woodstock’s emcee warned the festival’s flower children away from the “brown acid” – to create a set that they would haul from stage to stage. They brought their own P.A. system and mixing board, and drafted recording engineer Glyn Johns to run sound and record the shows.

They didn’t trust local promoters, so they chose their own opening acts, bringing along English guitarist and vocalist Terry Reid, and booking a trio of show-stopping American acts: the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, B.B. King and, a guitarist who was like a god to them, Chuck Berry. Significantly, the Stones booked every show themselves, eliminating middlemen and ensuring themselves maximum profits.

The jaunt itself would see Jagger and Richards slip further into hard-drug use. And when it was over in early December, a cloud of death hung over what should have been a celebration

Above all, they wanted to perform. No more 30 minutes of hits. The 1969 American tour saw the Rolling Stones play for an average of 75 minutes each show, with many concerts lasting past midnight. 

Everything was designed to draw the audience into the act. Monck designed a proscenium stage backlit with lights that changed color to suit the songs’ moods, and concealed the speaker towers by draping them in grey cloth. 

At the center of it all, on a purple carpet with a white starburst center, Mick Jagger led the Rolling Stones – Richards, Taylor, Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts – through the set like a ringmaster, dressed in black trousers with silver buttons down the legs, a metal-studded belt, a black scoop-necked jersey with a white Leo glyph on the chest, a flowing red scarf, and a red, white and blue Uncle Sam top hat.

The 1969 American tour didn’t just reassert the Rolling Stones as a powerhouse rock and roll band – it also changed expectations of what a rock and roll show should be, how it should be run, and the production standards required. 

It’s here that the modern music concert tour began. And it’s here that the Rolling Stones’ legend as “the greatest rock and roll band in the world” – as tour manager Sam Cutler introduced them each night – begins. 

But getting to this point wasn’t easy. By the time the tour launched on November 7, in Fort Collins, Colorado, one of the Stones’ own would be in the grave. The jaunt itself would see Jagger and Richards slip further into hard-drug use. And when it was over in early December, a cloud of death hung over what should have been a celebration. 

The Rolling Stones had always been one of rock and roll’s most exciting live acts, but by 1969, they were rarely seen onstage anymore. Since the group’s 1967 European tour, they had made one public appearance, at the 1968 NME Poll Winners Concert, not including their own Rock and Roll Circus concert from December 1968 before an invitation-only audience. The reason was down to drugs.

Jagger, Richards and Stones co-founder Brian Jones had all been charged with offenses. But whereas Jagger’s three-month sentence for possession of amphetamine tablets was reduced to a conditional discharge – essentially an order to “keep your nose clean” – and Richards’ conviction for allowing pot to be smoked on his property was overturned on appeal, Jones was not nearly so lucky.

Police had discovered cannabis and hard drugs at the multi-instrumentalist’s home during a raid in May 1967.

The following May, while still on probation, he was arrested again after a second raid at his flat turned up hash. Jones was found guilty, but the judge, believing the jury prejudiced, refused to jail the guitarist and instead fined him £50, about $890 today.

Brian and Keith had this guitar thing like you wouldn’t believe. There was never any suggestion of a lead and a rhythm guitar player. They were two guitar players that were like somebody’s right and left hands Ian “Stu” Stewart

Though Jones had avoided jail, his second drug bust made it impossible for him to get a U.S. work visa, dashing the Stones’ hopes of touring in America. But his days with the group were already numbered. 

Though he had been the band’s original leader, Jones’ authority diminished once Jagger and Richards became a successful songwriting duo. As his drug use increased and his mental state became more fragile, Jones missed gigs and recording dates.

A few years earlier, he and Richards had been among the tightest of guitar tandems.

“Brian and Keith had this guitar thing like you wouldn’t believe,” Ian “Stu” Stewart, the band’s co-founder and behind-the-scenes keyboardist, told Stanley Booth, author of The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones . “There was never any suggestion of a lead and a rhythm guitar player. They were two guitar players that were like somebody’s right and left hands.” 

But at least since the Stones’ psychedelic-rock opus, 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request , Jones had played guitar less frequently.

On the group’s followup, 1968’s Beggar’s Banquet , he contributed slide and acoustic guitar, Mellotron, tambura and sitar, leaving Richards to perform all the other guitar parts. By the time the Stones began recording 1969’s Let It Bleed , they didn’t even expect Jones to attend the sessions.

He showed up for the recording of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” asking Jagger, “What can I play?” “I don’t know, Brian,” Jagger replied. “What can you play?” “I enjoyed his company, and I tried incredibly hard, in 1966, to pull him back into the group,” Richards told Rolling Stone in 2010. “He was flying off. But my attempts to bring Brian back into focus were a total failure.” 

While the Stones could work around Jones in the studio, they couldn’t do without a second guitarist onstage. They briefly considered replacing him for the U.S. tour with Eric Clapton, but in the end, the Stones faced up to the inevitable.

Mick and I didn’t fancy the gig. But we drove down together and said, ‘Hey, Brian… It’s all over, pal’ Keith Richards

On June 8, Jagger, Richards and Watts drove to Jones’ home, Cotchford Farm, the former estate of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne, to deliver the news. “Mick and I didn’t fancy the gig,” Richards wrote in his 2010 memoir, Life . “But we drove down together and said, ‘Hey, Brian… It’s all over, pal.’”

By then, the Stones had found his replacement: 20-year-old Mick Taylor. Despite his youth, Taylor had already distinguished himself in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, taking over from Peter Green, Clapton’s successor, in 1967, at the tender age of 18. A fine blues guitarist, Taylor was blessed with a jazzman’s sensibilities, his remarkably melodic lead work streaked with shades of modal playing.

It was Mayall and Ian Stewart who suggested Taylor to Jagger and Richards. Certainly, Richards knew Taylor – he’d sold him his 1959 Les Paul Standard back in 1967 when Taylor had joined the Bluesbreakers.

The Stones had taken the young guitarist onboard even before they let Jones go: Though many sources pin the date to June 1969, Taylor’s first recording with the Stones was on “Live With Me,” which was recorded May 24, two weeks before Jones was fired.

The Stones actually hadn’t played together for a long time, so when I joined them it was like a new beginning. It was a new phase in their career. A new chapter Mick Taylor

“‘Live With Me’ was the very first track I ever played on,” Taylor recalls, “when they were putting the finishing touches to Let It Bleed . We actually recorded that the night I went for my audition at Olympic Studios, or maybe the night after.

“I remember [producer] Jimmy Miller jumping up and down in the control room and getting all excited about how good it sounded, having two guitars playing off each other. Because I think they’d missed that with Brian Jones in the two-year hiatus since their last live performance.

“The Stones actually hadn’t played together for a long time, so when I joined them it was like a new beginning. It was a new phase in their career. A new chapter.”

To kick it off, the Stones had agreed to play a free concert in London’s Hyde Park on July 5. The timing was good: Their new single, “Honky Tonk Women,” featuring the lead guitar work of both Richards and Taylor, was scheduled to be released the day before.

The Hyde Park concert would be an opportunity to show off their new lineup and put some publicity behind the song. But the Stones’ previous chapter was still being written.

Sometime around midnight on July 2-3, Brian Jones was found dead in the swimming pool at Cotchford Farm. Before the sun had risen, the news made its way through the Stones’ camp and into the morning news. Richards recalls that the band members were in the studio when they heard about it.

“There exists one minute and 30 seconds of us recording ‘I Don’t Know Why,’ a Stevie Wonder song, interrupted by the phone call telling us of Brian’s death,” he wrote.

Mick Taylor’s arrival in the Stones marked the start of a new era and sound for the Rolling Stones. Though Jones was a talented guitarist, soloist and multi-instrumentalist, Taylor was in a different league.

Ry was using open G for slide. I saw him and thought, That’s a really nice tuning. It restricts you so much: five strings, three notes, two fingers… one asshole! Keith Richards

His muscular lead-guitar style fit their new blues-rock direction and brought a level of bravura to their ranks at a time when guitar virtuosity was on the rise in rock and roll. 

“I was in awe sometimes, listening to Mick Taylor,” Richards wrote. “Everything was there in his playing – the melodic touch, a beautiful sustain and a way of reading a song.” Taylor’s melodicism proved a perfect counterpoint to Richards’ own recently adopted style. 

In March 1969, during the making of Let It Bleed , the group had recorded “Sister Morphine,” a track destined for 1971’s Sticky Fingers , with Ry Cooder playing slide. Richards was taken with Cooder’s use of open-G tuning and adopted it as standard for his guitar work, eliminating his low E string in the process.

“I met Ry in 1968, when he was hanging around with Taj Mahal and Jesse Ed Davis,” Richards told Guitar . “Ry was using open G for slide. I saw him and thought, That’s a really nice tuning. It restricts you so much: five strings, three notes, two fingers… one asshole!”

With their reconstituted lineup and tough new guitar sound, the Stones were eager to get back onstage. The fans were clamoring for it. Seven years into their career, the Stones sounded better than ever. Just as important, they were still relevant.

As rock and roll’s bad boys, they had always had an element of danger about them, but it was more overt on their newer material, like “Sympathy for the Devil,” the Beggars Banquet opener, on which Jagger adopted Satan’s persona to implicate humanity in the world’s sins, placing the weight of social responsibility on the shoulders of the Stones’ young radicalized listeners. 

On the album’s flipside, “Street Fighting Man” offered a model for how to effect the change necessary to liberate a world stuck in the ways of the past and running headlong to its own destruction.

Teenagers are not screaming over pop music anymore. They’re screaming for much deeper reasons Mick Jagger

The Stones had won the love of politically minded youths with those songs, but Jagger glimpsed what was to come as early as 1967, when they played Warsaw, Poland, bringing rock and roll to Communist Eastern Europe.

“Teenagers are not screaming over pop music anymore,” he told Stanley Booth. “They’re screaming for much deeper reasons. When I’m onstage, I sense that the teenagers are trying to communicate to me, like by telepathy, a message of some urgency. Not about me or about our music, but about the world and the way they live. And I see a lot of trouble coming in the dawn.”

In September, the Stones began making plans for their month-long jaunt across America. Following an off-circuit gig on November 7 at Colorado State University’s 8,745-seat Moby Gymnasium, the tour would commence in earnest.

The itinerary would take the show from Los Angeles up to Oakland, across to Phoenix, down to Dallas and over to Alabama, before heading north to Chicago and east to Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Boston, the final stop.

As shows sold out in the larger cities, the Stones added second shows, though Mick Jagger, ever cautious about the cost, warned, “We won’t play if there’s a single empty seat.”

The Rolling Stones wanted to control everything, from signing up and paying the opening acts to designing the production. “There was one minor problem, though,” said Ronnie Schneider, the tour’s manager. “We had no money, nothing.”

The William Morris Agency had signed on to book the tour, but the Stones’ preeminence made its role moot. In the end, William Morris put up just $15,000 “to finance a half-million-dollar tour,” Schneider says. “To pay for the construction of the set, the stage, the lights, to guarantee the acts, to do everything. It was a very funny moment.”

But Schneider came up with a solution that was revolutionary. In his scheme, the Stones – or rather, their new company, Rolling Stones Promotions – would receive, upfront, 50 percent of each venue’s gross box-office receipts, which would be used to fund the tour.

Any problem with any of them and the shit was hitting the fan Ronnie Schneider, tour manager

Jagger’s insistence on sold-out shows wasn’t about ego but to generate demand for future shows to keep the tour running. For the scheme to work, they’d need to sell out the first five dates. “Any problem with any of them and the shit was hitting the fan,” Schneider said.

Not only did the gambit work – it changed how bands financed tours, allowing them to launch ever-greater spectacles. Schneider also led the way by taking over managing rights related to all aspects of the tour, including posters, T-shirts and programs, eliminating freelance merchandisers and greatly improving the Stones’ finances.

But all was not well in this new world of mega shows. Soon after the tour was announced, fans began to complain about the size of the venues and ticket prices. Rolling Stone noted that tickets for the Los Angeles Forum show ranged in price from $5.50 to $8.50, whereas the same arena had charged $3.50 to $7.50 for Blind Faith and $3.50 to $6.50 for the Doors.

Writing in The San Francisco Chronicle , Rolling Stone founding editor Ralph Gleason took the Stones to task for asking fans to pay more to see them perform in less-intimate settings. 

“Paying five, six and seven dollars for a Stones concert at the Oakland Coliseum for, say, an hour of the Stones seen a quarter of a mile away...says a very bad thing to me about the artists’ attitude towards the public,” Gleason wrote. “It says they despise their own audience.” 

Gleason’s words stung the band. Confronted about the matter at the tour’s first U.S. press conference, Jagger left the door open to playing a free concert when the jaunt was over. 

Weeks later, in New York City, he confirmed the group would headline a free show in the San Francisco area. Why San Francisco? 

“Because there’s a scene there,” Jagger replied. “And the weather’s nice.” 

From London, the group flew to Los Angeles in October to begin rehearsing and preparing for the tour. Immediately, the members split into different residences. 

Bill Wyman and his wife rented a home, while Charlie Watts, with his wife and child in tow, stayed in a large hotel-like home on Oriole Street – dubbed Oriole House – where the group’s entourage of staff members and handlers oversaw preparations for the tour. Jagger, Richards and Taylor found privacy at Stephen Stills’ house in Laurel Canyon.

The abode gave Jagger and Richards a place to work on tunes for the group’s next album, and afforded Richards and Taylor a chance to work out their arrangements for the songs selected for the tour. The home’s cramped coffin-shaped basement also doubled as the band’s practice space.

“We did some rehearsals,” Wyman recalls. “We didn’t do a lot. You know what the Stones are like. It was mostly party time.” Mick Taylor, new to this world, was shocked to find the Stones’ sound so “ragged.”

“I thought, How do these guys make such great records when they’re so sloppy and spontaneous? But it was because they had this great chemistry.”

I thought, How do these guys make such great records when they’re so sloppy and spontaneous? But it was because they had this great chemistry Mick Taylor

Developing the set list proved more difficult than they’d imagined. While the stylistic differences between the new guitar duo made for some great interplay – Richard’s jagged double-stop riffing against Taylor’s sinewy blues lines – it made playing most of the old hits impossible without some degree of reinterpretation.

From the Stones’ deep back catalog, only three songs – “Under My Thumb,” “I’m Free” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” – were dusted off and recalibrated for the new lineup. Mostly, the band focused on their latest hit singles – “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Women” – and cuts from Beggar’s Banquet and the still-unreleased Let It Bleed .

The bluesier country stylings of those albums gave Taylor plenty of room to stretch out and play bottleneck slide, something Jones was also adept at, though not with the same burning intensity. 

For good measure, they tossed in a couple of Chuck Berry standards – “Carol” and “Little Queenie” – to showcase Keith’s driving double-stop riffs. Unfortunately, Stills’ basement was too small to hold rehearsals with full gear.

Through their connections, the Stones secured an unused soundstage at Warner Bros. studio lot. The building chosen for them had served as the main set for director Sydney Pollack’s 1969 Depression-era drama They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, starring Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin as a couple who compete in a grueling dance marathon for the chance to win $1,500. 

Though filming had been completed, the film’s elegant 1930s-style ballroom set was still up when the Stones arrived. Above it hung a large scoreboard that, in the film, shows how many hours have elapsed in the marathon and the number of couples still standing. 

“How Long Will They Last?” read a legend at the top of the board. For the Stones, binging on drugs and rushing headlong into a tour for which they were unprepared, the question was perversely appropriate.

Prototype SVTs hadn’t been field tested, making Richards and Taylor unwitting guinea pigs in the amp’s development. Ampeg sent a pair of techs to maintain them, along with five additional backup units

For the short tour, Richards and Taylor were well equipped with guitars and amps. According to gear expert Andy Babiuk, Richards’ main guitars were his prototype Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexiglas and a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom he’d purchased earlier that year. His other guitars on the tour included his 1969 Gibson ES-355TD-SV stereo electric and the 1959 Les Paul Standard he’d sold to Mick Taylor in early 1967.

In addition, Richards brought a 1930s National Style O resonator, which he used when performing “Prodigal Son” and “You Gotta Move” with Jagger in the show’s short acoustic set, and a Martin D12-20, a dreadnought-sized 12-string, fitted with a DeArmond soundhole pickup.

As for Taylor, he mainly used his Cherry Red 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG, whose “sideways” tremolo unit he’d replaced with a Bigsby B-5. He also occasionally used the ES-355TD-SV and his ’59 ’Burst for slide, as well as his 1958 Les Paul Standard. For amps, both guitarists were provided an arsenal of Ampeg’s new prototype SVT – Solid Vacuum Tube – amps. 

The Stones had shipped their Hiwatts from England, but the amps were damaged after they arrived stateside. Ian Stewart, who recalled that the group had used an Ampeg B-15 Porta-flex “flip-top” amp in its early recording sessions, contacted the manufacturer in New Jersey, and the company quickly sent along a truckfull of SVT prototypes, along with some ST-42 4x12 guitar cabinets from Ampeg’s solid-state line.

Designed as bass amps, the SVTs put out a whopping 300 watts, prompting Ampeg to place a warning label on early models. A dozen prototypes were built, most of which were loaned to the Stones.

The Ampegs were first used when the group moved to the Warner Bros. soundstage, although photos from those sessions show Taylor using several Fender Twin Reverbs. On tour, he, like Richards, performed before an impressive wall of SVTs.

Unfortunately, the prototype SVTs hadn’t been field tested, making Richards and Taylor unwitting guinea pigs in the amp’s development. Ampeg sent a pair of techs to maintain them, along with five additional backup units.

Not only were the amps not designed for electric guitar but Richards and Taylor were using two or three simultaneously. The techs would sit onstage, behind the amps, and watch the tube plates for signs of overheating, then swap out an amp before it blew. They weren’t always successful.

At the Oakland Coliseum on November 9, the second date of the tour, Richards’ amp failed during the intro to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” the second song of the show.

He and Jagger quickly switched to the acoustic portion of the set while the situation was remedied, but when Richards plugged back into the amp, it blew again, causing him to smash his Les Paul Custom in anger.

The Grateful Dead, who were working with the Stones on arranging the free concert in San Francisco, came to the rescue by loaning their amps for the remainder of the show.

The tour was well received by fans and the press throughout its run, although critics noted early on that the opening acts – particularly B.B. King and the Ike & Tina Turner Revue – were remarkably more polished than the Stones.

“At the beginning of the tour, the band was rusty,” Sam Cutler told photographer Ethan Russell for Let It Bleed , Russell’s photobook of the tour. “When I first called them ‘the greatest rock and roll band in the world,’ I meant it sarcastically. In a way, the slogan made them work harder right from the start.”

By the time the circus rolled into New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the November 27 and 28 dates, the Stones were deadly. It’s from these performances that the group culled the tracks for Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! , with one song – their affecting cover of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain” – taken from the November 26 show at Baltimore’s Civic Center.

The Stones’ tough new sound and attitude are evident right from the album’s opening cut. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was the hot hit the band would have toured on had they been on the road when it was released in the summer of 1968. More than a year later, it was a hard-wearing fan favorite.

When I first called them ‘the greatest rock and roll band in the world,’ I meant it sarcastically. In a way, the slogan made them work harder right from the start Sam Cutler

The band plays it faster on the live album, and in the key of B, whereas the single sounds slightly flat of the key of B flat. And while, on the studio version, Bill Wyman holds down a pedal point on the verses, he plays along with the guitar riff on the live cut, eliminating the single’s hip-swinging groove and making the song a foot-stomping blues-rock number, a genre shift underscored by Taylor’s delicious climbing lead lines on the song’s chorus.

Taylor mostly lays back on the next track, Berry’s “Carol,” giving Richards room to display his classic rock and roll chops. Though he mostly shadows Richards’ rhythm work, the young guitarist steps out on the song’s signature riff, playing bluesy descending lead lines that add interest. 

He gets a chance to show his stuff on “Stray Cat Blues,” squeezing fast, stinging lead lines from his guitar during the song’s numerous instrumental breaks. This funky Beggar’s Banquet cut gets new life here. 

Taken at a slower and bluesier pace, and with a less busy arrangement, the live version draws much of its power from Jagger’s sexually charged vocals. His singing on the studio version is loose and strung out, but on the live album he taunts, pleads, threatens and reprimands as he expounds on his proposition, imbuing it with a menacing authenticity the studio version lacks. 

The fact that the song is about seducing a child – 15 years old on Beggar’s Banquet , reduced to 13 in concert – makes his aggressive performance all the more disturbing. Taylor’s first big moment in the spotlight comes on “Love in Vain,” where he switches to his 1959 ’Burst and takes up his slide.

The Stones recorded this Robert Johnson track for Let It Bleed earlier that year, adapting it as a country blues, complete with mandolin, but here it takes on a worn-in urban melancholy, demonstrating how far they’d already progressed as interpreters of classic blues. 

The sessions for that album were not far behind them, but on this November 26 evening in Baltimore, they sound like they’ve endured miles of hard road.

The next night, backstage at Madison Square Garden, Jagger would learn that his girlfriend was leaving him and his lover was pregnant with his child, but in Baltimore he sings the tune as if he’s had a vision of the trouble ahead.

Richards’ lovely, arpeggiating guitar work sets the mood for the singer’s lament, but it’s Taylor who expresses the song’s loss and anguish in his slide work, each perfectly chosen and articulated note dancing along its nerve. Simply stellar, “Love in Vain” is one of the best representations of the Rolling Stones’ power as a live act at this stage in their career.

From there, it’s on to what has to be the definitive version of “Midnight Rambler.” The song was unknown to audiences at the time, but at Madison Square Garden they responded reflexively to its shifting moods and momentum, demonstrating how completely the Stones had them in their hands. 

Mid-song, the band breaks down the beat, giving Richards and Taylor an opportunity to trade-off licks while Jagger scats. The crowd is amped up, howling, needing an outlet for its agitation. 

And it comes: “Well, you’ve heard about the Boston,” Jagger snarls, and the band slams the downbeat, prompting one amazed fan to cry out, “God-damn!”

During the song, Jagger would take off his studded belt and use it to whip the stage, “The moment you saw the belt fall, you could actually hear the crowd go, ‘Ahhh!’” Chip Monck recalls. “That’s when you know you got it. That’s when it’s real.” The song rides out on Taylor’s insistent riffing, and by the time it’s over, nine minutes after it began, the exhausted audience is roaring for more.

As with “Midnight Rambler,” a crowd member gets a cameo on “Sympathy for the Devil,” with a stoned female fan calling insistently for an oldie but goodie. “‘Paint It Black’! ‘Paint It Black,’ you devil!” she demands in vain as the Stones kick into their Beggar’s Banquet hit. 

The sinewy Latin feel of the original is abandoned for a boogie-rock rhythm that’s more in keeping with the show’s road-worn vibe. Richards plays his lead lines with a cocaine-fueled itch, relying on nerves and muscle memory as he builds the song to its first peak. 

From there, Taylor steals the show, testing the water with country-blues riffs before cutting loose, to the obvious satisfaction of Jagger, who yells his approval and relinquishes the spotlight to the young guitarist. Taylor has one of his finest moments on “Sympathy for the Devil,” lifting the song to new heights.

Richards turns in his signature riffing and lead work on “Live With Me,” the standout Let It Bleed track that marked Taylor’s debut with the group. The Stones attack the song with fury and efficiency, driving its irresistible rhythm with a solid performance that goes straight for the jugular. 

From there, it’s onto the second Chuck Berry song of the night, “Little Queenie,” a fun, midtempo rocker that the Stones dispatch with druggy punk attitude. Watts has trouble finding the “one,” and Richards’ can’t seem to shake off the riff nagging in his fret hand. 

Ian Stewart’s boogie-woogie piano lines and Jagger’s playful delivery carry the song aloft, but it’s an otherwise uninspired turn. Likewise, “Honky Tonk Women,” the Stones’ most recent hit and certainly a standout moment in the band’s 1969 set, is played too strictly to the original recording, and too slow at that. 

The same can’t be said of the album’s thunderous closing track, “Street Fighting Man.” Like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” it’s stripped of its pop pretensions and flayed with proto-punk fury, the Stones riding it like a tank over enemy lines and flattening everything in its path.

Throughout the show, Glyn Johns sat in a rented Hertz truck three floors below Madison Square Garden, at ground level, capturing every moment of the shows on tape. 

“I was in the truck,” he recalls, “and at one point – probably at the end of the show – I thought there were people stomping on the roof, because the whole bloody truck was bouncing up and down. “So I jump out and I look around. But there’s nobody on top of the truck. The whole building, all of Madison Square Garden above me, was moving. I was petrified.”

The whole building, all of Madison Square Garden above me, was moving. I was petrified Glyn Johns

Had the Rolling Stones headed home after the tour wrapped in Boston, the furor over ticket prices likely would have died down, snuffed out by the release of Let It Bleed one week later, on December 5. Instead, they spent their last week in America making nice with their fans and recording tracks for their next album at Muscle Shoals. 

The first stop was the West Palm Beach International Music and Arts Festival, on November 30, in Jupiter, Florida. The Sunshine State’s attempt at a Woodstock-style event, the festival featured Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, the Byrds and several other rock groups, with the Stones scheduled as the closing act.

Rain and a badly timed cold front made the event uncomfortable for fans, and transportation issues delayed the Stones’ arrival by 11 hours. They finally took the stage at 4 a.m. From Florida, the group headed to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, hoping to capture some of their newfound fire on tape. 

Over three days, they cut three tracks – their new songs “Wild Horses” and “Brown Sugar,” along with the traditional Black spiritual “You Gotta Move” – all of which were destined for their next studio album, 1971’s Sticky Fingers. And then it was onward to San Francisco and the Saturday, December 6 free concert they’d been railroaded into headlining. 

From the start, the organizers had trouble finding a location. San Jose State University’s practice field, the site of an earlier three-day free festival, was selected, but the city, still reeling from that event, refused to issue the necessary permits. 

Golden Gate Park was up for consideration, but an NFL football game at Kezar Stadium, situated in the park, on the same day made the location unsuitable. 

Sears Point Raceway, in Sonoma, was selected, but the venue’s owner, the television and film production company Filmways, Inc., wanted the Stones to put up $300,000 cash as a deposit. The company also demanded distribution rights for a concert film of the event.

On December 4, with just two days to spare, the Altamont Raceway, in Tracy, 70 miles east of San Francisco, was selected. The festival would open with West Coast groups – Santana, Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – while the Stones served as the closing act.

With memories of Woodstock still fresh, the organizers anticipated a peaceful concert, which is perhaps why no one thought it a bad idea to hire members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club to help out.

The Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead had suggested having them on hand, and the Stones concurred. It probably helped that they had enlisted a British group of motorbike fans called the Hells Angels to provide security the previous June at their Hyde Park show, where Mick Taylor made his official debut as a member of the band. 

For the promise of $500 in beer, the Hells Angels agreed to keep fans from climbing onto the Altamont’s makeshift stage, which was just one meter high, and provide assistance to attendees, such as giving directions to bathrooms and medical tents. 

The concert started out fine, with Santana turning in an inspired set. But as the day progressed, the Angels got drunker, while the young attendees grew more stoned and unruly. The bikers frequently waded into the throng, swinging fists, pool cues and motorcycle chains, to drive back fans or take down flailing, strung-out revelers.

When Jefferson Airplane’s Marty Balin attempted to break up a scuffle, one of the Angels punched the singer, knocking him out. The Grateful Dead had been scheduled to play between CSN&Y and the Stones, but when they arrived and learned what had happened to Balin, they panicked and fled.

The violence was incredible. I thought the show would have been stopped, but hardly anybody wanted to take any notice Keith Richards

By the time the Stones went on, darkness had fallen and some 5,000 fans were swarming the front of the stage. Jagger, who’d been punched in the face by an attendee when he first arrived, implored the crowd to “cool out.”

They began playing “Sympathy for the Devil” but stopped when the Angels launched another skirmish. “The violence was incredible,” Richards recalls. “I thought the show would have been stopped, but hardly anybody wanted to take any notice.”

The Stones continued to play, having little recourse and hoping the performance would keep the crowd from becoming more chaotic. They launched into “Under My Thumb,” but as Jagger began singing, another fight broke out. 

A young man in a lime-green suit was seen tangling with some Hells Angels, when he suddenly pulled a revolver from his jacket. The bikers descended. Hells Angel Alan Passaro reportedly stabbed the man five times with a large knife, while the others stomped him and left him to die. 

Attendees carried his limp body to a medical tent, but 18-year-old Meredith Hunter succumbed to his injuries, one of four people who died that day at Altamont.

After the shock of Altamont, the Rolling Stones had given little thought to releasing an album from their U.S. jaunt. But in December, shortly after the tour’s conclusion, a bootleg of their troubled November 9 Oakland Coliseum show began making the rounds at head shops and independent record stores. 

Titled Live’r Than You’ll Ever Be , it was one of the earliest commercially sold bootleg albums, along with Kum Back , featuring session recordings from the Beatles’ yet-unreleased Let It Be project, and Great White Wonder , offering uncollected recordings of Dylan’s performances from 1961 through his 1967 sessions with the Band. 

The Stones’ bootleg sold very well, which may have influenced the group to release a concert record of its own. Ethan Russell, the tour’s trusted photographer, was hired to shoot its cover. 

He created a still life consisting of Jagger’s Uncle Sam top hat and various other elements of his stage costume, along with his passport and odds and ends. Prominently positioned on the hat’s brim was a fat white joint. Jagger, still smarting from the band’s drug busts, looked at the photo in disbelief. “Didn’t you shoot any without the joint?” he asked. Russell had not.

In early February, Charlie Watts was dispatched to a section of the M6 motorway in Birmingham, England, along with a donkey and pieces of the Stones’ gear, including Keith Richards’ Ampeg Dan Armstrong guitar and Mick Taylor’s 1958 Les Paul ’Burst.

He was photographed in his white stage clothes, wearing Mick Jagger’s top hat, and leaping into the air while holding the guitars aloft. Shot by David Bailey, the photo was inspired by the line “Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule,” from Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna.”

Altamont – it could only happen to the Stones Keith Richards

On Watts’ T-shirt, an image of a woman’s bare breasts provided a visual reference for the album’s title, itself derived from the Blind Boy Fuller tune “Get Your Ya Yas Out,” though in Fuller’s song, ya yas is a euphemism for ass. 

The Stones, as always, had no qualms about pushing the limits. Released on September 4, 1970, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! quickly became a hit, reaching Number One in the U.K. and Number Six in the U.S., where it eventually went Platinum.

Critics praised it, with Rolling Stones ’ Lester Bangs saying, “I have no doubt that it’s the best rock concert ever put on record.” 

But for all its success, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! , along with the tour that gave birth to it and the innovations the Rolling Stones brought to rock and roll’s live music scene, lie in the shadow of what Keith Richards called “the terrible murder going on in front of us.”“Altamont,” he said in 1971. “It could only happen to the Stones.”

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Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of  Guitar Player  magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of  Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World , a founding editor of  Guitar Aficionado  magazine, and a former editor with  Guitar World ,  Guitar for the Practicing Musician  and  Maximum Guitar . Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.

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The Rolling Stones American Tour 1969

The Rolling Stones ' 1969 Tour of the United States took place in November 1969. With Ike & Tina Turner , Terry Reid , and B.B. King (replaced on some dates by Chuck Berry ) as the supporting acts, [1] rock critic Robert Christgau called it "history's first mythic rock and roll tour", [2] while rock critic Dave Marsh wrote that the tour was "part of rock and roll legend" and one of the "benchmarks of an era." [3] In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the tour among The 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years. [4]

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This was the Rolling Stones' first US tour since July 1966, with the absence partly due to drug charges and subsequent complications. [2] Instead of performing in small- and medium-size venues to audiences of screaming girls, the band was playing to sold-out arenas with more mature crowds that were ready to listen to the music. [5] They used a more sophisticated amplification system, and lighting was overseen by Chip Monck . It was Mick Taylor 's first tour with the band; he had replaced Brian Jones that June, shortly before Jones's death, and had only performed one gig (the free concert in Hyde Park ) with them before the tour. [5]

Some rehearsals for this tour occurred in the basement of Stephen Stills ' Laurel Canyon home. [6]

The tour began on 7 November with a warm-up show at Colorado State University , and then proceeded generally west to east, often playing two shows a night. The tour's second stop, at The Forum in Los Angeles, attracted national media attention as the outing's formal opening. [7] Shows sometimes ran past midnight, [7] [8] and the Rolling Stones' performance lasted about 75 minutes. [8] Terry Reid , B.B. King (replaced on some dates by Chuck Berry ), and Ike & Tina Turner were the supporting acts; audiences were typically in their seats for three hours, including long delays between acts, before the Rolling Stones materialized on stage. [5]

On 23 November, the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show . "Gimme Shelter" opened the show. The show closed with "Love in Vain" and "Honky Tonk Women." The band mimed to prerecorded tracks and Jagger sang live. The performance was recorded at the CBS studios in Los Angeles and edited into the show to appear like they were in New York.

In his review of the shows on 27 and 28 November at New York City's Madison Square Garden , Francis X. Clines of The New York Times characterized the tour as "the major rock event of the year." [8] Ike & Tina Turner were a fan favorite, and they reportedly upstaged the Rolling Stones. Janis Joplin joined the Turners on stage for an impromptu performance of " Land of 1000 Dances " at one of the Madison Square Garden shows. [1] [8]

Another well-known show from the tour was the second concert in Oakland, California on 9 November, which was captured on Live'r Than You'll Ever Be , one of the first-ever live bootleg recordings .

The final show of the tour as initially planned was on 28 November in New York City, but 30 November in West Palm Beach, Florida was added as a gesture to the organiser. The band also organised and headlined the free concert at Altamont on 6 December, which was tacked on at the end of the tour as a response to the high ticket prices of the tour itself. [9]

Tour manager Sam Cutler introduced the Rolling Stones as "the greatest rock and roll band in the world", a title he had first bestowed upon them at their concert in London's Hyde Park the previous July. [10] The tour set lists were derived mostly from 1968's Beggars Banquet album and the forthcoming Let It Bleed . The performance itself featured the Stones showmanship that would become familiar: Charlie Watts businesslike drumming leavened by an occasional wry smile, Bill Wyman 's undertaker persona on bass, the guitar interplay of Mick Taylor with Keith Richards , and most of all Mick Jagger 's prancing, strutting, leering and preening in front of the crowd. [5] [8] "Ah think I've busted a button on my trousers, I hope they don't fall down" he teased the audience. "You don't want my trousers to fall down, now do ya?" [11] At one point in some shows, Jagger motioned for the audience to rush past ushers to the edge of the stage; [7] of the group's reaction to the crowd's fervor, a spokesman said, "They loved it." [7]

The US was in political turmoil at the time, and some militant groups tried to portray the tour as a call for radical political action, especially in light of the Rolling Stones' 1968 track " Street Fighting Man ". [12] The Rolling Stones themselves had no such interest, and while on tour Mick Jagger publicly rebuffed a request for support from the Black Panthers . [12] Stones media appearances during the tour featured typical banter of the time on other issues; while other members of the group affected boredom, Jagger gave non-sequitur responses to cultural questions, [8] and said of New York, "It's great. It changes. It explodes." [8]

The tour sold over $1 million worth of tickets, [8] with ticket prices ranging from $3.00 to $8.00. [7] [8] This tour represented a new financial model for rock acts pioneered by Ronnie Schneider , the sole producer and financial manager of the tour. Schneider was the nephew of Allen Klein , who had been recently fired by Keith Richards and Sam Cutler. [13]

Neither Schneider nor the Stones had any money at the time to fund this endeavor so Schneider had to come up with a new business model and that meant the band getting a piece of the gross box office and demanding a 50% advance, which funded the shows. [ citation needed ]

Schneider's role involved securing box office receipts on behalf of the band. In this way, the band itself (and Schneider, whose interests were aligned with those of the band) was in control of all the money related to a tour. On behalf of the Rolling Stones, Schneider centralized the control, ownership and management of ancillary rights, licensing and the marketing of posters, T shirts , programs and other concert related materials—-vastly improving the group's revenue base while touring. Many other bands followed suit throughout the 1970s.

The 1970 concert album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! , mostly based on the Madison Square Garden shows, documented the tour, as did the Maysles brothers ' 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter which, while mostly known for its filming of Altamont, also contains substantial footage of the band's performance during the tour at Madison Square Garden. Gimme Shelter also captures Jagger's famous response to a press-conference question about whether he was "any more satisfied now": "Financially dissatisfied, sexually satisfied, philosophically trying." [8]

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – lead vocals , harmonica
• Keith Richards – guitar , backing vocals
• Mick Taylor – guitar
• Bill Wyman – bass
• Charlie Watts – drums

Additional musicians

• Ian Stewart – piano

Ike & Tina Turner Revue

• Tina Turner
• The Ikettes : Esther Jones , Pat Powdrill , Claudia Lenner
• The Kings of Rhythm

A typical set list for the tour included the following, although there were substitutions (note the presence of " Gimme Shelter " on Live'r Than You'll Ever Be and " Brown Sugar " was performed at Altamont), variations and order switches throughout the tour.

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards , except where noted.

• " Jumpin' Jack Flash "
• " Carol " ( Chuck Berry )
• " Sympathy for the Devil "
• " Stray Cat Blues "
• " Love in Vain " ( Robert Johnson )
• "Prodigal Son" ( Robert Wilkins )
• " You Gotta Move " ( Fred McDowell / Rev. Gary Davis )
• " Under My Thumb "
• " I'm Free "
• " Midnight Rambler "
• " Live with Me "
• " Little Queenie " (Berry)
• " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "
• " Honky Tonk Women "
• " Street Fighting Man "

Note: The final scheduled date of the tour was Boston, 29 November 1969. The West Palm Beach International Music and Arts Festival on 30 November and the Altamont Free Concert on 6 December were planned as separate events and added while the tour was in progress. A further four dates were completed in London, United Kingdom during December 1969; these were also separate events to the main tour.

Related Research Articles

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active across seven decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts. During their early years, Jones was the primary leader of the band. After Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager in 1963, he encouraged them to write their own songs. Jagger and Richards became the band's songwriters and primary creative forces, alienating Jones who developed a drug addiction that, by 1968, interfered with his ability to contribute meaningfully.

Sir Michael Philip Jagger is an English singer, songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and dancer. He is the frontman and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. Jagger has written most of the band's songs alongside lead guitarist Keith Richards; their songwriting partnership is one of the most successful in history, and they continue to collaborate musically. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has been widely described as one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock music. His distinctive voice and energetic live performances, along with Richards' guitar style, have been the Rolling Stones' trademark throughout the band's career. Jagger gained notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and has often been portrayed as a countercultural figure.

Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue , supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocalists called the Ikettes. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue was regarded as "one of the most potent live acts on the R&B circuit."

The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, and some anticipated that it would be a "Woodstock West". The Woodstock festival had been held in Bethel, New York, in mid-August, almost four months earlier.

Michael Kevin Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974).

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!: The Rolling Stones in Concert is the second live album by the Rolling Stones, released on 4 September 1970 on Decca Records in the UK and on London Records in the US. It was recorded in New York City and Baltimore in November 1969, just before the release of Let It Bleed . It is the first live album to reach number 1 in the UK. It was reported to have been issued in response to the well known bootleg Live'r Than You'll Ever Be . This was also the band's final release under the Decca record label and not under their own label Rolling Stones Records.

" Honky Tonk Women " is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single on 4 July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States. It topped the charts in both nations. The song was on Rolling Stone ' s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Meredith Curly Hunter Jr. was an American man who was killed at the 1969 Altamont Free Concert. During the performance by the Rolling Stones, Hunter approached the stage, and was violently driven off by members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club who had agreed to prevent members of the audience from mounting the stage. He subsequently returned to the stage area, drew a revolver, and was stabbed and beaten to death by Hells Angel Alan Passaro.

Gimme Shelter is a 1970 American 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 and the killing of Meredith Hunter. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from the group's 1969 album Let It Bleed . Gimme Shelter was screened out of competition as the opening film of the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.

" Under My Thumb " is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Under My Thumb" features a marimba played by Brian Jones. Although it was never released as a single in English-speaking countries, it is one of the band's more popular songs from the late 1960s and appears on several best-of compilations, such as Hot Rocks 1964–1971 . It was included as the fourth track on both the American and United Kingdom versions of the band's 1966 studio album Aftermath .

" Gimme Shelter " is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. It is the opening track on their 1969 album Let It Bleed . The song covers the brutal realities of war, including murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer Merry Clayton.

" Midnight Rambler " is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed . The song is a loose biography of Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler.

" It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It) " is the lead single from English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1974 album It's Only Rock 'n Roll . Writing is credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the single reached the top ten in the UK charts and top 20 in the United States.

The Rolling Stones American Tour 1972 , also known as the "Stones Touring Party", shortened to S.T.P., was a much-publicized and much-written-about concert tour of the United States and Canada in June and July 1972 by The Rolling Stones. Constituting the band's first performances in the United States following the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, critic Dave Marsh would later write that the tour was "part of rock and roll legend" and one of the "benchmarks of an era."

The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album Steel Wheels ; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome. The European leg of the tour, which featured a different stage and logo, was called the Urban Jungle Tour ; it ran from May to August 1990. These would be the last live concerts for the band with original member Bill Wyman on bass guitar. This tour would also be the longest the band had ever done up to that point, playing over twice as many shows as their standard tour length from the 1960s and 1970s.

The Rolling Stones' US Tour 1978 was a concert tour of the United States that took place during June and July 1978, immediately following the release of the group's 1978 album Some Girls . Like the 1972 and 1975 U.S. tours, Bill Graham was the tour promoter. One opening act was Peter Tosh, who was sometimes joined by Mick Jagger for their duet "Don't Look Back". The Outlaws backed up Peter Tosh. Another act opening that day was Etta James, famous for her classic song “At Last”.

The Rolling Stones' American Tour 1981 was a concert tour of stadiums and arenas in the United States to promote the album Tattoo You . It was the largest grossing tour of 1981 with $50 million in ticket sales. Roughly 2,5 million concert goers attended the concerts, setting various ticket sales records. The 5 December show in New Orleans set an indoor concert attendance record which stood for 33 years.

Live'r Than You'll Ever Be is a bootleg recording of the Rolling Stones' concert in Oakland, California, from 9 November 1969. It was one of the first live rock music bootlegs and was made notorious as a document of their 1969 tour of the United States. The popularity of the bootleg forced the Stones' labels Decca Records in the UK, and London Records in the US, to release the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert in 1970. Live'r is also one of the earliest commercial bootleg recordings in rock history, released in December 1969, just two months after the Beatles' Kum Back and five months after Bob Dylan's Great White Wonder . Like the two earlier records, Live'r ' s outer sleeve is plain white, with its name stamped on in ink.

Ronald Schneider is best known for being the business presence at the center of pivotal 1960s events including the Altamont Free Concert, the dissolution of The Beatles and the reorganization of their business arm, Apple Corps. Schneider managed the early US tours of The Rolling Stones while simultaneously dealing with the financial affairs of some of the biggest names in Rock and Roll history including the Stones, The Beatles, Neil Sedaka, Sam Cooke, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Vinton, Herman’s Hermits and the Shirelles.

• 1 2 "The Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina, B.B. King, Terry Reid" (PDF) . Cash Box : 44. 6 December 1969.
• 1 2 Robert Christgau, "The Rolling Stones", entry in The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll , Random House , 1980. pp. 198–199.
• ↑ Marsh, Dave (1987). Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s . Pantheon Books . ISBN   0-394-54668-7 . p. 15.
• ↑ "The 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years" . Rolling Stone . 12 June 2017.
• 1 2 3 4 Mike Jahn (28 November 1969). "The Rolling Stones Are Still Exciting" . The New York Times .
• ↑ "Stones rehearse in the basement of Stephen Stills' Lurel Canyon home | Musicians in 2019 | Rolling stones, Like a rolling stone, Rock, roll" . Pinterest . Retrieved 20 September 2019 .
• 1 2 3 4 5 "Rolling Stones Open Tour With West Coast Concert" . Associated Press for The New York Times . 10 November 1969.
• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Francis X. Clines (28 November 1969). "16,000 at Madison Square Garden Shout With Joy in Reaction to Sounds of Rolling Stones" . The New York Times .
• ↑ Stephen Davis. Old Gods Almost Dead. New York: Broadway Books , 2001, ISBN   0-7679-0313-7 , p. 307.
• ↑ The Rolling Stones (1969). The Stones in the Park (DVD released 2006). Network Studios.
• ↑ Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (LP). Decca Records . 1970.
• 1 2 Martin, Linda; Kerry Segrave (1993). Anti-rock: The Opposition to Rock 'n' Roll . Da Capo Press . ISBN   0-306-80502-2 . pp. 160–161.
• ↑ Cutler, Sam. "You Can't Always Get What You Want: My Life with the Rolling Stones and other Wonderful Reprobates". Heinemann. 2008. ISBN   9781741666090
• ↑ Rusten, Ian M. (2018). The Rolling Stones in Concert, 1962–1982: A Show-by-Show History . McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-3443-2 .
• 1 2 Sessa, Sam (27 November 2009). "Rolling Stones in Baltimore -- 40 years later" . The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved 26 February 2021 .

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• November 24, 1969 Setlist

The Rolling Stones Setlist at Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI, USA

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• Jumpin' Jack Flash Play Video
• Carol ( Chuck Berry  cover) Play Video
• Sympathy for the Devil Play Video
• Stray Cat Blues Play Video
• Love in Vain Blues ( Robert Johnson  cover) Play Video
• Prodigal Son ( Robert Wilkins  cover) Play Video
• You Gotta Move ( [traditional]  cover) Play Video
• Under My Thumb Play Video
• Midnight Rambler Play Video
• Live With Me Play Video
• Little Queenie ( Chuck Berry  cover) Play Video
• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Play Video
• Honky Tonk Women Play Video
• Street Fighting Man Play Video

Edits and Comments

23 activities (last edit by Gunszalo , 23 Jan 2024, 04:34 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Carol by Chuck Berry
• Little Queenie by Chuck Berry
• Love in Vain Blues by Robert Johnson
• Prodigal Son by Robert Wilkins
• You Gotta Move by [traditional]
• Stray Cat Blues
• Street Fighting Man
• Sympathy for the Devil
• Live With Me
• Midnight Rambler
• Honky Tonk Women
• Jumpin' Jack Flash
• Under My Thumb
• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

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Remembering Altamonte: The Rolling Stones Concert That Went Awry

On this day back in 1969, the Rolling Stones held a free concert in Altamont, Calif., that quickly descended into a near-riot state. The Hell's Angels provided security and one concert-goer ended up dead.

ARUN RATH, HOST:

In the minds of many, the peace and love era of the hippie ended on this day in 1969 with a near-riot.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M ALL RIGHT")

THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) Oh, baby, it's all right.

RATH: A free concert at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California descended into violence, leaving one person dead - the headlining act, The Rolling Stones. Approximately 300,000 people turned out, hoping it be a Woodstock west. In a shockingly bad example of event planning, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was asked to provide security. Tensions between the bikers, the bands and the crowd escalated throughout the day. As The Stones played out the final chords of "Under My Thumb," screams broke out. Mick Jagger tried to keep the peace.

(SOUNDBITE OF CONCERT)

MICK JAGGER: People, I mean, who's fighting, what for? Who's fighting, and what for?

RATH: In the melee in front of the stage, 18-year-old Meredith Hunter brandished a gun, and Hells Angel Alan Passaro stabbed him to death.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JAGGER: Look, that guy there - if he doesn't stop it, man - Listen, either those cats cool it, man, or we don't play.

RATH: Onlookers were confused, horrified.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I don't want him to die. Don't let him die.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: He won't die.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: But I can't hear his heart.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Now, don't worry about it.

RATH: And that's how it ended. Helpless and afraid, The Rolling Stones boarded a helicopter and flew to safety, away from the free concert they'd hoped would go down in history as a night of music and of peace.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL")

THE ROLLING STONES: (Singing) Please allow me to introduce myself.

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Reliving the Rolling Stones’ 1969 Thanksgiving Concerts

By the waning days of 1969, the Rolling Stones were well on their way to becoming the "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World." Hits like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Get Off My Cloud” and “Paint It, Black” had already made them stars. Amazingly, the group would soar to even grander heights in the ‘70s thanks to seminal albums Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. .

With the Stones on the precipice of worldwide domination, they took the stage for three shows at New York's Madison Square Garden on Nov. 27 and 28, 1969. These landmark performances would be immortalized on the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! , as well as the documentary  Gimme Shelter .

More recently, author Christopher McKittrick has chronicled the intertwining history of the Stones and the Big Apple in the book Can't Give It Away on Seventh Avenue: The Rolling Stones and New York City .

The legendary 1969 Madison Square Garden concerts deservedly received notable attention in the book. In the excerpt below, McKittrick examines the surrounding circumstances, intricate details and historical significance of those performances.

On Sept. 17, ABKCO, Allen Klein’s label, announced that the Stones would tour the United States in November and December for the first time since 1966. Their popularity hadn’t waned at all during their three-year absence. In fact, it had grown. Since then, the Stones had had two No. 1 hits (“Ruby Tuesday” and “Honky Tonk Women”) as well as a No. 3 hit (“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”) and two other Top 40 hits (“Dandelion” and “She’s a Rainbow”). Though the Stones had played a mix of theaters and arena-sized venues on the 1966 tour, they tackled larger venues this time around, with some locations getting both matinee and evening shows. Years later, Richards recalled, “It had gotten to the point by 1969 where to satisfy all our fans in a city, we had to play six or eight shows. We just didn’t have enough nights. So we either had to disappoint people or move up to bigger places.” The tour would include three concerts in two days in Manhattan, and those would be the band’s largest yet in New York City. For the Stones, it showed the surge of popularity the band had experienced over the previous three years. After drawing a crowd of nine thousand to the Forest Hills Stadium in 1966, the Stones were planning to play three shows — one on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and two on Nov. 28 — at Madison Square Garden, an arena that had broken ground just four days after the Stones’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show .

The history of Madison Square Garden, which has branded itself “The World’s Most Famous Arena” for decades, tells the story of popular entertainment in New York over the past century and a half. The arena where the Stones played three shows in 1969 — and have played more than a dozen times since — is actually the fourth version of the Garden. Three previous arenas bearing the name — the first two located adjacent to Madison Square Park, hence the name — had been operating in Manhattan since 1879. By the time the fourth Garden opened in February 1968, the arena was an entertainment destination known as the premier sporting complex in the country. The previous Garden, which was located a block west of Times Square on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets until the new arena took its place, was Manhattan’s indoor sports hub and was home to the New York Rangers, the New York Knicks, college basketball and dozens of high-profile boxing matches.

Controversially, the site selected for the new Garden was between Seventh and Eighth Avenues from 31st to 33rd Streets, and required the demolition of Pennsylvania Station, which was moved underground and below the Garden. The demolition of the historic railroad station spurned a movement to save New York’s Grand Central Terminal from a similar fate and began a preservation movement for historical buildings, including several historic venues the Stones members would later play with their solo bands. The Stones would take advantage of the historic nature of Grand Central decades later when announcing their 1989 world tour.

It’s hard to find an athlete or a performer who doesn’t hold Madison Square Garden in awe. Countless historical moments, including several involving the Rolling Stones, have happened at the arena. The Garden is celebrated for its superior sound and atmosphere. As rock journalist Al Aronowitz wrote about the arena in his 1972 review of a Stones show, “The structure is built sort of like a trampoline hanging from cables that stretch across the ceiling and the hotter the rock show, the more it bounces.” Many musicians consider headlining the Garden the true measure of “making it.” The new Garden quickly became a popular stop for top rock acts, and since opening it had already hosted several concerts, including Cream on Nov. 2, 1968 (the first rock concert at the Garden), the Doors on Jan. 24, 1969, and Jimi Hendrix on May 18, 1969. The Stones would be the first rock band to perform multiple shows at the arena.

Though the Garden could hold more than 20,000 people for concerts, the Stones capped the capacity between 16,000 and 17,000. While planning the tour, Richards explained to Rolling Stone , “In all the future gigs, we want to keep the audiences as small as possible. We’d rather play to four shows of 5,000 people each, than one mammoth 50,000 sort of number. I think we’re playing at Madison Square Garden in New York, but it will be a reduced audience, because we’re not going to allow them to sell all the seats.”

It was also the first tour on which the Stones played an extended set. In previous tours, the sets had not been much longer than a half hour and ten songs or less, which was a standard length for most touring rock groups at the time. By the end of the '60s that had changed, and groups like Cream were playing an hour to 90 minutes. The Stones followed suit by playing a fourteen-song set at Hyde Park, and would generally play 13 to 15 songs per concert during the US tour.

Despite the band’s hell-raising reputation, once the tour began with a warm-up show in Fort Collins, Col., on Nov. 7, the Stones had relatively few issues through the New York dates at the end of November. There were some complaints about ticket prices — mostly ranging from $4.50 to $8 — though in the case of New York, that was cheaper than the $5 to $12.50 that was charged for the 1966 Forest Hills concert. However, Bill Graham, who promoted the California shows, was reportedly unhappy with the concerts’ grosses. Nonetheless, Graham worked with the Stones on future tours because he believed in them. In a post-tour interview with Rolling Stone, Graham compared the Rolling Stones to the 1969 “Miracle” New York Mets, a team that had been a perennial loser since its first season in 1962 but that went on to win the World Series in 1969. Graham said, “What I hope the Stones do is turn the whole country on, do what the Mets did for New York, wake ’em up. And I think the Stones can do it. Mick Jagger is the greatest fucking performer in the whole fucking world.”

The Stones also taped performances of “Gimme Shelter,” “Love in Vain” and “Honky Tonk Women” for The Ed Sullivan Show on Nov. 18, and Jagger also taped a short interview. All of these aired on Nov. 23. Unlike with their previous appearances, however, the Stones were recorded in Los Angeles at CBS Television City studios. Sullivan told the Associated Press that he traveled cross-country because “these boys are hot, especially with the younger crowd. They’re on a concert tour, so I decided to come here and tape them. They cost a lot of money, but they’re worth it.” The Ed Sullivan Show had suffered declining ratings over the past several years, and the Stones were a proven draw. Nevertheless, this was the band’s final appearance on Sullivan’s show, which ended its lengthy run in June 1971.

The Stones hosted the only official press conference of the tour at the Rainbow Grill in Rockefeller Center on Nov. 26, just hours before they were to play the Civic Center in Baltimore 200 miles away. The Washington Post set the scene as: “After being submitted to a security check unrivaled at the Pentagon, journalists were given drinks and canapés while a string quartet played Haydn.” In contrast to how the Stones had been depicted in the media for the previous five years, the AP report said that the Stones were “the most polite persons there.” There was pandemonium among the press trying to get their questions in, leading Jagger to ask, “Shall we scream at you like you’re screaming at us?” Jagger was also asked his opinion of New York City, to which he responded, “It’s great. It changes. It explodes.” He was also asked if he had yet felt satisfied, to which he responded, “Financially dissatisfied, sexually satisfied, philosophically trying.” The most notable thing to come out of the press conference was the announcement that the group would be headlining a daylong free concert in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, though the group also shot down longstanding rumors that they would do a similar free show in Central Park. (“Now is too cold,” Jagger said. “We’ve got to do it outside. And San Francisco is really into that sort of thing.”) Part of the Stones’ motivation for doing a free performance in the U.S. was to fight back against criticism that the ticket prices for the 1969 tour were too high. After 25 minutes of mostly inane questions, the Stones were off to Baltimore.

The day after the Baltimore concert was Thanksgiving, and that night was the Stones’ first-ever performance at Madison Square Garden. While New York is known for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the most anticipated event in Manhattan that day was the Stones concert. Six thousand people had stood in line at the Garden box office to buy tickets when they went on sale on November 6, and both evening performances were sold out (the matinee performance still had “a couple of hundred” empty seats, according to Rolling Stone).

All three Garden shows had the same set list, though the order differed for the first show. Each started with the same four songs: “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Carol,” “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Stray Cat Blues.” They also ended with the same six: “Midnight Rambler,” “Live with Me,” “Little Queenie,” “Satisfaction,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Street Fighting Man.” For the middle portion, the Stones played “Love in Vain,” “Prodigal Son,” “You Gotta Move” and a medley of “Under My Thumb” and “I’m Free.” The Garden shows were recorded for both a potential live album and by filmmaking brothers Albert and David Maysles for a possible documentary.

In his review of the first show for The New York Times , Mike Jahn praised Jagger, writing that he “snarls and howls in the finest man-woman blues tradition,” and that the concert was “an enthusiastic reading of some of a fine group’s finest material.” However, he complained about the layout of the bill. The Stones did not take the stage until 11PM, three hours after the concert started. Terry Reid opened the show, followed by B.B. King and then Ike and Tina Turner (the Turners were joined by a very inebriated Janis Joplin at the first show for their set-ending “Land of a Thousand Dances”). A second report in The Times by Francis X. Clines noted that that the NYPD wasn’t overly concerned with security because it believed that “the basically middle-class audience had only holiday entertainment in mind.” The AP report was complimentary to the band in general, but seemed turned off by Jagger’s antics and remarked, “The biggest hits with the audience were those songs that put down women: ‘Under My Thumb,’ ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Honky Tonk Women.’ Teenage girls apparently wouldn’t mind being dominated by Jagger.”

The Garden shows were far more remembered for their musical quality than any onstage scandals. Nine of the 10 tracks on the band’s first live album, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! , which was released the following September, came from these three shows. The original release included “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Women” from the Nov. 27 show; “Carol,” “Stray Cat Blues,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Little Queenie ” and “Street Fighting Man” from the Nov. 28 matinee show; and “Midnight Rambler” and “Live with Me” from the evening show (the tenth track, “Love in Vain,” was recorded at the Nov. 26 Baltimore concert). Jagger and Richards re-recorded some of the vocal tracks in London in January and February 1970, though in 2009 the album was re-released with unaltered bonus tracks, featuring “Under My Thumb” and “I’m Free” from Nov. 27, “Satisfaction” from the Nov. 28 matinee show, and “Prodigal Son” and “You Gotta Move” from the evening show. An accompanying DVD also included footage of the Nov. 27 performances of “Prodigal Son,” “You Gotta Move" and “Satisfaction” and Nov. 28 matinee performances of “Under My Thumb” and “I’m Free.”

Jagger’s attire was much noted for a long red scarf that he wore, which one eager New York fan managed to grab, nearly pulling him off the stage. Jagger also had something of a wardrobe malfunction during one of the Nov. 28 shows, and teased the audience by saying, “I think I’ve busted a button on me trousers and me trousers are going to fall down. You don’t want me trousers to fall down, do you?” The third show ended with five thousand rose petals raining from the ceiling to send the Stones off.

As the NYPD predicted, the shows were without incident aside from scalpers outside charging up to $40 for a pair of tickets that cost $3.50. In fact, the biggest scandal involving the Madison Square Garden shows did not even involve the Stones at all. Gossip columnist Steven A. Brandt, who wrote for Photoplay magazine, attended the Nov. 27 show with several friends, including Ultra Violet, an actress who appeared in several of Andy Warhol’s films. Brandt left the concert early (“The concert was so lively, so opposite himself,” Violet told the Associated Press) and returned to his room at the Hotel Chelsea, the famed 23rd Street building that was a haven for artists, musicians, and writers; at one time or another, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen and Iggy Pop all called it home. Violet called Brandt after the concert, and he told her that he had taken twenty-two pills. She called the Chelsea’s night clerk, who found Brandt on the floor. Medical help was unable to get to Brandt before he died of an overdose.

Nov. 27 was also Jimi Hendrix’s 27th (and notably last) birthday. He attended the show that night and hung out with the group backstage. Interestingly enough, at an after-party for Hendrix’s birthday uptown, a moment between Jagger and Hendrix’s then-girlfriend, Devon Wilson, inspired a lyric to one of Hendrix’s final songs. Jagger had previously been involved with Wilson, and Hendrix had previously tried to steal Marianne Faithfull from Jagger while he was dating her, so there was a level of animosity between the pair. Jagger cut his finger at the party, and while a bandage was sought, Wilson grabbed Jagger’s finger and began sucking it. The moment inspired the lyric “ She drinks her blood from a jagged edge ,” in Hendrix’s song about Wilson, “Dolly Dagger.” The song was not released until October 1971, which was not only after Hendrix’s death but also after Wilson’s. She died on Feb. 19, 1971, after plunging to her death out of a ninth-floor window at the Hotel Chelsea under mysterious circumstances.

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ROLLING STONES, Altamont Festival, documentary

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The Concert That Almost Ended the Rolling Stones

On Dec. 6, 1969, the Altamont Free Concert put a cap on the sixties, literally and figuratively. The Northern California music festival was to be the West Coast equivalent of Woodstock in spirit and size. 

While it was about 300,000 strong, its spirit was dashed by the deaths of four people. Meredith Hunter’s murder was the most well-known, and the top-billed band, the Rolling Stones, suffered its effects for the following decade. 

Over 50 years later, Altamont remains a cautionary tale and is one of the most controversial concerts of all time. 

A West Coast Woodstock

After the success of Woodstock, the Jefferson Airplane’s Spencer Dryden and Jorma Kaukonen talked about staging a  free concert  of equal magnitude somewhere in the Bay Area.

Golden Gate Park was the target venue, and both men wanted the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones on the bill. 

"Next to the Beatles, they were the biggest rock and roll band in the world, and we wanted them to experience what we were experiencing in San Francisco," Dryden said.

Scrambling to Find a Venue

Just a few weeks into planning, Golden Gate Park was no longer on the table. Sears Point Raceway was the next option, but its owners wanted too much money upfront.

The day before the event, Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California, was offered to event organizers as a venue.

"There was no way to control it," Paul Kantner, from Jefferson Airplane, said. "No supervision or order."

Hundreds of Thousands of Music Fans Gathered for the Show

With such little time to pull things together, there were none of the necessities needed for such a large festival, including medical tents and portable toilets.

Because of the sudden move from Sears Point to Altamont, there was no time to redesign a stage. The bands would be only about 40 inches above the audience, which would contribute to problems later on. 

Altamont Speedway Had Logistical Problems

"Another  two feet of elevation  for the stage would have taken care of the problems," Chip Monck, the lighting designer, explained. "Back then, there wasn’t a concert lighting system, so there wasn’t anybody around to do something.

"We had 48 hours from leaving Sears Point to build Altamont. We should’ve realized there wasn’t enough time to do it correctly. That snowball had already gotten too big to control. 

"I placed the stage. I had no idea there would be such uncontrolled pressure.  There wasn’t anything logically or realistically I could do without the proper equipment."

The Security Issue

The Hells Angels were hired as security on the recommendation of the Grateful Dead.

That decision would later prove to be disastrous. 

Too Many People, Not Enough Direction

According to Monck, "The Dead camp — [manager Rock] Scully, Emmett Grogan and Sam Cutler — just assigned the stage to them, giving them a bushel basket full of assorted pills and a truckload of beer.  But if you don’t tell people what they’re supposed to be doing, things happen to go astray."

Accounts Differ on the Angels Hiring

Both the Dead and the Angels said that was not entirely true. 

 "The Angels would make sure nobody tampered with the generators, but that was the extent of it," said Sam Cutler, the Grateful Dead/Rolling Stones tour manager. "But there was no way 'they're going to be the police force' or anything like that."

Sonny Barger, the president of the Hells Angels, explained it like this:

"I ain't no cop, I ain't never going to ever pretend to be no cop. I didn't go there to police nothing, man. 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. And that's what I went there to do."

The Stones' Hyde Park Experience

The Stones had a different view of the Hells Angels than what they would experience at Altamont. They hired them in the United Kingdom for a free show in London’s Hyde Park. The English bikers didn’t cause any problems, but the California contingent was a much different animal. 

"Hells Angels don’t do security" singer-songwriter-guitarist  David Crosby said . "Hells Angels fight. They like to fight. It’s part of their M.O. They fight all the time. They’re good at it, okay? If you don’t want the tiger to eat your lunch guests, don’t invite the f---ing tiger to the lunch.

Santana Opens the Show

Santana opened Altamont and performed mostly without a hitch. However, things quickly deteriorated. During "Soul Sacrifice," a scuffle broke out in front of the stage, and the band stopped playing.

"A guy takes off all of his clothes and tries to climb up onstage. ... He was using his dancing as an excuse to stomp people, and the Angels then came in and started beating him up with pool cues," said Bill Owens, a photographer.

A Jefferson Airplane Member Is Assaulted

When Jefferson Airplane hit the stage, things took another turn for the worse. The crowd toppled one of the Angels' motorcycles, which caused the Angels to assault everyone in their path, including performers. Airplane singer  Marty Balin  tried to intervene, but was knocked unconscious. 

"I couldn’t see anything," artist Grace Slick said. "I saw bodies moving vaguely over on my left, which is where Marty was, and I went back to the drums and said to Spencer [Dryden], 'What the hell is going on?' And he said, 'The Angels are kind of beating up Marty.'"

Regardless of the Violence, the Show Continues

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young took the stage after the skirmishes around Jefferson Airplane. Singer Stephen Stills was stabbed in the leg repeatedly by an Angel during the band's set. 

"I don’t leave if I’ve said I’m going to play a gig," David Crosby said.

The Grateful Dead’s Fateful Decision

The Dead were up next, but decided to leave as a result of the violence. They did not play a note. 

"Grateful Dead music cannot happen in a situation like that," drummer Mickey Hart said. "We couldn't have brought our spirits to bear to be able to do Grateful Dead music justice, and we just said, 'This isn't a place for us.'"

A Two-Hour Gap

The Dead’s exit gave nearly two hours of downtime for the audience. This decision made both more agitated. 

"[It was] one of the great acts of moral cowardice in the history of the music business," Cutler said. "They [the Grateful Dead]  didn’t trust their own music. Whether they could have done anything to rescue the event by playing is a moot point, but they didn’t."

The Rolling Stones Arrive Late

When the stones got to the venue, they were unaware of the atmosphere, and the violence that had already occurred. mick jagger was almost immediately punched in the face upon arrival. .

 "I hate you," said the concertgoer who punched Jagger.

The Rolling Stones Take the Stage

By the Stones' third song, "Sympathy for the Devil," Jagger saw just how tense the situation is and stopped the song. He implored the crowd and the Angels to remain calm. 

"Hey, people. Sisters. Brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters. Come on, now,"  Jagger said . "That means everybody just cool out. Will you cool out, everybody. I know. Everybody, be cool now. Come on. Alright? How are we doing over there? Alright? Can we still make it down the front? Is there anyone there that's hurt, huh? Everyone alright? OK? Alright. I think we are cool. We can go. We always havin' something very funny happens when we start that number."

The Situation Only Gets Worse

Despite how dire everything had become, the band stayed on stage in an effort to keep the peace and launched into "Under My Thumb."

"It could have gotten a lot worse, man [if we left.]  That could have been a really big disaster," Stones guitarist Keith Richards said. "Who knows what else would have happened?"

Some Audience Members Want to Leave

Two concertgoers in the audience were Meredith Hunter, 18, and his girlfriend, Patti Bredehoft, 17. They were excited for the free show, but were ready to leave by late afternoon.

Bredehoft later admitted she felt as if they were a target as a mixed-race couple (Hunter was Black). She headed back to the car, but Meredith convinced her to stay and see the Stones.

"I didn’t really want to go back again, but he persuaded me," Bredehoft said. "I didn’t know he had a gun. But when he came to get me and take me back, he went into the trunk and got it out. I think I said, 'What do you need that for?' He said, 'Just for protection.'"

Meredith Hunter Gets Too Close

When Meredith and Patty returned to the area, he tried to get on stage with a few other audience members. He was punched by an Angel and chased back through the crowd. His girlfriend begged him to move further away, but he became irrationally angry at the altercation. 

"I saw what [Hunter] was looking at, that he was crazy, he was on drugs, and that he had murderous intent," Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully said. "There was no doubt in my mind that he intended to do terrible harm to Mick or somebody in the Rolling Stones, or somebody on that stage."

Meredith Hunter Pulls Out His Gun

He aimed toward the stage. The Stones kept playing, unaware of what’s about to happen. 

"You couldn't see anything," Mick Jagger said. "It was just another scuffle."

Meredith Hunter Is Murdered

The Angels saw the gun and descended on Meredith Hunter.

"He [Meredith] tried to scramble, you know, through the crowd, to run from the Hells Angel, and four other Hells Angels jumped on him,"  a concertgoer said . "They started mugging him and he was running straight into the crowd, you know, pushing people away, you know, to run from the Hells Angels. ... One Hell’s Angel pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the back."

His Girlfriend Remembers the Moment Differently

"I remember him getting punches," said Patti Bredehoft, Hunter's girlfriend. "That’s when he turned and that’s when he pulled the gun out. But he wasn’t pointing it at the stage or Mick Jagger. He was pointing it at some Hells Angels that were coming after him."

Mickey Hart Believes the Angels May Have Saved Mick Jagger’s Life

While various witnesses saw the Angels taunt Meredith Hunter throughout the day, Mickey Hart believed some good may have come out of the incident. 

“He was headed right toward Mick with his gun pointed," Hart explained. "What [Angel Alan Passaro] did was really heroic in some ways, running toward somebody with a gun and confronting them."

Documentarians Unknowingly Capture the Moment on Film

Albert and David Maysles were brothers who were shooting the Stones tour of 1969-70 for a documentary. They did not release that they captured Meredith’s death on film.

Even after he had been stabbed, the Angels kept up their assault on him. He had been beaten and kicked, stabbed several more times, and someone slammed a trash can lid against his head. 

"I remember screaming and trying to go to him and people pulling me back, trying to protect me, more or less," Bredehoft said. "And then I remember this one Hells Angel turning around and grabbing me and telling me, 'Why are you crying over him? He’s not worth it.'"

Taking the Blame

After the show, many of the parties deflected responsibility for what happened. 

"The simple truth is that the Stones were in charge of the concert, with Mick Jagger making the calls behind the scenes," Joel Selvin wrote in "Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day." 

Sonny Barger offered the justification for the Angels' actions.

"When they started messing over our bikes, they started it," Barger said. "Ain't nobody gonna kick my motorcycle. When you're standing there, looking at something that's your life ... and you love that thing better than you love anything in the world ... you know who that guy is. You're gonna get him. [And] when they jumped on an Angel, they got hurt."

The End of An Era

Whereas Woodstock was the pinnacle of the hippie era, Altamont truly marks its end and the end of the youth culture of the late 1960s. 

"Altamont became, whether fairly or not, a symbol for the death of the Woodstock Nation," music critic Robert Christgau explained. "Writers focus on Altamont not because it brought on the end of an era but because it provided such a complex metaphor for the way an era ended."

Mick Jagger Was on a Hit List for the Next Decade

The Angels were angry about what had happened at Altamont for well over a decade, and it's alleged they attempted to murder lead Stone Mick Jagger.  

"Jagger did not want to pay the [Angels] legal fees, they were $50,000, which was pocket change probably even back then," George Christie, a former Hells Angel, said. "He was just being stubborn. ... He actually sent a professional security guy down to 3rd street in New York, the famous Hells Angels clubhouse in New York. And he lifted his shirt like an idiot, the butt of his gun was showing. The guys took his gun, hit him over the head with it and sent him down the street." 

Eventually, the Angels sent out a team to blow up  Jagger’s yacht , but they were foiled by a storm, and their boat capsized. 

An Acquittal

Angel Alan Passaro claimed he acted in self-defense and was acquitted for the murder of Meredith Hunter.

"How do I put it?" Dixie Ward, Meredith Hunter’s sister, reflected. "Black people have been in these situations a lot of times. And we don’t expect for people to have helped a black person. I don’t need Meredith to be remembered by anybody but me and my family. I carry him. And I don’t need a crowd to carry him with me."

Half-Hour of Lost Footage of Rolling Stones’ Altamont Festival Unveiled by Library of Congress

    Source :  https://variety.com/2022/music/news/altamont-rolling-stones-footage-unseen-library-congress-1235149628/

Nearly a half-hour of unseen 8mm footage of  the Rolling Stones , the Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and other artists performing at Altamont has been recovered by the Library of Congress and published on its website, thanks to an unlikely find among 200,000 reels of film that were acquired 20 years ago.

The footage is silent and on the crude side by contemporary standards, and does not appear to have been shot by the documentary crew shooting the footage that ended up in the film “Gimme Shelter. ” The portions that include the Stones ’ nighttime performance are nearly too murky to make out, and there’s nothing in it related to the stabbing death of an audience member during that set that made Altamont go down in history.

Nonetheless, the daytime parts of the “home movie” will be fascinating to aficionados of late ’60s rock, offering close-up shots of some of the legends of that era from a position on or close to the stage, including glimpses of many artists that were never seen in the “ Gimme Shelter ” movie, caught in performance or just casually hanging out behind the stage.

According to a  blog post on the Library of Congress’ website,  the two reels newly put up for public viewing are believed to be “an orphan work, in this case abandoned at Palmer Labs by whoever shot it. They just never picked it up.”

Their acquisition dates back to 1996, when archivist Rick Prelinger bought 200,000 reels from Palmer Labs , a San Francisco film processing company, as it was going out of business, with no other interest than eventually scouring the non-pro footage for their interest as ephemeral films. In 2002, the collection was bought by the Library of Congress , which announced at the time that it “would take several years… to provide access to these films,” though archivists now note that it’s been 19 years and they’re still being gone through.

Recently, according to the blog, a technician came across two reels of 8mm reversal positive footage with handwriting on the film leader that bore the words “ Stones in the Park .” That title was marked down in the inventory, and Mike Mashon , head of the Moving Image Section , became interested when he saw it, imagining that it might be a home movie of the Stones’ Hyde Park concert in 1969. The 2K digitization process revealed it actually was from Altamont and contained shots of multiple acts on the bill, including Santana and the Jefferson Airplane as well as the aforementioned groups.

“Although the footage is silent,” Mashon writes,” we were all thrilled to see close-up footage of concert performers who were cut from the (Maysles brothers ’) film, such as Carlos Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young . ( CNSY wasn’t pleased with their performance and refused to let the Maysles include them.) 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 Jagge r and Keith Richards off-stage watching him perform!”

The footage also includes plenty of crowd shots, including scenes where the air appears to be filled with mysterious projectiles. A commenter on the blog writes an explanation: “At 10:22 of the video those flying objects were plastic coffee can lids. We hitchhiked there and in the guys’ van were bags full of lids. We were far up the hill and started flying the frisbees into the crowd.”

Mashon told the Washington Post they still hope to learn who shot the footage, and to solve the mystery of how he or she had such good stage access to capture the apparently amateur footage. “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,” he said. “If we had been able to track down a name we would have pursued that. But there were no clues, and the fate of the person behind the camera that day is unknown.”

Watch the 25 minutes of footage  here .

Source :  https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2022/01/the-rolling-stones-hells-angels-and-altamont-a-new-view/

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Longest-running Billboard #1 singles from the 1960s

The 1960s are often remembered as a decade of social and political change, in a manner not dissimilar to today's climate . Amid the upheaval of gender norms and racial bias, popular music was undergoing its own revolution. While the music of the 1960s began with the lullaby-like sounds of Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers, the decade of peace and love ended with the socially conscious grooves of Marvin Gaye and psychedelic funk of Sly & The Family Stone and the 5th Dimension.

It's difficult to know if these acts were as popular as today's culture suggests or if society is remembering them through rose-colored glasses. Were iconic acts like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones the reigning kings of the charts? Or did one-hit wonders like the Archies and Zager and Evans hold that #1 spot the longest?

In order to sort it all out, Stacker has turned to one source that remembers the 1960s more clearly than anyone: the Billboard charts. Using data from the  Billboard Hot 100 archives (current as of June 2022), Stacker compiled a ranking of all #1 singles between 1960-1969. Songs that spent the same amount of time on the charts are ranked in the order they were released. Read on to see which singles kept Billboard listeners grooving up through the Summer of Love and beyond.

#44. Sugar, Sugar

- Artist: The Archies - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Sept. 20, 1969

While Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead can be found today on The CW's teen drama "Riverdale," they were busy tearing up the charts in 1969. The fictional band—comprised of co-songwriter Andy Kim and local session musicians—was assembled by Don Kirshner, the talent manager who put together The Monkees, among other famous groups of the era.

#43. Honky Tonk Women

- Artist: The Rolling Stones - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Aug. 23, 1969

The first single to be released after the death of their rhythm guitarist, Brian Jones, this country-influenced tune helped get the Stones their third #1 on the Billboard chart. Although the song's lyrics reference the American West, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote it while on tour in Brazil.

- Artist: Tommy Roe - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: March 15, 1969

Although this song spent four weeks at the top of the charts, it was the last #1 hit for Tommy Roe. The song lives on, however, having been covered numerous times since its release in 1968.

#41. Everyday People

- Artist: Sly & the Family Stone - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Feb. 15, 1969

This first #1 hit from Sly and the Family Stone was also the first single from their fourth album, "Stand!" Some have argued that Sly's message of racial acceptance is just as relevant today as it was in 1968.

#40. This Guy's in Love with You

- Artist: Herb Alpert - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: June 22, 1968

As an artist who split his time between singing and playing trumpet in the Tijuana Brass Band, Herb Alpert is considered an unlikely chart success by today's standards . However, Alpert would see the top of the Billboard charts again in 1979 with the instrumental track "Rise."

#39. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

- Artist: Otis Redding - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: March 16, 1968

This posthumous release from Otis Redding won two Grammys in 1968, for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance and Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Although it has since become one of Redding's most popular songs, record executives almost didn't release it after it was recorded .

#38. Daydream Believer

- Artist: The Monkees - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Dec. 2, 1967

This last #1 hit for The Monkees was written by songwriter John Stewart, who had previously made his name as a part of the Kingston Trio. Despite the song's dark lyrics about the pitfalls of suburban marriage, it provided a successful swan song for the teen-pop band.

#37. The Letter

- Artist: Box Tops - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Sept. 23, 1967

This blue-eyed soul hit introduced listeners to singer Alex Chilton, who would later go on to front the cult classic '70s group Big Star. As if being the frontman of two successful rock groups wasn't enough, Chilton recorded the vocals for "The Letter" when he was only 16.

#36. Ode to Billie Joe

- Artist: Bobbie Gentry - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Aug. 26, 1967

At the time of its release, the plot of this mysterious country ballad left listeners so fascinated that it was later adapted into a novel and a film. Although Bobbie Gentry abruptly retired from music in 1983, she has continued to serve as an influence for today's country and folk artists.

- Artist: The Association - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: July 1, 1967

This song was the second #1 hit for The Association, a California pop band with multiple vocalists. Jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery later scored his highest-charting hit with his cover of the song.

#34. Groovin'

- Artist: The Young Rascals - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: May 20, 1967

By the time the Young Rascals released this 1967 hit, they were widely known for soul and R&B numbers like "Lonely Too Long" and "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore." However, it took the Latin grooves of "Groovin'," inspired by lead singer Felix Cavaliere's time in New York's Catskill Mountains, to send them to the top of the charts.

#33. Somethin' Stupid

- Artist: Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: April 15, 1967

This duet between Nancy Sinatra and Ol' Blue Eyes himself is known as the only father-daughter duet to hit #1 on the Billboard charts. Although the song's romantic lyrics left some listeners feeling uneasy, the duo would sing together again on the singles "Feelin' Kinda Sunday" and "Life's a Trippy Thing" in 1970 and 1971, respectively.

#32. Yesterday

- Artist: The Beatles - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Oct. 9, 1965

This melancholy ballad kept Paul McCartney and the rest of the Beatles on top of the charts for four weeks straight. It continues to be a regular part of McCartney's setlist whenever he tours. Not bad for a song that started out as an ode to breakfast food .

#31. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

- Artist: The Rolling Stones - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: July 10, 1965

Although this song became famous for its now-iconic guitar riff, it could have had a much different sound. Keith Richards recorded the riff in his sleep after hearing it in a dream, and intended to replace it with a horn section in the recording studio.

#30. Baby Love

- Artist: The Supremes - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Oct. 31, 1964

By the time the Supremes recorded this classic R&B number, they were struggling to shake their reputation as a "no-hit" girl group . Fortunately for them, "Baby Love" was the first of the group's five #1 hits, two of which they'd earn within the same year.

#29. There! I've Said It Again

- Artist: Bobby Vinton - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: January 4, 1964

Bobby Vinton recorded the vocals for his cover of this 1945 hit in one take. He'd later see the top of the charts at the end of 1964 with his hit "Mr. Lonely."

#28. Dominique

- Artist: The Singing Nun - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Dec. 7, 1963

This 1963 track from former Dominican nun Jeannine Deckers is known as the only Belgian track to hit #1 on the American Billboard charts. While "The Singing Nun" never again reached the commercial heights of "Dominique," a  2009 biopic drew new attention to her unlikely pop career.

#27. He's So Fine

- Artist: The Chiffons - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: March 30, 1963

Although this debut single from the Chiffons was enough to send them to the top of the charts, it was the group's only #1 hit. The song later became the focal point of a lawsuit against former Beatle George Harrison, who was accused of plagiarizing the song for his 1970 hit "My Sweet Lord."

#26. Roses Are Red (My Love)

- Artist: Bobby Vinton - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: July 14, 1962

This 1962 hit was a career-saver for Bobby Vinton, who picked the song from a pile of rejects after a meeting with his record label turned sour. The song would later be featured in Martin Scorsese's film "Goodfellas," where it was lip-synced by Vinton's son Robbie.

#25. Runaway

- Artist: Del Shannon - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: April 24, 1961

This haunting 1961 track was the first and only #1 hit for Del Shannon. Although he never matched the success of "Runaway," he continued to tour and record music up until his death in 1990.

#24. Stuck on You

- Artist: Elvis Presley - Number of weeks at #1: 4 - Date first entered into Hot 100: April 25, 1960

Elvis Presley's first #1 hit marked his return to the charts after a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. He later performed the track on "The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis," where Sinatra introduced the King of Rock and Roll to an even wider audience.

#23. Get Back

- Artist: The Beatles with Billy Preston - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: May 24, 1969

This 1969 track was recorded for a hypothetical album called "Get Back," meant to serve as a shot in the arm for the Fab Four after the difficult sessions for their 1968 self-titled "White" album. Although the "Get Back" album wasn't released until after the Beatles' breakup in 1970—then retitled "Let It Be"—the track was a late-career success for the band.

#22. People Got to Be Free

- Artist: The Rascals - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Aug. 17, 1968

Coming just one year after the success of their #1 hit "Groovin'," "People Got to Be Free" marked the last time the Rascals saw the top of the charts. The song was inspired by the racial tension the band witnessed when touring the southern U.S.

- Artist: Bobby Goldsboro - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: April 13, 1968

Bobby Goldsboro's only #1 hit tells the story of a widower as he remembers his deceased wife. While the song's tear-jerking lyrics were enough to send it to #1 for five weeks, it hasn't been remembered fondly by some members of the Flower Power generation.

#20. Love is Blue

- Artist: Paul Mauriat - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Feb. 10, 1968

Although this song debuted as an entry in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest , it was Paul Mauriat's instrumental cover that took "Love is Blue" to the top of the charts. Mauriat's recording is emblematic of the "easy-listening" genre that became popular in the 1960s and was even featured on a season finale of the '60s period drama "Mad Men."

#19. To Sir With Love

- Artist: Lulu - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Oct. 21, 1967

This #1 comes from the soundtrack of the 1967 film of the same name, in which Sidney Poitier plays a Black engineer who takes a job teaching a class of white children. "To Sir With Love" came into the spotlight once again in 2017 when the "Saturday Night Live" cast parodied the song as a farewell to former U.S. President Barack Obama.

#18. Ballad of the Green Berets

- Artist: SSgt Barry Sadler - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: March 5, 1966

In contrast to many of the anti-war songs of the 1960s, this #1 hit is a send-up to the Green Berets of the Army Special Forces. Songwriter Barry Sadler was a member of the Special Forces himself  and wrote the song after leaving the military due to injuries.

#17. Can't Buy Me Love

- Artist: The Beatles - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: April 4, 1964

This 1964 hit for the Beatles was written while the group was playing a residency in Paris. The song's romantic, anti-consumerist lyrics have caused listeners to speculate that it may be an ode to prostitution. However, songwriter Paul McCartney has strongly denied these allegations .

#16. Sugar Shack

- Artist: Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Oct. 12, 1963

This song's famous whistle-sounding riff is the product of a 1940s Hammond organ, played in the studio by producer Norman Petty. It was the only #1 for Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, who made the charts for the first time in 1964 with "Ain't Gonna Tell Anybody."

#15. Big Girls Don't Cry

- Artist: The Four Seasons - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Nov. 17, 1962

The second #1 hit for the Four Seasons,"Big Girls Don't Cry" features the same falsetto vocals that sent their debut "Sherry" to the top of the charts. The song's lyrics were inspired by the strained gender relations depicted in films like "Tennessee's Partner."

#14. Sherry

- Artist: The Four Seasons - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Sept. 15, 1962

The Four Seasons' debut single was also the band's first of five #1 hits. Songwriter and keyboardist Bob Gaudio claimed to have written the song in 15 minutes , a process that was later depicted in the hit Broadway musical and film "Jersey Boys."

#13. I Can't Stop Loving You

- Artist: Ray Charles - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: June 2, 1962

This 1962 single comes from Charles' album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music." At the time when the Civil Rights Movement was still a grassroots campaign, Charles' decision to record a country album was seen as a radical choice by the music industry .

#12. Big Bad John

- Artist: Jimmy Dean - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Nov. 6, 1961

The inspiration for this 1961 hit came from John Minto, an actor Jimmy Dean had befriended earlier in his career. Although the song was Jimmy Dean's only #1 hit, the singer's name would later become ubiquitous through his popular brand of breakfast sausages.

#11. It's Now or Never

- Artist: Elvis Presley - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Aug. 15, 1960

Although Elvis became famous for the raucous sound of hits like "Hound Dog" and "A Big Hunk O' Love," it was this reworking of a 1901 Italian tune that would become one of his biggest hits. Elvis was introduced to the song while serving in the U.S. Army and requested that his publisher write English lyrics for the tune originally known as "O Sole Mio."

#10. Cathy's Clown

- Artist: The Everly Brothers - Number of weeks at #1: 5 - Date first entered into Hot 100: May 23, 1960

The Everly Brothers' first #1 hit after signing a $1 million contract with Columbia Records didn't come easy to the duo. "Cathy's Clown" was the ninth single they recorded for their label debut. The song was later an unlikely #1 for Reba McEntire , who recorded the song with slightly altered lyrics in 1989.

#9. In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)

- Artist: Zager and Evans - Number of weeks at #1: 6 - Date first entered into Hot 100: July 12, 1969

Although this futuristic 1969 hit sent Zager and Evans blasting off to the top of the charts, their pop career would stall out well before the year 2525. None of the band's subsequent singles cracked the Billboard Hot 100, landing the group firmly on "planet one-hit wonder."

#8. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)

- Artist: The 5th Dimension - Number of weeks at #1: 6 - Date first entered into Hot 100: April 12, 1969

While the 1967 musical "Hair" garnered controversy for its open depictions of the free love movement , its music had no problem wooing listeners. This medley of two tracks from the musical granted the 5th Dimension their first #1 hit.

#7. Are You Lonesome Tonight?

- Artist: Elvis Presley - Number of weeks at #1: 6 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Nov. 28, 1960

Much like "It's Now or Never," "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was a reworking of a decades-old pop hit. Although "Lonesome" was written in 1926 by Roy Turk and Lou Handman, Elvis Presley's modern, quiet croon and vocal echo made the tune a hit with audiences more than three decades later.

#6. I Heard It Through the Grapevine

- Artist: Marvin Gaye - Number of weeks at #1: 7 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Dec. 14, 1968

When Marvin Gaye took to the microphone to record "Grapevine," the song was already a Motown classic, having been recorded by Gladys Knight in 1967. Fortunately, listeners didn't mind hearing Gaye's take on the song, which inspired a number of covers from artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Roger Troutman, and punk band the Slits.

#5. I'm a Believer

- Artist: The Monkees - Number of weeks at #1: 7 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Dec. 31, 1966

The Monkees' second #1 hit was penned by acclaimed songwriter Neil Diamond, who would later go on to have three #1 hits of his own. Smash Mouth covered the song for the soundtrack of the 2001 film "Shrek,"  albeit to much less acclaim .

#4. I Want to Hold Your Hand

- Artist: The Beatles - Number of weeks at #1: 7 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Feb. 1, 1964

The Beatles' first #1 hit in America marked the start of the British Invasion , as well as the Beatles' dominance over the pop charts for the rest of the decade. Over the course of their six-year career, their songs would top the Billboard Hot 100 for a grand total of 59 weeks.

#3. Tossin' and Turnin'

- Artist: Bobby Lewis - Number of weeks at #1: 7 - Date first entered into Hot 100: July 10, 1961

Although Bobby Lewis' debut single sent him tossin' and turnin' to the top of the charts, once he tumbled down, he never got back up. The singer followed the biggest hit of 1961 with three more singles , none of which matched the success of "Tossin' and Turnin'."

#2. Hey Jude

- Artist: The Beatles - Number of weeks at #1: 9 - Date first entered into Hot 100: Sept. 28, 1968

This Beatles ballad marked the first single released by the group's then newly minted label, Apple Records. Written by Paul McCartney as a pick-me-up for John Lennon's son, Julian, the song became the longest-charting single the Beatles ever released. The song remains a favorite among fans of the Fab Four, with a handwritten copy of the song's lyrics going up for sale for $375,000 in 2018 .

#1. Theme from A Summer Place

- Artist: Percy Faith and His Orchestra - Number of weeks at #1: 9 - Date first entered into Hot 100: February 22, 1960

Remarkably, the Beatles' only match for chart length in the '60s is this instrumental recording of a song from the 1959 film "A Summer Place." Although the song marks Percy Faith's only #1 hit, it won him the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1960.

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