Thanks for letting us know about that, Soda - does indeed make you wonder. Very sad!
Thanks for letting us know about that, Soda - does indeed make you wonder. Very sad!
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
Back in the day when free outdoor concerts were wild and crazy and some frighteningly violent and even deadly ... here is a video of the band performing at the Altamont Speedway in December 1969. You can see Marty being pushed or jumping off the stage to try and calm things down only to be punched in the head and knocked out.
http://youtu.be/D3JvyvgPtN4
I was still in high school but my older brother and his college friends went to this concert.
After high school I l saw Jefferson Airplane in SF and later Jefferson Starship. Grace Slick was truly amazing - loved all the band Marty was very talented. What a legacy!
FYI a very cool and calm Grace Slick commenting on the escalating violence and purpose of the Hells Angels. It was a very very bad scene.
Addendum: If you haven't seen video of this infamous concert please be forewarned. It is graphic.
Last edited by Dawn; 10-16-2018 at 03:39 PM.
"Let's burn our long johns and head west" - Glenn Frey 1948-2016
Wow! Thank you, Dawn.
I love Grace Slick. I think I read she's the first female musician to have a #1 single with a song she wrote.
You're welcome NMB. I just watched this video again and all I can say is I am very glad I was not at this concert. Luckily my brother and his college buddies were nowhere near the stage where most of the violence took place. My parents heard about what happened and were horrified. I was banned from attending any concerts until I was 18 and even then they were not enthusiastic lol.
Re Altamont: lIIRC it was free. Mick Jagger and Grace Slick had a pre-festival meeting about hiring the Hells Angels as security but never expected it would become so violent. You can see in the video there was a lot of beer and drugs, nudity, fans tripping out some very aggressive others mellow.
FWIW I have read that Grace and Marty didn't get along all that well. Grace was a beautiful woman with great stage presence. She stopped performing and got into painting. I would love one of her White Rabbit ones! Her promotional interviews back then with late night tv hosts are classic!
"Let's burn our long johns and head west" - Glenn Frey 1948-2016
Marty said some terrible, vile things about Grace. To be even-handed, the way she acted toward him would be termed sexual harassment today. No doubt, there was love between them - on a spiritual level, if nowhere else.
Did you notice a strange dynamic between Marty and Grace when you saw them? He has said she was often so drunk he had to hold her up.
Honestly I can't recall a specific incident where I saw Marty interacting with Grace in a way that would suggest to me they had a bad relationship. I do remember Grace performing while under the influence but whether she was drunk, stoned or on psychedelic drugs like LSD I don't know. What I do know is this was a time when fans were often as wasted as some of the legendary bands of the era like Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix etc. In short, it was the best of times in terms of the diversity of music emerging on the West Coast especially in SF and it was the worst of times in terms of the counter culture movement which got progressively more violent because of the Vietnam War, politics, etc. Marty was a big fan of the bands original female lead singer Ingrid (who I never saw perform) and it appears he never really hit it off with Grace. She was a veritable force of nature ... quoted as saying she had as much fun as the guys did ... Paraphrasing .. and like others of that generation most likely considers herself lucky to have survived.
"Let's burn our long johns and head west" - Glenn Frey 1948-2016