Cutler Remembers Altamont

Sam Cutler, the tour manager for the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour, opens up about the Altamont Speedway concert fiasco in his new book, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

He denies the Stones organised the disastrous California outdoor concert (he says it was the folks behind the Woodstock festival) or paid the Hells Angels motorcycle gang $500 worth of beer for security.

Cutler, who now lives in Australia, recounts how the band was petrified as the Angels entourage beat music fans with pool cues and killed an 18-year-old after an altercation. He wanted the Stones to go on two hours early to avoid playing in the dark, but bassist Bill Wyman had gone shopping.

Cutler accuses the police on site of being “cowards” who did nothing to stop the Angels. He didn’t see the Stones again until 2003, when he went backstage at an Australian show and received a warm welcome:

“Fuck me, Sam Cutler. Or should I say fuck you?” he quoted Keith Richards saying.