Though it may be beyond the grasp of today’s musically inclined youth, there actually was a time when the Rolling Stones lived up to their moniker of “the World’s Greatest Rock n’ Roll Band.” Wanting to capture the Stones at the height of their powers, filmmakers Charlotte Zwerin and Albert and David Maysles set out to chronicle their 1969 U.S. tour. And while we get a bit of the Madison Square Garden performance (memorialized on the live album “Get Your Ya Ya’s Out”) and some behind the scenes mixing (most of which became their next studio album “Sticky Fingers”), the eventual documentary Gimme Shelter (1970) concentrates on the band as they gear up for, perform at and reflect on Altamont.
The “Altamont Speedway Free Festival” took place on December 6th, 1969, a mere four months after Woodstock. Featuring a comparable amount of hippies and counter culture attitude to complement performances from Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Flying Burrito Brothers along with the Rolling Stones (who helped with organizing the concert), Altamont was built up as a west coast version of the iconic 60’s rock event. Yet due to a fatal incident of violence that erupted between a Hell’s Angel biker, hired as security, and a crowd member, the festival has been written off by many as a brutal footnote to late 60’s culture.
As director Albert Maysles states in the Blu-ray commentary, this is more than a “concert film.” Gimme Shelter acts as a cultural document that offsets the “peace and love” vibe of Woodstock by showing the darker side of the decade. As with the Woodstock film experience, we get a nice cross section of the crowd (estimated at around 300,000 in attendance), in all their dirty, sometimes naked and often drugged up glory plus logistical highlights on how the show came together (including dealing with the crowd, parking, traffic, technical setup, etc). Yet as the Blu-ray’s cover so clearly states (and despite the inclusion of a few tunes by Ike and Tina Turner or Jefferson Airplane), this is a Rolling Stones film.
And here lies the good and bad of this classic concert documentary. The majority of the band’s performances are truly awesome as they were playing at the peak of their musical prowess. Yet we have to endure many moments of the crowd being disorderly (which is kinda the point considering the film’s focus) and “Sympathy for the Devil,” which is so entrancing on “Ya Ya’s,” is basically ruined here with the constant interruptions and Mick’s attempts to calm down the unruly throng of attendees. Add in the agony and the aftermath of the “incident” that is sometimes literally (it is perversely interesting to watch Mick review the footage of the stabbing in slow motion) and often thematically present throughout the film and you don’t end up with an easily digestible rock n’ roll experience. But anyone who wants to share in the history of 1960’s musical culture and the Rolling Stones owes it to themselves to seek out Gimme Shelter.
Criterion upgrades their DVD edition of Gimme Shelter with a new Blu-ray package that includes cleaned up HD visuals, a nice lossless audio boost and all the previous supplements (upgraded to high-def when applicable though not repaired that well) which are not overwhelming but do delve deeper into the Altamont back story. Per expectations, the BD is graced with a 36 page booklet that compiles informative essays from five critics/journalists in addition to cast and crew credits.
I will wager this 1080p transfer, framed at the original 4:3 ratio, is as good as Gimme Shelter can possibly appear. And by that I do not mean to imply it looks poor, but the inherent limitations of the 16mm source do show through. Grain is prevalent (nicely preserved but distracting in some shots) though colors are well saturated and detail is obvious in extreme close-ups. But for the most part, this portrays a bit of a home movie feel about it, and there is nothing wrong with that and favorably the print has been immaculately repaired (just compare to the raw outtake footage in the extras to appreciate the studio’s restoration effort). This is a step up from the studio’s 2000 DVD release as far as detail and clarity go but not necessarily worth an upgrade just for the video improvements.
Where the real BD benefits are incurred is with the audio, which is a noticeable leap beyond the DVD’s lossy encoding. We get two DTS-HD Master Audio options, mimicking what Criterion did for their Monterey Pop Festival BD, with one in stereo and another in 5.1 surround (both culled from the original mono source which has been pristinely cleaned up). For the non-musical parts of the documentary, there is little apparent difference between the tracks with dialog and ambient affects cleanly presented in the front channels.
When the live music kicks in is where the distinctions become apparent with the 5.1 mix giving a much fuller presentation including great use of the rears to replicate the real concert experience. The stereo track does have its advantages seeming more balanced (and dare I say natural) but somewhat restrained at the same time. I commend the studio for providing both mixes (in a nice lossless upgrade) and letting the consumer choose between them.
Commentary – Recorded for the Criterion DVD edition, directors Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin plus music producer/recorder Stanley Goldstein turn in a feature length track (based on the lack of interaction and differences in vocal tempos/audio quality, its fairly obvious these are three recordings edited together). Admittedly this is a dry effort, but I found myself seriously enjoying the wealth of “behind the scenes” context most specifically around the concerns (financial, physical, and logistical) to get the film made plus how the cultural circumstances of the hippies, social activists and Hell’s Angels plus the Stones were perceived at the time. If you’re just watching for the music, this will be a hard sell, but if you want full disclosure on went down making the film, watching the show and the aftermath of dealing with the Hell’s Angels along with the contributor’s takes on living through the late 60’s, this is a must listen.
1969 KSAN Radio Broadcast (1:29:23) – San Francisco radio station KSAN fielded calls the day after Altamont from a range of people who attended and organized the festival. Criterion compiled 12 calls including input from the Stones’ production manager and the then head of the Oakland branch of the Hell’s Angels (included early in the film while the band listened). These are interesting for people who want to get as much behind the scenes context as possible.
Outtakes (18:28, HD) – Four pieces of archival footage with a “play all” option. These are comprised of Madison Square Garden performances (Oh Carol and Prodigal Son), mixing “Little Queenie” and Backstage with Mick, Ike and Tina. These are well worth watching, but there is constant print damage and the image has not been restored. What this makes you realize is how well done the mastering effort was on the main feature (black crush is painful to say the least).
Images From Altamont – Two photographers, Bill Owens and Beth Sunflower, were present at the show and took a multitude of photos. These can be viewed by the navigational buttons on your remote.
Trailers (5:32, HD) – Three trailers are presented which are interesting for archival references but have heavy print damage.
Gimme Shelter is more a cultural document than just a live performance, and while this makes it important for understanding musical history in the late 60’s, the subject matter doesn’t necessarily create the most enjoyable “concert film” available. Yet music buffs and Stones fans owe it to themselves to give it a shot. Plus for repeat viewings you can always jump directly to the great tunes as the band really did kick major rock n’ roll ass at this stage in their career.
Criterion gives Gimme Shelter the high-def treatment though this isn’t as easy a recommendation as most of their Blu-ray releases. Don’t get wrong as the studio extracts every last bit of quality out of the visuals, but there is only so much for them to work with in the 16 mm source material. Where this release shines is with the audio improvements in both stereo and surround lossless tracks. If you crave this Stones’ documentary film in its best possible presentation, Criterion’s BD is it.
– Robert Searle
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