The film depicts some of the
Madison Square Garden concert later featured on the 1970 live album, ''
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert'', as well as
Charlie Watts and a donkey filmed on the M6 motorway near Birmingham, England during a photography session for the album cover. It also shows the Stones at work in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama recording "
Brown Sugar" and "
Wild Horses", and footage of
Ike and Tina Turner opening for the Stones at their Madison Square Garden concert, to
Mick Jagger's comment, "It's nice to have a chick occasionally." The Maysles brothers were selected by tour manager
Ronnie Schneider (nephew of
ABCKO's
Allen Klein) on the recommendation of cameraman
Haskell Wexler, after
DA Pennebaker/
Richard Leacock (
Bob Dylan's Don't Look Back), then
Robert Downey, Sr. were approached but found to be unavailable. The Maysles joined the tour at the Baltimore date to plan their filming strategy for the 3 New York shows planned to end the tour on November 27 and 28. The original agreement was for 30–45 minutes of footage for a possible TV special that evolved as the band agreed to appear at a festival in West Palm Beach on the 30th. They then committed to play the free San Francisco show the following weekend and use the days in between to record at
Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama. The Maysles agreed to continue filming and extend the TV special to 60 minutes. In the week after Altamont, they realized that a cameraman had unwittingly captured the stabbing of Meredith Hunter by Hells Angel Alan Passaro. The city of San Francisco agreed to drop any potential charges against the band in exchange for a copy of the footage and charged Passaro with murder. He was later acquitted by jurors who saw Hunter, whose autopsy revealed methamphetamine in his blood, as the aggressor. It was on the flight to deliver the film that a deal was struck to develop a movie for theatrical release. Much of the film chronicles the behind-the-scenes deal-making that took place to make the free Altamont concert happen, including much footage of well-known attorney
Melvin Belli negotiating by telephone with the management of the
Altamont Speedway. The movie also includes a playback of
Hells Angels leader
Ralph "Sonny" Barger's famous call-in to radio station
KSAN's "day after" program about the concert, wherein he recalls, "They told me if I could sit on the edge of the stage so nobody could climb over me, I could drink beer until the show was over."
Altamont Free Concert The focus then turns to the 1969 concert itself at the
Altamont Speedway, the security for which was provided by the
Hells Angels (armed with
pool cues). As the day progresses, with drug-taking and drinking by the Angels and members of the audience, the mood turns ugly. Fights break out during performances by
the Flying Burrito Brothers and
Jefferson Airplane;
Grace Slick pleads with the crowd to settle down. When
Mick Jagger arrives to the grounds via helicopter, he is punched in the face by an unruly fan while making his way to his trailer. At one point, Jefferson Airplane lead male singer
Marty Balin is knocked out by a Hells Angel;
Paul Kantner attempts to confront "the people who hit my lead singer" in response, announcing: "Hey, man, I'd like to mention that the Hells Angels just smashed Marty Balin in the face, and knocked him out for a bit. I'd like to thank you for that." Hells Angel "Sweet William" Fritsch, sitting on stage, grabs a microphone and replies: "You're talking to my people. Let me tell you what's happening.
You, man, you are what's happening!" Slick herself warns the Angels after they continue hitting people: "You don't hassle with anybody in particular. You gotta keep your bodies off each other unless you intend love. People get weird, and you need people like the Angels to keep people in line. But the Angels also— You know, you don't bust people in the head for nothing. So both sides are fucking up temporarily; let's not keep fucking up!"
Jerry Garcia and
Phil Lesh arrive, but the
Grateful Dead opt not to play after learning of the incident with Balin from Santana drummer
Michael Shrieve. (
Santana and
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young also performed at the concert but are not shown in the movie.) The Stones are shown appearing onstage that evening and perform "
Sympathy for the Devil" as the tension continues to build. During the next song, "
Under My Thumb", a member of the audience, 18-year-old Meredith Hunter, attempted, with other crowd members, to force his way onto the stage, and as a result was struck by the Hells Angels guarding the band. Hunter then drew a revolver before being attacked by Hells Angel Alan Passaro and was killed by at least six stab wounds.
Hunter's stabbing was captured on film by at least one of the many camera operators filming the documentary, and appeared in the final cut of the film. According to Albert Maysles, the stabbing was filmed by
Baird Bryant; other sources have also credited
Eric Saarinen. The film sequence clearly shows the dark silhouette of a handgun in Hunter's hand against the crocheted vest of his girlfriend, Patty Bredehoft, as Passaro enters from the right, grabs and raises Hunter's gun hand, turns Hunter around, and stabs him at least twice in the back before pushing Hunter off camera. The credited camera operators for Altamont included a young
George Lucas. At the concert, Lucas' camera jammed after shooting about of film. None of his footage was incorporated into the final cut. ==Critical reception==