Altamont Memories

The Altamont Free Concert was held on December 6, 1969 at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California, less than four months after Woodstock. Although it had a strong line-up – Santana, Jefferson Airplane, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Rolling Stones – it was marred by violence, including the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter during the set by the Rolling Stones. Altamont is often mourned as the death of The Sixties.

Here are some Altamont memories from the musicians who were there, from the archives.

Concert Review: Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen

Review of Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen at the Maverick Saloon, Santa Ynez, 4/25/12, with guest appearance by David Crosby.

Interview: Chris Hillman

Chris Hillman has been a professional musician for nearly fifty years, starting on bluegrass mandolin before he joined The Byrds, for which he played bass guitar and contributed vocals. You can hear him on hits including “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, “Eight Miles High”, and “So You Want To Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star”, which he co-wrote.

Hillman left The Byrds after their landmark album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, joining up with Gram Parson (who also played on that album) to form The Flying Burrito Brothers, whose classic debut album The Gilded Palace of Sin featured many songs that he wrote or co-wrote with Parsons. Hillman was also a key member of the band Manassas with Steven Stills, and had multiple country hits with the Desert Rose Band.

This phone interview took place on 4/11/12, and formed the basis of a preview article for his 4/25/12 show with Herb Pedersen at the Maverick Saloon as part of the Tales From the Tavern series. Incidentally, this interview was transcribed approximately eight miles high, on a flight between St. Louis and San Francisco.