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Filed under: Spinner Interview

Sam Cutler claim to distinction is that he has served as tour manager for both the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead — and he is finally willing to talk about the experience. The English-born Cutler got his start in the 1960s working at free concerts at London’s Hyde Park, including a particularly famous one by the Stones that turned into a memorial for original member Brian Jones. That concert led to a job tour managing the Stones for their legendary 1969 American tour, which ended tragically at a free concert at Altamont, just outside San Francisco, when an attendee was stabbed to death by Hells Angels handling security.

Cutler’s long, strange trip continues after Altamont when he joined the Grateful Dead’s organization. After whipping their touring department into shape, he took the band across Europe in 1972 and then Canada on the famed but doomed ‘Festival Express,’ where some of the biggest names in rock ‘n’ roll stayed up and jammed for days on end, fueled by drugs, booze and one another. All kinds of fascinating folks show up in Cutler’s new tell-all book, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ — from Janis Joplin and Syd Barrett to shady gangster types and other unsavory characters. But the most intriguing story is that of the man whose job was to hold it all together: Mr. Cutler himself.

I was always under the impression that the Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels to do security at Altamont, that the Hells Angels just mercilessly beat an innocent fan to death for no apparent reason and that it was the accident that killed the ’60s. Your story paints quite a different picture.

Yeah, well, that’s all on the media, isn’t it? It was all media bulls—, that kind of narrative. It was just rubbish, man. And that’s why I took a long time to write this book. You need distance and time to analyze things in order to really see them in their true perspective.

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Book Club

In his new book, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want,’ Sam Cutler shares his memories of being the tour manager for bands like the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead. While Cutler’s book features many interesting looks at rock legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Janis Joplin, it’s his insight on the disastrous Altamont concert that really make the book worth reading.

With all the problems at the infamous concert, very little is known about why things went so horrifically wrong. Check out this exclusive excerpt from Cutler’s book in which he recalls the problems leading up to the event. Then, pick up ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ on April 1 to hear how Cutler dealt with the fallout from one of the most notorious rock shows of all time.

I finally met up with Keith at Altamont on Friday afternoon and I was appalled by what I saw. The place was an absolute s—hole, the worst possible spot for a concert one could imagine. There were already more than 100,000 people at the site and their numbers were increasing by the hour.

The sight of Keith Richards spurred the workers on. Keith was absolutely blown away by the general good vibes and the sheer effort people were putting in. He happily walked around, sharing a joint and thanking people for their heroic devotion. We retreated to the proposed backstage area, where someone had thoughtfully parked a tiny caravan-cum-dressing-room. I reviewed arrangements with an ad hoc committee of Bay Area volunteers.