In December of 1969, some of the biggest names in counter-culture music headed out to the Altamont Speedway in Northern California for Altamont, an intended “Woodstock West” that ultimately proved fatal to the hippie counterculture movement. Prior to the festival, some of the greats like Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead and The Rolling Stones kicked it backstage while waiting for a helicopter to Altamont.
Though it featured major acts like Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Rolling Stones and more, the 300,000 person festival turned out to be a huge disaster. The Grateful Dead cancelled last minute due to mass amounts of violence at the show. There were multiple deaths and theft was prevalent. Rolling Stone called it “rock and roll’s all-time worst day, December 6th, a day when everything went perfectly wrong.”
Prior to that chaos, Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger and others formed quite the legendary motley crew backstage awaiting transportation. Check out the quality vintage footage below.