Although silent, whoever shot the film was right up by the stage
January 8, 2022 11:35 AM Subscribe
Many people know the “Gimme Shelter” documentary pretty well, but there’s a lot more in this home movie.
From a Library of Congress blog post.
There's also a Twitter thread (Threadreader) with images from the film.
Altamont Previously.
From a Library of Congress blog post.
Although the footage is silent, we were all thrilled to see close-up footage of concert performers who were cut from the film, such as Carlos Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. (CNSY wasn’t pleased with their performance and refused to let the Maysles include them.) It was especially great to see Gram Parsons fronting the Flying Burrito Brothers, since you only see the back of his head in “Gimme Shelter.” Even better, there are good shots of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards off-stage watching him perform!
The second reel is from the Stones’ evening performance, which, while it captures some of chaos so memorably seen in “Gimme Shelter,” doesn’t add anything to our understanding of the death of Meredith Hunter at the hands of a member of the Hell’s Angels.
There's also a Twitter thread (Threadreader) with images from the film.
Altamont Previously.
Loved the all-too-quick glimpse of Keith getting down to the Flying Burrito Brothers.
posted by NoMich at 2:15 PM on January 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by NoMich at 2:15 PM on January 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Probably FBI footage. If I'm remembering correctly, there was some incredible silent film footage shot by the FBI of some of the MC5's performance at Chicago's Grant Park during the Democratic convention police riots.
Yes, although the quality of the footage here and the camera's proximity to the performers strongly suggests it's not surveillance footage. From the LOC blog post:
It starts in 1996 when archivist/historian/collector/polymath Rick Prelinger — one of the most influential thinkers in our field—acquired a cache of reels from Palmer Films, a San Francisco company that was going out of business. He added them to his burgeoning collection of ephemeral films.
My guess is B roll from the documentary crew, or personal footage from someone involved w/the show.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:00 PM on January 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
Yes, although the quality of the footage here and the camera's proximity to the performers strongly suggests it's not surveillance footage. From the LOC blog post:
It starts in 1996 when archivist/historian/collector/polymath Rick Prelinger — one of the most influential thinkers in our field—acquired a cache of reels from Palmer Films, a San Francisco company that was going out of business. He added them to his burgeoning collection of ephemeral films.
My guess is B roll from the documentary crew, or personal footage from someone involved w/the show.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:00 PM on January 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
Awesome shots! Great post - thanks!
posted by sundrop at 5:37 AM on January 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sundrop at 5:37 AM on January 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Interesting update from the Library of Congress blog on attempts to ID the source. It notes:
[The film] was dropped off at Palmer Films in Los Angeles and never picked up. Collector Rick Prelinger bought all of Palmer’s stock when they went out of business and eventually donated it to the Library as part of his vast collection.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:37 PM on January 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
[The film] was dropped off at Palmer Films in Los Angeles and never picked up. Collector Rick Prelinger bought all of Palmer’s stock when they went out of business and eventually donated it to the Library as part of his vast collection.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:37 PM on January 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by NoMich at 2:06 PM on January 8, 2022 [2 favorites]