Customer Reviews

Let It Bleed: The Rolling Stones, Altamont, and the End of the Sixties

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Let It Bleed (The Rolling Stones, Altamont, and the End of the Sixties) is a comprehensive look at the remarkable 1969 Rolling Stones tour. Photographer, Ethan Russell, has documented with intimate, detailed photographs and interviews, the story few people have seen or have known before now. He takes the reader behind the scenes and gives them a firsthand look into the lives and journey of one of the most legendary bands to ever perform on any stage.

The infamous Altamont rock concert at the Altamont Speedway in northern California, held on December 6, 1969, is also featured in this large "coffee-table" style book. The Rolling Stones, and several other famous bands, were playing that night, with the Rolling Stones featured and taking the stage as the final act. Violence erupted during the concert, leaving several dead, including one fatal stabbing. Many had thought this 300,000 fan event would be another Woodstock, but instead, it became a tragic experience for both the fans and for The Rolling Stones.

I was amazed at the numerous (on almost every page) personal, and many times intense photographs. I loved this fantastic pictorial documentary and will leave it on a table in my home for other fans to enjoy. I would definitely recommend it.

As the co-author of Let It Bleed, I'd like to respond to a few things said in the reviews that strike me as either off-base or out-of-tune. Not that these reviewers can't have their opinions. After all, that's what reviews are in the main: opinions.

But as some wag once said "You've got a right to your own opinions but not your own facts." So, as the co-author, and long time friend of Ethan Russell let me say, in the spirit of the 60s, "May the Baby Jesus open your mind and shut your mouth."

One "dr. johnson" (Not I would note THE Dr. Johnson) has a problem with the cover image. He's got the purist view that a book about the 69 tour should be nailed firmly within 1969, as if time did not move on as the Stones moved on. Had he the advantage of actually reading the book he would have discovered that much of the text is a look back and a flash-forward at the same time. Indeed, there's a long "Aftermath" section that takes place in 2007. In addition, there's a lot in the book that describes why the 72 tour was the way it was as a direct consequence of the 69 tour. So it's not as if the ground wasn't laid and the text supplied so that an astute reader would not grasp that fact.

But, as I said before, reviewing the book only from the pictures available at Amazon and (perhaps [...]) puts our lower-case dr johnson at a distinct disadvantage so I shall extend slack to a man obviously working with a very limited set of tools.

As to the "anachronistic" chapter heading of "Start Me Up," I recall that that heading was applied to the chapter in which the tour starts and, since it is also a title of a popular Stones song of the era, is perhaps not entirely out of place.

"dr johnson's" call for "intelligent editing" is puzzling to me. As a book editor with more than 200 books to my credit, not to mention well over 1,000 magazine articles, I think I can spot editing that is not up to snuff. Nothing I saw of the editing process for this book (and I saw it all) struck me as anything other than spotlessly professional. Perhaps if dr johnson were to mark up a copy and send it on I could see more clearly what penetrating editorial insights he would propose.

Finally it would seem that dr johnson -- in pointing out the production of the $650 limited edition having be produced in China -- is dismally lacking in a clue as to the economic state of the global book industry in 2009. I would only remark that fully 90+% of all elaborate book packages today are manufactured in China because of that nation's ability to produce the quality required at a price that makes sense to the publisher. It's called "market forces" in a "capitalist economy." There are books on these two arcane subjects available here on Amazon and I commend them to dr johnson. The "Complete Idiots" and "For Dummies" lines are a good place to start.

Moving on to the strange and hostile remarks of the reviewer who names him/herself "Music Listener" I must say I am filled with both befuddlement and inertia. We seem to be treated at the outset to an anecdote concerning Keith Richards which doesn't hold up under a moment's reflection. Has the decades long Rolling Stones enterprises purchased houses for many people in London? Doubtless it has, but really so what. Wal-Mart has purchased houses for many people in Houston but that surely is unremarkable.

Why now for the book? 40th anniversary comes to mind. Happens all the time in books, movies, music, and politics. Another unremarkable observation posing as insight.

Where "Music Listener" goes off the rails and into the ditch of his or her own darkness comes when the all-knowing "many reasons; alimony payments, retirement money, spoiled children" is trotted out. Surely this is something beneath the common decency of most people if not that of "Music Listener;" a person strangely out of tune with simple courtesy. It has the added disadvantages of lacking substance as well as insight. Perhaps we are meant to think that this simple fan in an industry "insider."

As a long time friend -- and without being too intrusive into Mr. Russell's personal life -- I can assure "Music Listener" that there are no alimony payments, retirement needs, or spoiled children in Russell's life. Those are simply facts and you'll just have to take my word for it. Why anyone with no knowledge might intimate that there were can only be explained by the psychotherapeutic notion of "transference."

"Music Listener" is "shocked, shocked" that Let It Bleed was published because there is a market and an audience for it? Well, I hope so since otherwise we'd all be thrust back on slim volumes of poesy and the pallid output of vanity presses. To quote the real Dr. Johnson, who knew a few things about books and writers, "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money."

From that point "Music Listener" takes us on a whirlwind tour of his or her versions of what happened in the Sixties with the startling observation that they "never existed." As one who lived through and beyond the Sixties I can only conclude that what absolutely did not exist in the Sixties was "Music Listener." I think all of the currently living Baby Boomers to back me up. At least those not currently institutionalized for delusional thinking.

For the rest of it, we merely see "Music Listener" displaying whatever remnants of anecdotes his or her mind retains about the Stones. Not, one would note, evidence of an understanding either encyclopedic or scholarly. (In passing I would advise "Music Listener" that one does not own a "Copywrite" but rather the right to copy with a "Copyright." One can, however, become -- with a lot of practice -- a "copywriter," but that's not a career path I would suggest to "Music Listener" as long as there are opportunities in the repair of commercial air-conditioning units.)

As for our resident expert in photography, eastriver anonymousLOTSOFNUMBERS, what can one say other than..... "sigh."

There are really not enough words to describe how wrong this ham-handed and gobstoppered tour of the aesthetics of photography really are. Suffice it to say that it is so wrong it does not even rise to the level of wrong. (We'll go into the techniques of shooting "available light" with 400ASA film and having to push the film back in the stone ages before digital photography another time.)

Overall, it should suffice to note that Mr. Russell made and sustained a good and solid living for decades in this very tough field and was, for a very long time, the friend and photographer of choice for the Stones, the Beatles, the Who and dozens of others. I don't know where eastriver has been spending the last few decades, but most people know that stars of major stature in the rock world don't just let anyone hang out with them and produce their album covers and their images unless they are confident in that person's skills.

Here's what some have said about Russell's work:

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
It is important this work gets to be seen. Ethan was doing something no other photographer was doing at the time.

BILL WYMAN
Ethan Russell has taken some of the greatest pictures in rock roll.... maybe the greatest ever.

PETE TOWNSHEND
Ethan Russell was a sheer joy to work with.... his contributions were poetic and dramatic.....Most important of all, his photographs were what I would call fine...they felt like the classics of Paul Strand, ready to put up in the National Gallery. As an artist himself, Ethan is the civilized eye on an uncivilized art-form.

ROSANNE CASH
Ethan Russell is old school in the best sense of the word: he has true talent, he has a painterly eye, he respects himself and his clients, and he's interested in finding the truth in every photographic situation. Actually, he's interested in finding the truth whether the camera is turned on or not.

If that's not enough for you to know what sort of photographer Russell is not only can I not help you, God can't help you.

Admittedly, he's my friend and I'm the co-author of the book as well as someone who lived through the times the book chronicles. I confess that gives me a certain biased an slanted view, but it also gives me standing. Why? Because unlike some here I actually know what I'm talking about.

I was very pleased when I opened the package. A nice, big coffee table type book with quality heavyweight paper. Then I read it. There's a reason most of these photos were never seen...they're awful. Many are blurry and amateurish. And over half of them have no caption. What are The Stones doing in this pic? Where are they? Who's that other guy? I dunno. Neither will you. I'm a rabid Stones fan and wanted to love this book. If it's a tossup for you, get Keith's autobiography "Life". It's a far, far better book that's infinitely more enjoyable. I must have a dozen Stones books, and this is by far the worst.

This book is absolutely madnatory for any Stones fan of any age. Photos and text of what can only be described as a cap to the most musically prolific period of the Stones long long career and their best live performances. With the addition of Mick Taylor, an already truly great blues guitarist who cut his teeth with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, their live concerts were the stuff of legends. Enjoy a look. Be a voyeur into that world. It's worth it.

Crammed with memorable photos, this book is certainly worth the 23.00 price. But the editing is lousy. For example why have a picture from the 1972 tour on the cover of a book about the 1969 tour ??? I mean from the thousands of photos the author took on this tour, couldn't he have found one shot that would have worked for the front cover ??? The equivalent would be writing a book on the 69 Mets and having a cover shot of the 73 Mets. Does NOT make any sense. And there are more 72 tour photos that just do not belong here. I would add that some of the chapter headings are very hoaky like "Start me up". I found these anachronisms irritating. In short, it is a good book but could have been MUCH better with some intelligent editing. Still better to buy this than shell out 650.00 for pretty much the same book ( printed in China I would add) on the author's website.

This book visually tracks the Rolling Stones as they surfed the tumultuous wave that was the year 1969 ... a pivotal year for the band, as well as the society that embraced them.

"Let it Bleed" contains a fantastic collection of photographs (many I've never seen before) that details the eventful last half of 1969 for the Rolling Stones. In those 5-6 months, the band had experienced the firing of one of its founders (Brian Jones), his sudden death, a memorial concert for Jones and the hiring of his replacement (Mick Taylor) ... all before the blitzkrieg that was the 69 American tour which culminated in the miserable free concert at Altamont. The photographs provide an image of the Stones as a well-oiled, sexually-charged machine simply shrugging off Jones' death to continue its mission of being "the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World". Relentless and focused early on, but utterly worn-out by Altamont. You are given the sense that there was no rest for the band during this stretch of time and you can easily surmise that drugs and alcohol was the glue that held Keith Richards together. Complimenting the photographs are detailed recollections from those who experienced the journey from the band's inner circle.

The chapter on Altamont was the main reason for me purchasing this book. I have long felt that the tragic event that unfolded on December 6, 1969 was more symbolic of the turbulent 60s than Woodstock, yet it still receives scant coverage; "Let it Bleed" helps in filling that void. In addition to some stock photographs of the Altamont concert, the book generously provides several unseen pictures that vividly depict Altamont as a cold, dark and dangerous place to be ... the polar opposite of Woodstock. Candid commentary from the Stones' security, Tony Funches was particularly revealing ... that he knocked out two Hells Angels and lives to tell about it is amazing by itself. Even the reclusive Mick Taylor contributes to the storytelling ... another plus for the book.

"Let it Bleed" is a graphic one-two punch of a great band at a remarkable period in history ... a fine document of an era. The book should appeal not only to fans of the Rolling Stones and rock music, but fans of contemporary American History as well.

I have been a fan of the Rolling Stones for close to four decades now. I have seen them perform 10 times. I have purchased just about every book about the Rolling Stones that has ever been published. When I first heard about this book being published, all I could think was "It's about time!!!". Most of us older Stones fans consider the 1969 tour to be be their best tour (It was so good that it almost seems like an aberition). We also consider Ethan Russell to be the Michaelangelo of Rock 'n Roll photographers. This book almost makes all the other ones I've purchased obsolete. I highly recommend this book for all Stones fans. The photos are fantastic and you'll learn new things about the Rolling Stones that you never knew. I sure did, and I thought knew just about everything there was to know about them. The only minor complaint I might have (and believe me it's minor and doesn't affect my rating) is the cover. I realize the book covers a little regarding the '72 tour, but let's face it. This book is focused on the 1969 American Tour. The cover photo should've been from the '69 tour. But like I said, no big deal. This is still the most definitive Rolling Stones book ever published. Thanks Ethan!!

FANTASTIC PHOTOS at a great price by one of the TOP photo people IN THE LATE 60S , this book follows THE Greatest rock and roll band across the u.s. in 1969. these mostly black and white photos are fantastic in this hard cover book. the stones will never be
as open as the 1969 tour. the photos are history, buy it its worth it at this low price under $15

Great book, great photographs, I would recommend it to any stones fan. Ethan Russell took many of the iconic images of the Stones, including my favorite of Keith by the water fountain.(You know the one,if not look for it!!!)

I bought this for my husband as a stocking stuffer. He loves it and the photographs are amazing. I would say that this is a great purchase for the Stones fanatic.