WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Boomer Anthems: Gimme Shelter
byVanderleunonMay 5, 2020
File Under:Everything Old is New Again
I heard the Stones play this live at Altamont... or maybe I didn’t… or… well… things went all sort of liquid at Altamont so I can’t be sure.To this day I could swear I heard Grace Slick address the gathering with, “What’ll ya have boys?” but that probably didn’t happen just like that… and then they clocked Marty Balin and there were these repeated fist fights and pool cue swinging melees that opened holes in the crowd because people near the pool cues escaped by climbing over the people behind them and sort of swimming out of the crowd and I got up on the lower rungs of the sound/light towers and looking towards the rim of the bowl of California dust and brindle weeds I saw these clusters of of dancers jerking and twitching in silhouette in front of the bonfires they had started on the hill in the dark and everything got sort of mideval and then the Stones swung into Sympathy for the Devil and there was somewhere near the front of the stage the circle in the crowd opened up again and I guess that’s when that guy in the green superfly suit got stabbed to death and then there were more Stones songs and then it was over and we had a really long walk back to the car with 200,000 other people so like I said it all went sort of liquid on me. Good times!
I know exactly what you mean. Am sure I’d been to basement parties in NYC that Bob Dylan was at, or maybe I wasn’t.
On the other hand I caught many of the jazz all time greats after hours at the Five Spot, no maybe about it.
andreMay 5, 2020, 9:30 PM
When music used to be good. Actually the song is brilliant. Does in three minutes what an hour of pop music can’t do.
Gordon ScottMay 6, 2020, 8:37 AM
I’m a bit younger than you, Gerard. I remember Woodstock; I was well aware of the wider world at the tender age of 8. I have a better memory of my 14 or 15 year old female cousin playing the Country Joe song off the album, repeatedly, to see if I would react to the “Gimme an F,” chant. I didn’t. I couldn’t understand it, and thought it was “muck” or “duck” and did not see what the big deal was.
I have no memory of Altamont whatsoever. I remember reading about George Lucas sitting on a hill a mile away, filming at a distance. I guess it wasn’t the first time a whole lot of people saw a killing happen and disagreed on how it went down.
Decades later I would be doing security at WE Fest, a camping/concert venue in Minnesota. As the bands were all country, the greatest danger was that some idiot would get drunk and hurt himself. It was our job to keep everyone alive; we really didn’t worry much about defending the musicians. I did spend time backstage at one point because Barbara Mandrell had said that if anyone touched her between her bus and the stage, she would just get on the bus and leave. No one did.
“Barbara Mandrell had said that if anyone touched her between her bus and the stage…”
Are those synonyms for certain lady body parts?
Just askin.
CallmelennieMay 6, 2020, 2:44 PM
One boomer anthem to rule them all
Thats what Gimme Shelter is
HMay 6, 2020, 3:22 PM
Well, Missy, if you ever find yourself in L.A., that is to say, Lower Alabama, do stop in for a visit at the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker where all those folks matriculated, with a side visit to nearby Enterprise to look up the little memorial park done up by the grand old gals of the Daffodil Garden Club in 1972, God Bless ’em.
MissyMay 6, 2020, 6:49 PM
H….wow, it is wonderful to know about the memorial. I have never been to Mississippi and now will make a point of going there. Soon. I was engaged to a 1st Air Cav aviator who went through Forts Polk, Rucker and Wolters (TX) for training. KIA 1970. PH, 15 OLC, Posthumous DFC. A good man.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
I know exactly what you mean. Am sure I’d been to basement parties in NYC that Bob Dylan was at, or maybe I wasn’t.
On the other hand I caught many of the jazz all time greats after hours at the Five Spot, no maybe about it.
When music used to be good. Actually the song is brilliant. Does in three minutes what an hour of pop music can’t do.
I’m a bit younger than you, Gerard. I remember Woodstock; I was well aware of the wider world at the tender age of 8. I have a better memory of my 14 or 15 year old female cousin playing the Country Joe song off the album, repeatedly, to see if I would react to the “Gimme an F,” chant. I didn’t. I couldn’t understand it, and thought it was “muck” or “duck” and did not see what the big deal was.
I have no memory of Altamont whatsoever. I remember reading about George Lucas sitting on a hill a mile away, filming at a distance. I guess it wasn’t the first time a whole lot of people saw a killing happen and disagreed on how it went down.
Decades later I would be doing security at WE Fest, a camping/concert venue in Minnesota. As the bands were all country, the greatest danger was that some idiot would get drunk and hurt himself. It was our job to keep everyone alive; we really didn’t worry much about defending the musicians. I did spend time backstage at one point because Barbara Mandrell had said that if anyone touched her between her bus and the stage, she would just get on the bus and leave. No one did.
Better version/Best version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQ9-CfELNo
I cannot get the Air Cav gunship scene in “Apocalypse Now” out of my mind, ever, when I hear this. What a soundtrack to mayhem. Brilliant.
Something like this, Missy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm21tQ91SjE
H….oh my, oh yes. Thanks!
Say, Gordon Scott…
“Barbara Mandrell had said that if anyone touched her between her bus and the stage…”
Are those synonyms for certain lady body parts?
Just askin.
One boomer anthem to rule them all
Thats what Gimme Shelter is
Well, Missy, if you ever find yourself in L.A., that is to say, Lower Alabama, do stop in for a visit at the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker where all those folks matriculated, with a side visit to nearby Enterprise to look up the little memorial park done up by the grand old gals of the Daffodil Garden Club in 1972, God Bless ’em.
H….wow, it is wonderful to know about the memorial. I have never been to Mississippi and now will make a point of going there. Soon. I was engaged to a 1st Air Cav aviator who went through Forts Polk, Rucker and Wolters (TX) for training. KIA 1970. PH, 15 OLC, Posthumous DFC. A good man.