Cover art by Marie Severin, Joe Sinnott, and Sam Rosen
The promise of the 1960s was already fading by the time 1969 rolled around. Even Steve Rogers felt it, leaving New York City in Captain America #128 for a motorcycle road trip across the country to clear his mind and hopefully find his place in a rapidly changing world.
After a few hours, Rogers stops at the nearest town – a small locale called Coits Neck – to grab a bite to eat. Once inside the city limits, he is immediately pulled over by the police for not wearing a motorcycle helmet. “We’ve got no use for you soup-ed up hot shots here,” the officer says. “So get off that cycle, I’m running you in – and we’ll do the same to any of you Satan’s Angels who come around lookin’ for trouble.”
The police aren’t the only ones who mistake Steve Rogers for a member of the notorious motorcycle gang, as word of his arrest quickly travels to the gang itself. Unwilling to accept the incarceration of one of their brethren, part of the gang creates a distraction while the others proceed to the city jail to free their wayward member. Fastening a steel chain to the window bars, the leader of Satan’s Angels uses his motorcycle to rip them from the wall.
Not wanting to break the law but realizing that he needs to get a better handle on what’s going on, Steve Rogers reluctantly escapes. When the lone police deputy on duty is hit on the head by rock, however, Rogers decides to administer first aid before riding off with the Satan’s Angels, a decision that causes him to lose the bikers’ trail.
In his 2016 book Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day, Joel Selvin writes that the Rolling Stones were financially broke by 1969. Lead singer Mick Jagger estimated that the Stones had earned over $17 million during the previous three years but their manager Allen Klein had such control over their finances that very little trickled downward.
The quickest solution was to go on tour. A separate entity was created outside the control of Klein to handle logistics, while promoters were forced to pay fifty percent of the band’s fee in advance and set ticket prices at twice the going rate.
When the media complained about the exuberant ticket prices, Mick Jagger announced that the Rolling Stones would end their North American tour with a free concert in the San Francisco Bay area. Former racecar driver Dick Carter had purchased Altamont Speedway the year before, located on the edge of Alameda County and only reachable by a small, four-lane highway. Because of its isolated location, very few of the events held there had been successful and Carter was in desperate need of publicity. He thus offered the Altamont Speedway to the Rolling Stones for free.
Steve Rogers is torn between turning himself into the police or leaving Coits Neck altogether and letting the cops deal with the Satan’s Angels themselves. As he debates his options, Rogers hears an announcement for a rock music festival in nearby Monroe Park. “Peace and love and music for all!” a loudspeaker declares. Realizing that it’s just the type of event that could bring the motorcycle gang out of hiding, he decides to stay in town and make sure that no one gets hurt at the concert.
It turns out that Captain America is correct. “I’m just thinkin’ of the kicks we can get at the festival tonight,” Whitey, the leader of Satan’s Angels, tells his fellow gang members. “All them crummy peaceniks fer us to lean on.” One of those “crummy peaceniks” happens to be Whitey’s younger brother, who tells his older sibling that he plans on attending. “Ferget it, brat,” Whitey replies. “No kid brother of mine’s gonna be a flower child, so shut yer face ’n stay put.”
The Rolling Stones used the British version of the Hells Angels for security when they held a free concert in Hyde Park in London. Those Angels had no tangible connection with the Hells Angels of California other than the name and left the actual security work to the police. When the American Hells Angels were approached by the Stones about providing security at their upcoming concert at Altamont, the motorcycle gang was initially hesitant. They were assured, however, that their role would primarily be keeping anyone from sneaking backstage, as well as just being part of the party. The Hells Angels accepted the offer for $500 worth of beer.
“Our next number is a new hymn to peace and love,” the band onstage announces at the start of music festival in Coits Neck. “We’re dedicating it to everyone who believes that all men are brothers. So we ask you to join hands with the person next to you and then…” He never gets to finish his sentence as the Satan’s Angels pick that exact moment to roar into the crowd on their motorcycles, causing everyone to scramble out of their way.
“Those unsuspecting kids are no match for Satan’s Angels, but Captain America is!” the legendary superhero declares as he makes his own motorcycle entrance. While most of the gang is easily defeated, their leader is another matter. Incensed by the interference in his plans, Whitey heads towards Captain America at full speed while his kid brother – who defied his older sibling and attended the concert after all – looks on in horror.
Realizing that Whitey has to be stopped before anyone gets hurt, Cap hurls his shield at the oncoming motorcycle, hitting it point blank and causing it to fly out-of-control into the air. The superhero yells for Whitey to stay on the bike to slow its momentum but the gang leader decides to bail instead. The suddenly lighter load causes the motorcycle’s arc to head into the crowd.
“My brother!” Whitey cries. “The cycle hit my brother! If anything happened to ’im… it’s me! I did it!” Captain America confirms that the youth is still alive but in need of medical attention. “The law will punish you, but never as much as this memory, which will haunt you forever,” Cap tells Whitey. “I know what a curse that can be.”
When Jefferson Airplane took the stage at the Altamont Speedway Free Concert, lead singer Marty Balin noticed members of the Hells Angels fighting with fans in the front row. One of the Hells Angel walked onstage with a stoned hippie in his arms and promptly tossed him back into the crowd. Balin threw his tambourine and started shouting at the Angel, who promptly punched Balin in the face.
By the time the Rolling Stones were ready to perform, more Hells Angels had arrived, including their leader Sonny Barger. A number of motorcycles had been parked in front of the stage to create a buffer. When a fan climbed on one of them, he caused a short that resulted in smoke pouring out of the bike. Barger noticed it and rushed from the stage. Other Angels, unaware of what was happening but determined to assist, followed, and just as the Stones began playing “Sympathy for the Devil,” all hell broke loose. When the song ended six minutes later, screams and moans were heard instead of applause.
Pandemonium again erupted when the Rolling Stones launched into “Under My Thumb.” As the packed crowd swished and swayed, Meredith Hunter – an eighteen year-old African American – was pulled closer and closer to the stage until he was near the scaffolding directly in front of it. People were climbing on the structure and Hells Angels were pulling them back to the ground. Hunter urged everyone to come down on their own and was punched in the face for his efforts. Hunter pulled out a gun hidden in his waistband and tried to run but stumbled to the ground.
Hells Angel Al Passaro saw the gun, pulled out a knife hidden in an ankle sheath, and plunged it into Hunter’s neck. Another Angel grabbed the gun, while one of his colleagues kicked Hunter in the head. Members of the audience picked up Meredith Hunter’s body and lifted it onto the stage, where it landed in front of guitarist Keith Richards. From there, Hunter was handed off to a nearby doctor, who ran as fast as he could to a Red Cross station. An ambulance was called but Meredith Hunter was dead by the time it arrived.
Hunter’s death and the overall chaos at Altamont served as a fitting epitaph for the entire decade in the minds of many. With war raging in Vietnam and violence consuming cities across the country, who could blame them? “Stones Concert Ends It – America Now Up For Grabs,” the Berkeley Tribe declared. “America wallows in the hope that someone, somewhere, can set it straight. Clearly nobody is in control.”
Anthony Letizia