As the Rolling Stones learned at Altamont, be mindful of the company you keep. Mick Jagger’s decision to hire members of the Hell’s Angels to work security for the band’s 1969 free concert at the speedway ended when a fan was stabbed to death by gang members, allegedly after drawing a gun and pointing it at the stage. (See footage above.) Jagger fired the Angels after the show.
That much is the stuff of rock-n-roll legend, but revelations about Altamont’s aftermath are still making news. According to a BBC documentary, to be aired today, Jagger’s decision to look elsewhere for security guards enraged the Angels, which hatched a plot to kill him. According to the BBC:
“They were going to kill him in retribution for his firing their security forces,” former FBI agent Mark Young told the documentary.
“Their plan involved making entry onto his Long Island property, going by boat.
“As they gathered the weaponry and their forces to go out on Long Island Sound, a storm rolled up, which nearly sunk the watercraft that they were in, and they escaped with their own lives.
“They never went back and reinstituted the plan.”
Unknown is whether the FBI ever informed Jagger of the plot. The singer has so far declined comment.
