You Can't Always Get What You Want

You Can’t Always Get What You Want – by Sam Cutler

This is another one of those ‘insider’ books that focuses on famous celebrities.  Rather than a serious biography by some esteemed author, this account is by somebody who actually worked with the artist; or in this case ‘artists’.  Such books are hit or miss.  Just because someone has rubbed shoulders with the greats doesn’t necessarily translate into a meaningful, interesting retrospective. 

This one, though, was very entertaining and interesting. Author Sam Cutler holds his audience’s interest throughout while keeping the chapters somewhat succinct.  He knows what his audience wants to read about and doesn’t pollute the pages too much with memories of no interest to anyone other than himself.

If you haven’t heard of the author, chances are you’ve seen him if you’re a fan of the Rolling Stones and have viewed the somewhat infamous film “Gimme Shelter”. Sam was the band’s tour manager during this time period, and one can see and hear him multiple times during the Altamont fiasco trying to keep the overwhelming chaos of the day somewhat controllable. As Sam Cutler begins this book, he talks briefly about his upbringing, but he wisely keeps this time period to a minimum.  He comes of age during the wild unmitigated period of history known as The Sixties.  During the era of flower power and acid rock, even some of the most well-known and famous bands were incoherent for much of the time, and you get the feeling that Sam Cutler’s introduction to working for the Rolling Stones was more acid-dripped luck than anything resembling a strong work resume.  Fortunately, though, Cutler is the real deal and knows what he’s doing. So it isn’t surprising that the Rolling Stones quickly incorporate him into their inner circle during the pivotal time of 1969.

The year of 1969 was a pivotal one for the Rolling Stones, and the tumultuous times weren’t limited to the Altamont concert; although the event did serve as a fetid climax.  So, not surprisingly, a good deal of this book is devoted to that one event - the poor planning, the ensuing chaos, and the stabbing of a 17- year old concert goer (which can be viewed on the film, no less).  It’s interesting to hear Cutler’s recollections of the event.  There isn’t that much that’s earth-shattering, but such an event is always best when told from someone deep on the inside.  There are some observations by Cutler that might be new for the novice. One example is that he claims that the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club really didn’t inflict much of the beatings that they’ve become infamously known.  The harm, Cutler alleges, was mostly done by the ‘prospects’ of the Hell’s Angels that utilized this event as a recruitment pledge so they could show off to the actual members.  Cutler also makes a slight allegation that the whole event may have been conspired by the government, and there were key infiltrators that passed out ‘bad acid’ during the day which caused things to deteriorate throughout the day.

Anyway, immediately after the fiasco, the Rolling Stones basically bail the country leaving Cutler to clean up the mess.  He then immediately begins working as a manager for the Grateful Dead.  The Grateful Dead were also supposed to perform at Altamont but chickened out when the day erupted in senseless brutality.  So even though Mick Jagger and company leave the author penniless, he at least has another gig where he can quickly transition. 

We then follow along with the author’s interesting journeys of touring with The Grateful Dead for a couple of years.  There’s acid, booze, loose women, acid, marijuana, cases of cigarettes, and more acid.  You wonder how the author, and most everyone else, survived.  It seems like every other page, the author begins another story with “We poured drinks and all shared a fat joint….”   I mean, I almost became nauseous at times just reading about it.  Anyway, a couple years into his tenure as one of the Grateful Dead Managers, he and the band come to an impasse and he’s unceremoniously sacked.   And here our story basically ends.

He does give a brief epilogue but doesn’t spend time talking about what he’s been up to in the last 40 years. This is probably a good thing since after being a part of the inner circle of The Rolling Stones and The Grateful Dead, he probably rightly assumed that the best part of his story had already been told, so he wisely quits while he’s ahead.

This was a fun read. Cutler knows how to tell a good story. True, at times it seems as though the drugs may have taken a bit of a toll on his ability to think in a linear fashion.  One example is a chapter in the book titled “Mick Taylor”.  He begins the chapter holding his reader’s interest by giving his impressions of Brian Jones’ replacement, but in the middle of the chapter he drifts off and ends up talking about a popular groupie of the time that had a fetish for hot melted butter.   I’ll stop there and leave the rest up to your imagination.

He definitely has no regrets, even though it seems like he was somewhat screwed by the two famous bands. But in the era of free love, he considers himself lucky for the experiences.  Despite his appearance of being a rather serious manager, he definitely never seems to take himself, nor his surroundings very seriously, and it made for an overall pleasant, fun, and educational read.