Rewind 1969 - Sam Cutler

Sun Herald

Sunday October 26, 2008

Interview Liz Henderson

Touring the US with The Rolling Stones was a heady time of girls, guitars and general chaos. For this tour manager, it also marked one of rock'n'roll's worst days.

This was taken at Detroit airport around November. I'm carrying that bag because people used to raid our hotel rooms. They'd steal everything, thinking it belonged

to the Stones. They didn't know my underpants from Mick Jagger's. I ended up touring America with all my worldly possessions in that bag.

I was 26, so I was on top of the world. The ladies used to make it fun, and there was a lot of that, but in essence you're working. Walking around with artists of that stature, you're part-companion, part-bodyguard, part-manager, part-friend. You're keeping an eye on what's going on, making sure some nutter doesn't streak out of the crowd. Nowadays people fly on private planes to avoid all that.

I grew up on the outskirts of London. I always loved music. I was fascinated by the nuts and bolts; how a show comes together, who decides what. My first job as a tour manager was for Alexis Korner, the father of the British blues scene. In the '60s, if you were in the right place at the right time, who knows what might happen. It just came together. I was managing shows in England and Europe for Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton. Mick Jagger [pictured on right] was at one and really liked it. He asked if I'd manage the Stones' forthcoming 1969 tour of America.

The bummer of the tour was Altamont [a Californian rock festival, where a fan was fatally stabbed by a Hells Angel]. It was massively violent. I was on stage all day, right in the thick of it. People were being attacked by bikies with pool cues, fights were breaking out everywhere. Bands throughout the day repeatedly asked people to stop fighting, but it got worse. We eventually discovered bad acid had been circulating. I think a lot of the violence came down to that - and general American insanity.

America's a violent place. The Stones thought about not playing but it would have been worse if they hadn't - we were surrounded. Imagine being on a stage when someone's being murdered in front of you. It was ghastly. It was the worst event of my life.

The Stones were frightened. A helicopter was waiting and as soon as they finished, we left.

The Rolling Stones were very civilised and English, and great to work for - undemanding. Everything was "Please" and "Thank you". Mick was a smart guy. He liked to keep you guessing. But he was always kind to me. We had what could be described as a professional relationship. People over the years have hung out with the Stones and become their friends - and some have died. The Stones were pretty hard living. I never wanted to do any drug that made me fall on the sofa somewhere. That probably saved my life.

Fast forward

I'm not interested in being a tour manager any more. I've got two boys -Chesley, 11, and Bodhi, 13 - whom I love. I'm based between Brisbane and Melbourne. I travel, paint and write [Cutler's memoir You Can't Always Get What You Want, published by William Heinemann, is out now]. I had to find my memory - you know that old aphorism that anyone who can remember the '60s wasn't there? Now I've done one book, I'm confident I could write 20. It's not your typical rock'n'roll book about drugs or orgies; it's a completely different insight. I wish I'd started writing earlier. But I don't live in regrets. It's that Buddhist idea of being here now. Life is a series of moments. Deal with them as they come.