It’s mick somebody hit him

 

It’s mick somebody hit him





     Just a sentence from an old documentary about the Rolling Stones called "Gimme Shelter" that we all watched with great fascination in the early 70's. The world seen in the film was far from South Gate or Maywood but the band was at its peak and we dug the Stones' records. In a very good decision I once refused an invite from Billy Hogan who had been determined to roll up to Altamont to see this "free concert" given by the Stones. Bill's idea was to go by motorcycle all the way to the show to avoid the huge traffic jam that was predicted. 350 miles on the back of a motorcycle with a Hogan hold did not seem like a wise choice even in my drug-addled brain on Winter break from UCLA. Bill eventually stayed home also and avoided being in one of the most chaotic scenes in rock history. With all those youthful juices flowing we attempted many a leap into the unknown grooviness of the love generation but this one we experienced years after the concert and death of a concert-goer. It was probably at the Veteran and Ohio pad where the fellas gathered often to get high and watch TV shows of merit. "Gimme Shelter" was being shown on public television and the viewing was de riguer for our  crowd. Even in the few years between the show and the viewing on the tube some of the dialogue was a little too groovy for young sophisticates like us. At one point in the film a jealous boy has managed to slip backstage to reach Mick Jagger's trailer and socks the head Stone in the mouth. The poor hippy did not like his girlfriend being in love with Mick so he felt it his duty to punch him out. In the film there is confused ruckus around the backstage area and a girl blurts out "it's Mick! Somebody hit him!" The way the sentence is uttered it is like she is describing Jesus being nailed to the cross and the hurt in her voice is palpable. We all laughed at the over the top astonishment of the sacred Mick being punched and later used to say "somebody hit mick" to express any kind of shocked surprise coming out of confusion. Much later in 1992 they reissued the documentary and we discovered the true quote. Mick recovered quickly and the famous lips returned to their sexy sneer. The jealous boyfriend escaped with just a slight beating which was better than the guy in front of the stage who got knifed repeatedly. The moral is "don't bring a gun to a rock and roll concert with security provided by the Hell's Angels"



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