Sam Cutler (born Brendan Lawrence Lyons; 10 March 1943 – 11 July 2023) was an English tour manager for

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

, and other acts.

Early life and career

Cutler was born on 10 March 1943. He was an Honours Graduate in

Contemporary History Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

(

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

(OU)) and a qualified teacher (

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Institute of Education 1963–66). Cutler's OU degree was gained at the end of the 1980s. Cutler worked for

Blackhill Enterprises Blackhill Enterprises was a rock music management company, founded as a partnership by the four original members of Pink Floyd ( Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright), with Peter Jenner and Andrew King. Blackhill were the ...

as stage manager and master of ceremonies on a series of 1960s gigs in the United Kingdom and Europe with different artists, including

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

and Alexis Korner. In 1969, he acted as master of ceremonies at The Rolling Stones concert in

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...

. Following the Hyde Park show, Cutler was asked to be the personal road manager to The Rolling Stones during their 1969 Tour of America, which culminated in the

Altamont Free Concert The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, with some an ...

where Afro-American arts student Meredith Hunter was killed in front of the stage by one of the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...

security team. Cutler was credited with first uttering The Rolling Stones' famous intro line, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World...The Rolling Stones!"

Rock and roll management career

Following the events at Altamont, Cutler stayed in the United States to deal with the aftermath, was befriended by

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

, and subsequently hired by the

as their tour manager. He went on to become a co-manager of the band (with Jon McIntire and David Parker) and eventually became their agent and tour manager. Cutler organised the Dead's appearances at a number of events including: the 1970 Festival Express Tour of Canada, The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen and the 1972 European Tour of the Grateful Dead, the musical results of which can be heard on the Dead's triple live album ''

Europe '72 ''Europe '72'' is a live album, live triple album by the Grateful Dead, released in November 1972. It is the band's third live album and their eighth album overall. It covers the band's tour of Western Europe in April and May that year, and showc ...

''. Through his company, Out of Town Tours, Cutler coordinated the appearances of

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred to ...

, Sons of Champlin,

Mike Bloomfield Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrume ...

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliott Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer, songwriter and story teller. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adno ...

and others. In 2006, Cutler collaborated with Melbourne (Australia) indie-rock group

Black Cab A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...

on the track "Valiant" which appeared on the band's 2006 release ''Jesus East''. In the track, Cutler reminisces on his days with the Grateful Dead and preaches advice for the kids of today. Cutler toured around Australia and Asia promoting his book.

Death

Cutler died from cancer in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, on 11 July 2023, at the age of 80.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Sam 1943 births 2023 deaths Alumni of the Open University Grateful Dead The Rolling Stones British music industry executives People from Hatfield, Hertfordshire Deaths from cancer in Queensland