BRISBANE, AU (CelebrityAccess) – Legendary music industry staple Sam Cutler, former tour manager for The Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead, passed away in Brisbane due to a battle with cancer. His children, Bodhi and Chesley confirmed the news of his passing via a Facebook (FB) post saying Cutler died “peacefully in his sleep” on Tuesday (July 11). He was 80.
“Our father was first diagnosed with cancer nearly a decade ago, and it is with gratitude that Sam’s family thank the wonderful doctors, nurses, hospital staff and administrators in ALL hospitals that our father received treatment within,” they said.
“Many people from across our big beautiful world crossed paths with Sam in his life, and many more formed timeless memories with him that are each beautiful encapsulations of the man that he was. Sam would want nothing more for his friends to continue to form timeless memories with whomever they meet and to share those memories with him in the next life.
“As per our father’s wishes, his ashes will be scattered in the foundations of a newly constructed Buddhist temple at the Chenrezig Institute, due to be completed in 2025. Our family asks for privacy at this time, and we thank you all very much for your messages of support.”
Born Brendan Lawrence Lyons in March 1942, Cutler graduated as an honors student from Open University and was a qualified teacher at the University of Cambridge Institute of Education.
Cutler worked in the UK and Europe for Blackhill Enterprises as a stage manager and master of ceremonies during the ’60s. He worked with a numerous artists including The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd and others. After a Hyde Park show in which he announced Mick & Co. as “the greatest rock and roll band in the world,” he told A Current Affair Australia in an interview that “Mick walked offstage and gave me a dirty look and said ‘I want to speak to you’ and said ‘we don’t want you to call us the greatest rock and roll band in the world – it’s embarrassing.'”
Obviously not, as Cutler was asked to be the personal road manager for The Stones during their 1969 Tour of America, which culminated in a performance at the Altamont Free Concert where 18 year old Afro-American arts student, Meredith Curly Hunter, Jr. was killed in front of the stage.
After that incident, Cutler stayed in the US and organized a number of appearances for the Grateful Dead, including the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, the Festival Express tour of Canada and the European Dead tour in 1972.
He eventually relocated to Australia in the late ‘90s to live a quieter life. However, he still remained involved in the music indsutry. In 2006, he collaborated with Melbourne outfit Black Cab, and was featured on their track “Valiant.”
Cutler published his memoir, You Can’t Always Get What You Want: My Life with the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and Other Wonderful Reprobates in 2008. The book has been described as “an exhilarating, access-all-areas rock memoir from someone who has seen – and done – it all”.
In a recent interview with Pleasekillme.com, Cutler said: “My career as a tour manager, as it were, didn’t last that long. I was involved for maybe ten, fifteen years. Then I got sick to death of it.
“At the end of working with the Grateful Dead, I was talking to myself like: ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ I certainly didn’t want to help other people realise their fantasies yet again. I’d had enough of all that.”
It’s expected his family will detail “celebrations of life” shortly, alongside funeral details for those who were close to him. They’ve also set up an email address where people can share their memories: thankyousamcutler@gmail.com.
RIP.
