Movie Theater SATURDAY NIGHT MOVIE: Hells Angels On Wheels (1967)

[Blue Sky Country]

HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS (1967)

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Adam Roarke, Sabrina Scharf, and Sonny Barger.




In a dusty and rugged part of San Francisco, the hard rock, brawlers, and hippies capital of the 1960s, 'Poet' was a restless young man working a dead end job at a gas station. Already a seasoned street fighter, his temper was short, made even more volatile by crusty scalawags who kept testing him. Every interaction could end up with him dealing out an asswhooping and Poet knew that his time at this job would be short. One day, a band of Hells Angels riders stopped by the gas station. For Poet, nothing was more alluring than being a member of one of the largest and most notorious outlaw motorcycle clubs in the country, and he made up his mind as he took in the acrid fumes and the growling thunder of Harleys idling around him. One thing led to another and Poet was invited to become a hangaround of the club, and then a patch-rocking prospect. However, as Poet's rough and tumble nature carried him up through the ranks of the club, he learned that with every step in that organization came with hard prices to pay, far harder than a metal chain enclosed haymaker connecting with a skull in the most brutal alley fight...

Playing the President of the Hells Angels MC in this movie is none other than Sonny Barger himself, who in 1967 was the chapter president of the Oakland, California HAMC charter.

 

[jrassy]

A classic, I saw it in the theatre, crap I’m old

 

[Holliday]

I met Sonny Barger and got a signed copy of his book along with a photo, back around 2003-2005 at a swap-meet in Denver.

I am not by any means a fan of 1%ers and steer well clear of them. In fact I am a vocal critic. That said, as a lifelong biker, I appreciate motorcycle history and icons. Sonny is both.

He was very pleasant and exceedingly friendly. I bought the book that he signed and then a couple of Hell’s Angels invited behind the table as they snapped a photo of us (with my camera, pre smartphones). As I was leaving he reached out to shake my hand. Shaking his hand was a “moment”.

According to his book that hand, had stuck a pistol in Keith Richards rib cage on stage at the debut of “Sympathy for the Devil”. A night etched in history. That hand had done a lot worse…..

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I met Sonny Barger and got a signed copy of his book along with a photo, back around 2003-2005 at a swap-meet in Denver.

I am not by any means a fan of 1%ers and steer well clear of them. In fact I am a vocal critic. That said, as a lifelong biker, I appreciate motorcycle history and icons. Sonny is both.

He was very pleasant and exceedingly friendly. I bought the book that he signed and then a couple of Hell’s Angels invited behind the table as they snapped a photo of us (with my camera, pre smartphones). As I was leaving he reached out to shake my hand. Shaking his hand was a “moment”.

According to his book that hand, had stuck a pistol in Keith Richards rib cage on stage at the debut of “Sympathy for the Devil”. A night etched in history. That hand had done a lot worse…..



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It was the Hells Angels who pretty much turned the regular "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" the other way around... During the notorious Altamont Speedway Festival on Dec 6th, 1969, a dude named Meredith Hunter, 18, who had been on a 2-4 day long methamphetamine binge prior to the event tried to jump on the stage when Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was singing. The Stones had been hiring the HAMC as security for several years by then and first, Hunter was punched by one biker and shoved back off the stage. They had no idea what he was really trying to do until about a minute later when two gunshots rang out, one round hitting the drum stand and the other going through a speaker system. One of the Stones band mates pointed into the crowd and was shouting: "That motherfucker right there, he's got a gun and shooting at us", pointing at Meredith Hunter. The bikers motioned to several of their fellows in the crowd further back: "Go! Get that son of a bitch." Before Hunter got off a third shot, Hells Angel Alan Passaro drew a Confederate pattern D-guard bowie knife from his belt, knocked Hunter's gun hand upward towards the roof with his left arm and simultaneously eviscerated the abdomen of the shooter. It was later that investigators doing the postmortem on Hunter's corpse found out that he had been on a LONG ass meth bend and on the way to the concert, he had smashed a window on a parked car and took the .22 LR chambered S&W Model 3 from the seat inside. He wanted to kill Mick Jagger to "make a name for himself"...

 

[jrassy]

Alan Passaro was found not guilty, it was self defense, just to finish off your story.

 

[jrassy]

I met Sonny Barger and got a signed copy of his book along with a photo, back around 2003-2005 at a swap-meet in Denver.

I am not by any means a fan of 1%ers and steer well clear of them. In fact I am a vocal critic. That said, as a lifelong biker, I appreciate motorcycle history and icons. Sonny is both.

He was very pleasant and exceedingly friendly. I bought the book that he signed and then a couple of Hell’s Angels invited behind the table as they snapped a photo of us (with my camera, pre smartphones). As I was leaving he reached out to shake my hand. Shaking his hand was a “moment”.

According to his book that hand, had stuck a pistol in Keith Richards rib cage on stage at the debut of “Sympathy for the Devil”. A night etched in history. That hand had done a lot worse…..



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I met him as well and have an autographed book and beer stein when he had “SONNYS BEER”. I found him to be just as you said as well. Denver’s bike show is always a good time as well.

 

[packratt]

Alan Passaro was found not guilty, it was self defense, just to finish off your story.

That's the part that gets left out 99% of the time

 

[Holliday]

I met him as well and have an autographed book and beer stein when he had “SONNYS BEER”. I found him to be just as you said as well. Denver’s bike show is always a good time as well.

My bike took first place in the metric division at the Denver Swap Meet, some years back. Still have the trophy and the bike.

 

[Holliday]

That's the part that gets left out 99% of the time

The Stones turn-coated them and threw them to the wolves.

 

[jrassy]

The Stones turn-coated them and threw them to the wolves.

yep it is really an interesting story. The HA wanted the Stones to pay 50,000 in legal fees. The Stones refused but were finally persuaded to pay by the HA . Which they did.
Keith Richards had an interesting take on it as well, he admitted they should have paid. All this comes about because the HA had a good rapport with the SF music scene, loose connections and interactions evolved into business dealings. Altamont initially was an agreement the HA would provide security for 500 dollars worth of beer. I find the Stones 2 hour delay to get on stage, as well as Jefferson Airplanes lead singer disrespecting a HA, Animal( they we’re friends actually ) , really set the mood for the concert. Combined with all the different drugs being induced by the crowd really cast a darkness on the concert, the death knell so to speak.

I was a teen living in San Mateo at the time . I have been around the HA for a long time .

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Alan Passaro was found not guilty, it was self defense, just to finish off your story.

This 100%. It was a textbook case of justifiable use of lethal force to protect others in the face of an imminent lethal threat. Just like how Elfego Baca had also been found to have used perfectly justifiable show of force during the great Frisco gunfight in 1884, circumstances that some prosecutors would argue about being a "participant in mutual conflict". The key point of both being that someone started it, it was out of anyone's control, and the defendant finished it in order to neutralize the threat(s) and did not continue using force after the danger had been neutralized. In the Altamont Speedway case, it was nearly impossible for even the race baiters at the time to cry foul. Hard to do so when the subject of their case was hopped up on meth and shooting into a crowded venue with intent to kill and wanton disregard for others around them.