The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The organization is considered an organized crime syndicate by the U.S. Department of Justice. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Common nicknames for the club are the “H.A.”, “Red & White”, and “81”. (More from Wikipedia)
But there is no shortage of interpretations of “American Pie” from all quarters (I took a stab at it myself ages ago): Bob Dylan is said to be the “jester”; the Beatles are evidently referenced in the line “sergeants played a marching tune”; and the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger in particular) seem to have a more central role in the tale – the fifth verse includes the lyric “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick / Jack Flash sat on a candlestick” (an obvious reference to the Rolling Stones hit “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”), several mentions of Satan (“Sympathy for the Devil” is one of several times that the Stones toyed with Satanic imagery), and apparent veiled references to the horrific Altamont Speedway Free Concert that occurred on the heels of Woodstock on December 6, 1969, where the Rolling Stones were the featured act, and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club provided security.
As depicted in Gimme Shelter (I saw the film when it came to theatres in 1970, but I never want to see it again), one audience member, Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by several bikers after he pulled a gun – and yes, someone caught the incident on film. Lead male singer Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane was knocked out cold by a Hells Angel, and Mick Jagger was punched in the face by an unruly fan shortly after his arrival by helicopter. It was a perfect storm where simply everything went wrong – the rain and the other privations at Woodstock were nothing compared to what occurred at Altamont.
On the other hand, Mick Farren has had a lot of friends over the years who were much more radical than he was. For instance, Farren was one of the leaders of the British wing of the White Panthers, a group that Black Panther Party leader Huey Newton encouraged white sympathizers to form. But it wasn’t just radicals; Farren also befriended several members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and one of the quotations in the liner notes of Ptooff! is by Sonny Barger, a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter and probably the best known Angel. Moreover, Mick Farren demonstrated time and time again that he could be a very good friend indeed.
The Doobie Brothers formed in 1970 and began performing live throughout northern California, attracting a particularly strong following among the Hells Angels.
(July 2014)
