Hells Angel who stuck a pistol in Keith Richards' side and told him to play: As founder of biker gang dies aged 83, CHRISTOPHER STEVENS looks back at a tragic night in California that left him with a twisted fame

daily mail ^ | 6/30/2022 | stevens

[RummyChick]

The 1960s ideal of love and peace died at Altamont, the free festival conceived by the Rolling Stones as California’s answer to Woodstock, in 1969.

But the man who was more responsible than any other for the destruction of that dream didn’t die himself until yesterday.

Sonny Barger, founder member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, has always maintained that the blame for the violence and murder at Altamont should be placed at the feet of Mick Jagger and the Stones.

But the truth is Barger, dubbed the Maximum Leader, was an uncompromising thug whose contempt for the law was matched only by his capacity for brutality. At Altamont, he claimed, Jagger and the band wanted ‘a dark scary environment to play Sympathy For The Devil’, and so they hired his infamous gang of outlaws to stand guard around the stage, which was low enough to make them vulnerable.

The result was carnage. The Angels, who were being paid in beer, became aggressively drunk. Brawls broke out and the bikers started assaulting the support acts, knocking out the lead singer of Jefferson Airplane, Marty Balin.

[TECTopcat]

definitely arthritis

[Norski]

If one is damaged due to an accident, it is virtually indistinguishable from rheumatoid arthritis. Looks bad..

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Well, he is seventy eight years old.

Probably his demons play the guitar for him.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I don’t think he’s doing much real playing on stage. I think Ron Wood is carrying the load on that