Hollister
– Everyone wants a picture with Marlon Brando.
Hollister – Everyone wants a picture with Marlon Brando.
When Hollister’s annual motorcycle rally rolls around, tourists fill the alley outside Johnny’s Bar and Grill, all of them snapping photos of the mural featuring Brando in “The Wild One” biker attire.
Johnny’s owner Charisse Tyson said she’s always wanted to repaint the 11-year-old mural, but nothing happened until Ronald Rocha volunteered. Rocha, a San Antonio-based artist and biker, told Tyson if she bought the paint, he would redo the mural for free.
“It just felt right, and the price didn’t hurt, either,” Tyson said.
Rocha plans to replace the mural’s dull yellow background with vivid orange. It also will feature big, bold images of Brando, the bikers in “Easy Rider” and local motorcycle icons “Wino Willie” Forkner and Daniel “Boo Boo” Cazares.
Forkner founded the Boozefighters motorcycle club and took part in the original 1947 rally. Cazares can’t quite match Forkner’s history. But he’s a familiar sight at recent rallies, where he can be recognized by the boar skin atop his head.
“Boo Boo is the life of the party,” Rocha said. “Everywhere he goes, he just livens up the place with his presence.”
Rocha, 67, has some history, too. He’s been painting since he was 15 years old, and he said he’s worked for Arnie Roberts of the Hell’s Angels and the Sultan of Brunei, among many others.
“I also painted some of the first topless bars in the Bay Area,” he added.
Rocha left the Bay Area 30 years ago, but he still comes back regularly to visit his son in Hollister. Rocha agreed to paint the Johnny’s mural if he could dedicate his work to local veterans, but he also wanted to celebrate the motorcycle rally.
“I believe the motorcycle run here really makes a statement,” Rocha said.
He doesn’t plan to finish the painting until Monday or Tuesday, but locals already gave Rocha’s work rave reviews. Johnny’s regular Danny Rendon said he appreciates the new mural’s color.
“(The old mural) was boring,” Rendon said. “There was no color, no brightness.”
Tyson is equally enthusiastic about the results.
“I’m just tickled pink,” she said.
