The name Ralph
”
Sonny
”
Barger is still revered in some circles
– and loathed in others – but it no longer elicits the
spine-tingling panic it used to.
Hollister – The name Ralph “Sonny” Barger is still revered in some circles – and loathed in others – but it no longer elicits the spine-tingling panic it used to.
This weekend Barger road his Harley-Davidson to the Hollister Independence Rally to promote his new book, spend time with his new wife and enjoy a good biker rally – no stomping, thrashing or beating.
Barger, who started the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels in the 1950s, has lived a life that few others could have survived to write about. It has left him with a criminal record, three ex-wives, enough stories to fill four books, and a permanent place in American history.
According to his autobiography, the biker once put a pistol to Keith Richards’ back to get him to keep playing after a girl was stabbed by a Hells Angel during the now infamous Altamont concert in 1969.
Another time, some of his fellow Hells Angels stomped gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson for failing to provide a promised keg of beer for the club after completing his first novel, “Hell’s Angels,” which brought widespread recognition to both writer and subject.
Barger said he never liked the book.
“Hunter came around and spent about a year with us,” Barger said. “He got smart and then got whooped, he’s just like the Rolling Stones, yeah they’re good singers and writers, but they’re f—king jerk-offs.”
Decades later Thompson tried to make good on his promise, but Barger said he told Thompson it was too late.
“Now that he’s dead, I don’t have to deal with him,” Barger said.
In 1982 he contracted laryngitic cancer from smoking cigarettes, which resulted in the removal of his vocal chords. Today he speaks by holding a finger over a hole in his windpipe and using other muscles in his throat.
Although fellow Angels treat him like a king, Barger is content to sit in the Hells Angels booth at the Hollister Independence Rally and sign copies of his four books. He admits he has changed, but declines to acknowledge, at least publicly, just how different he is now.
“Everything changes, you change or you end up a dinosaur and disappear,” Barger said.
Having a steady income from books and other ventures has changed Barger’s life in other ways. For example, Barger’s first motorcycle was a $125 Indian. Today he rides a $30,000 Harley Road King.
“Now I eat everyday and I have gas money,” Barger said.
Unlike other Hells Angels, Barger does interviews and allows his picture to be taken. Barger talks so easily with reporters that it’s hard to see in him yesterday’s outlaw biker.
Barger stayed calm Saturday when members of the rival Mongols club paraded down Monterey Street with police escorts past the Hells Angels vendor booth on Sixth Street. The Angels shouted insults at the passing Mongols, but thanks to a fence lined with police officers keeping the Angels inside the vendor area, conflict was avoided.
Hollister Independence Rally Committee Executive Director Helen Nelson said Barger has been coming to the Hollister Independence Rally since 1997 and has never caused any problems.
“He tries to keep a lid on everything in public,” Nelson said. “When Sonny’s around things are pretty mellow.”
That wasn’t always the case. Barger criticized Thompson because the journalist “couldn’t hold his own” when the Hells Angels scuffled with police in 1964 on a run to Bass Lake, Calif.
“When we went to fight the cops at Bass Lake, he locked himself in the car,” Barger said.
Barger knows he is no longer in peak physical condition, and many who caught a glimpse of the man who the federal government once called “the most powerful and well-known outlaw motorcyclist in the country,” may have been slightly disappointed.
Ten days ago, Barger married his fourth wife, Zorana, in Reno and said he leads a tamer life now. In addition to his Harley-Davidson, Barger also rides horses, though not as often as he would like. He has a stable at his home in Desert Hills, Ariz.
Tame lifestyle and health problems aside, Barger can still strike fear in children, but he no longer does it with a chain or bike wrench. Now it’s a lecture on the dangers of cigarette smoking.
“Little man,” Barger said, putting a finger to his throat and speaking hoarsely to a visibly frightened young boy standing at his father’s side, “when your friends try to get you to light up, just remember me.”
