The March '94 issue of Iron Horse featured David Snow's interview with Danny Lyon, as far as I know the only time he's talked so specifically about the making of the Bikeriders book in print.
Hey, y'all, Snow here. Here's some interesting info 'bout the interview. It was early October, Shawn and I froze our asses off heading out of NYC on the Harley & up the Pallisades. We stopped at Dave Sarafan's place in Spring Valley to warm up. We get to Lyon's place around noon and we're worn out & hungry from the road. The guy is a total insufferable prick. Doesn't offer us so much as a cup of coffee or glass of water. Buries his head into a bowl of pasta, slurping it up. I could tell he thought we were morons & was pretty disdainful, still, I'm thinking, it'll look great in the magazine and, after all, I'd idolized the guy in my mind for years after discovering & stealing his book from the University of Arkansas library. I still have it as well as the recent, superior, version that I urged him to release way back when.
yes, I respect the hell out of Lyon as an artist, but you could tell he was a smooth bullshitter & that's how he glided through his time with the Outlaws. One of the old time members called me & said, "Hey, he just vanished one day--- with his colors!" Club property, ya know. I asked him at the time, "So they let you keep your colors?" He just kind of hemmed & hawed & basically described sliding out on these people who made him one of their own. He has an incredible amount of material--- enough for 20 books. Wish he could find a publisher. There's one startling series of a club gang bang during a picnic. Funniest part of the whole thing was the visit I got from the NYC HA pres., vice pres. & sgt-at-arms. "So you're a messenger for the Outlaws?" I explained that Lyon was a yuppie fag & rode with HA & Outlaws back when in the stone age days when the clubs were friendly, and he'd had nothing to do with the club for decades. Lyon later called me terrified, after receiving a phone call from the HA. I always went out of my way to be as neutral and even handed as possible with club coverage, but it could be difficult at times. Just wanted IH to reflect the scene as accurately as possible...
I have one of the gang-bang shots in a gallery catalogue from his show at the Photographers Gallery in London in around '90/'91...
I always wondered how you handled the club stuff in IH... there was a lot of Pagans coverage at one stage, and the Ching-a-Lings. It was part of what made it such a crunchy read.
Thanks again Snow... fascinating background to these iconic features.
My pleasure. This is an awesome site & magazine. There's so much quality kustom kultural stuff out there now. Ya know, Rob was so taken with the Chings, he almost joined! But he was too much of a homebody living in a shack on a lake in PA like the unabomber...
The March '94 issue of Iron Horse featured David Snow's interview with Danny Lyon, as far as I know the only time he's talked so specifically about the making of the Bikeriders book in print.
9 comments:
Read the whole story before going to work Guy, great stuff....big smiles....running late!
Thanks Roger, nice to hear someone, somewhere out there is reading this stuff! I'm a bit of a Lyon obsessive...
Well mate that copy of the Bikeriders you gave me is one of my most treasured possessions.....Danny Lyon is as real as it gets.
Hey, y'all, Snow here. Here's some interesting info 'bout the interview. It was early October, Shawn and I froze our asses off heading out of NYC on the Harley & up the Pallisades. We stopped at Dave Sarafan's place in Spring Valley to warm up. We get to Lyon's place around noon and we're worn out & hungry from the road. The guy is a total insufferable prick. Doesn't offer us so much as a cup of coffee or glass of water. Buries his head into a bowl of pasta, slurping it up. I could tell he thought we were morons & was pretty disdainful, still, I'm thinking, it'll look great in the magazine and, after all, I'd idolized the guy in my mind for years after discovering & stealing his book from the University of Arkansas library. I still have it as well as the recent, superior, version that I urged him to release way back when.
Thanks Snow, that's funny. Kind of removes my idealised gloss from Lyon, but this is still one of my favourite pieces from your time at the mag.
But thanks for bothering to comment – it's never a good thing to meet your heroes, I've found!
yes, I respect the hell out of Lyon as an artist, but you could tell he was a smooth bullshitter & that's how he glided through his time with the Outlaws. One of the old time members called me & said, "Hey, he just vanished one day--- with his colors!" Club property, ya know. I asked him at the time, "So they let you keep your colors?" He just kind of hemmed & hawed & basically described sliding out on these people who made him one of their own. He has an incredible amount of material--- enough for 20 books. Wish he could find a publisher. There's one startling series of a club gang bang during a picnic. Funniest part of the whole thing was the visit I got from the NYC HA pres., vice pres. & sgt-at-arms. "So you're a messenger for the Outlaws?" I explained that Lyon was a yuppie fag & rode with HA & Outlaws back when in the stone age days when the clubs were friendly, and he'd had nothing to do with the club for decades. Lyon later called me terrified, after receiving a phone call from the HA. I always went out of my way to be as neutral and even handed as possible with club coverage, but it could be difficult at times. Just wanted IH to reflect the scene as accurately as possible...
I have one of the gang-bang shots in a gallery catalogue from his show at the Photographers Gallery in London in around '90/'91...
I always wondered how you handled the club stuff in IH... there was a lot of Pagans coverage at one stage, and the Ching-a-Lings. It was part of what made it such a crunchy read.
Thanks again Snow... fascinating background to these iconic features.
My pleasure. This is an awesome site & magazine. There's so much quality kustom kultural stuff out there now. Ya know, Rob was so taken with the Chings, he almost joined! But he was too much of a homebody living in a shack on a lake in PA like the unabomber...
Snow, if you have time (and the inclination), email me at choppers@greasykulture.com
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