links

Here's a few web links that I wanted to throw your direction,
some are friends and musicians and heroes I admire,
and events I want you to keep in mind.

badride.com Rip's Bad Ride. The house that Rip built.George "Rip" Rose was a giant in the motorcycle world. A member of the Motorcycling Hall of Fame, He was the Roving Editor for Easyriders Magazine for 27 years, and his monthly column "Rips Run" was a beloved journal of a life lived in the wind. He was the true ambassador of the biker life and freedom of the highway. In 1997 they moved his column from Easyriders to Biker Magazine where I was the art director, and I had the great pleasure to work side by side with Rip as we put together his column every month. He taught me a lot about motorcycles, making magazines, writing and photography, but he taught me even more about heart, dedication and how to live as a no-bullshit stand-up biker in this world. Rip wound up with late onset diabetes, which later dropped cancer on him too. He fought it like a tiger, never whined and resolved to put together a run that would help put an end to Diabetes. And that was how the Bad Ride was born. When Rip died in 2000 it tore us all up real bad, but with the legacy he left behind, Rip's Bad Ride, I feel he is still here with us. June 2005 marks it's 8th year, and it's getting bigger, better and stronger every year. It's getting to be the best charity run in Southern California. Please, please brothers and sisters, Support the Bad Ride.

listen.to/whiteleather John Whiteleather is my best friend, blood-brother and musical accomplice for about twenty years. (see my biography for the whole story) in '91 he moved his band over to Sweden and has been tearing up Europe ever since with the best American Rock and Roll going today. He's recorded a whole mess of my songs and I go over to play with his great band every year in Europe.

davidmannart.com If you ride a Harley then I don't have to tell you who David Mann is. He is the consummate artist of the biker world and has been doing lifestyle paintings for Easyriders magazine since the beginning. He is a true biker icon. Hell, I had Dave Mann posters on my bedroom wall when I was ten years old! Since I started working for Easyriders in '91 it has been my great privilege to work with Dave. And I'm so proud to say that he is my friend. When the powers that be moved him to Biker Magazine in '97 I was tickled pink that I could work with him every month. His art is stronger than ever. Check out his website and tell him that Beatnik sent you.

fryedbrothersband.com The Fryed Brothers Band is the best biker band in the world. For 21 years they've been cranking out the finest genuine roadhouse boogie-woogie on the planet at every big biker run from Sturgis to Daytona to all points in between. They've worked with just about everyone, from Billy Idol to Willie Nelson. Every guy in the band is a master of his instrument and Harry Fryed is one of my all-time favorite songwriters. Folks, it just doesn't get any better than this. There's a lot of good biker bands out there but the Fryeds are the top of the heap.

rockabillyhall.com/glnglnn Glen Glenn was, and still is one of the true kings of rockabilly music. Ask Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young, or even Jack Nicholson and they'll all tell you the same, because they're all fans of Glen's. One Cup of Coffee and a Cigarette, Laurie Ann, Kathleen, Blue Jeans and a Boy's Shirt and of course Everybody's Movin' are just a few of Glen's hit songs of the fifties. I started playing guitar for Glen in 1994 and we've played some mighty big shows together, even opened up for Bob Dylan, who believe it or not, is a MAJOR rockabilly fan. This is Glen's page at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, which is a most awesome site to explore.

rockabillyhall.com/JohnnyLegend Johnny Legend is a wild man. He is the rockabilly Rasputin, Horror movie actor, Professional Wrestling Promoter, porno film kingpin, the father of Psychobilly and all around sleaze-o-maniac. I cannot possibly describe to you the pure weirdness of Johnny's act. He first conned me into going on the psycho road with him and his Rockabilly Bastards, back in 95 and I've been playing guitar with him ever since. Check out the insane history on his Rockabilly Hall of Fame page and know that everything you read is ABSOLUTELY TRUE.

weaselsusa.org The Weasels. A drinking club with a motorcycle problem. The finest group of degenerates, idiots and fuck-ups I've ever had the pleasure of riding and partying with. You won't find a classier group of people outside the shit-smeared walls of mental institutions. The Weasels started back in the early 90's as a total goof and has since spread like Herpes around the globe.

easyriders.com Easyriders, Biker and In the Wind Magazines. My longsuffering employers and true foxhole buddies for over a decade. The bro's that put together these magazines are the truest most stand-up guys going. They put their hearts, souls and guts into every issue because they are truly passionate about motorcycling and really care about bikers. Lots of imitators out there now but these mags are still the best. Why? BECAUSE THEY FUCKING INVENTED IT.

mikehays.com Mike Hays is a great old-style twangin' country music singer from Virginia and a biker as well. I ran into him as I was out promoting Biker Campfire. Good guy. If the current crop of NashVegas Barbie and Ken dolls has you longing for the days of real country music made by guys like Lefty, Merle and Buck, then cousin, you oughta check him out.

dagomusic.phrasewise.com Dago is a member of the Sons of Silence MC and currently doing a stretch in the graybar hotel. He's also one helluva songwriter and has a new CD "I Told You So" that his family on the outside is helping him market.If ya dig music about the live and die brotherhood of outlaw bikers, then check out this true 1%er and what he's got to say. Strong stuff here.

bigsmithband.com Big Smith is a great band comprised of five young fellas, all cousins from Missouri who take elements of bluegrass, country, gospel, folk and southern rock and blend it all into some of the most rompin', footstompinest music I've ever heard anywhere. Definitely check these guys out.

ramblinjack.com Ramblin' Jack Elliott has been one of my folksinger heroes forever. He learned it at the feet of Woody Guthrie himself as a kid way back in the early fifties. He's a cowboy, sailor, truck driver, adventurer, and the best interpreter of old-time folksongs and cowboy songs there ever was. There was a great documentary made about him a couple of years ago called "the Ballad of Ramblin' Jack", and he's still out there going strong. There's a real good biography on his website. Go there and explore a true American folk treasure.

woodyguthrie.org I'm sure I don't have to tell you who Woody Guthrie was. Just the greatest American folksinger and songwriter that ever lived. Now, there's a bunch of Websites on Woody, but this is the one one run by his daughter Nora for the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives, the outfit dedicated to keeping the memory and music of Woody alive.

Brian Joens.com Brian Joens is a guy I used to sing with in a little folkie group called This Train in Venice, back in the late eighties. We kind of fell out of touch, but he was always one of my favorite songwriters. I recently caught up with him again. He moved back to his hometown in Manning, Iowa and has now become one of the top guys writing songs about American small town life. Great songwriter.