I once had motorcycle fever, so in 1966 I and a half dozen others founded a motorcycle gang sometimes referred to as a club. You want to see just what its like just step out into a nice big old fat ocean all by yourself in a little rowboat and see just how microscopic you are. The song is a look at the tumultuous relationship of two of its subjects, club member Benny Bauer and his wife Kathy, as well as a window into the life of the club itself. I didn't see "The Bikeriders" until years after it was published, when I ran across it in a college library. They were one of the Big Four outlaw clubs, whose membership ballooned in the 1960s, the others being the West Coast based Hell's Angels, the Southwestern Bandidos, and the East Coast Pagans.

The text part is a series of brief snippets or interviews with a cast of characters and sharing some of their experiences that are not connected or give away much information about anything in particular. The Bikeriders premiered as the opening film of the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023.

A seminal work of modern photojournalism, this landmark collection of photographs and interviews documents the abandon and risk implied in the name of the gang Lyon belonged the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle Club. Registered office: WSM Services Limited, Connect House, 133-137 Alexandra Road, Wimbledon, LONDON SW19 7JY. One of the iconic american photobooks of the sixties, one of the most important photobooks ever published: Andrew Roth, The Book of 101 Books, page 190/191; Martin Parr, Gerry Badger, The Photobook, volume 1, page 256; Hasselblad Center, The Open Book, page 236/237).

Ein amerikanischer Fotobuch-Klassiker der 60er, eines der wichtigsten Bücher in der Geschichte der Fotografie: Andrew Roth, The Book of 101 Books, Seite 190/191; Martin Parr, Gerry Badger, The Photobook, volume 1, Seite 256; Hasselblad Center, The Open Book, Seite 236/237).The importance of his work and our interest in the subject is reinforced by Lyon’s immersion in his subject. The Outlaws were formed in the 1930s in Illinois, so they are among the oldest of the 1% outlaw clubs, and the largest in the Midwest. An interesting look into the counter-culture of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club in the 1950’s and 60’s. and the Altamont Speedway rock festival murder, there was a lot of macho charisma attached to outlaw bikers.

As with Lyon's other publications, text is an integral part of THE BIKERIDERS; stories from the photographer as well as the voices of a number of bikeriders situate the photographs within the context of the biker subculture and the culture at large. His many books include The Movement (1964), The Destruction of Lower Manhattan (1969), Conversations with the Dead (1971), Knave of Hearts (1999), Like a Thief’s Dream (2007), and Deep Sea Diver (2011).Work on The Bikeriders began in earnest when, at the invitation of a mechanic repairing his Triumph, he attended a meeting of the Chicago Outlaws and joined them as a member. The chopper riding heroes of the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club Danny Lyon photographed were all self-styled loners in the American vein, with names like Renegade, Cowboy, Crazy Charlie, Sparky, Rawhide and Gaucho. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus, and Tom Hardy. Around this time, he hitchhiked south to Cairo, Illinois, where he photographed his first demonstration and met members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the youth wing of the civil rights movement.

They would never have as much skin in the game, but their provisional status membership in that tribe was highly valued by them. Original black cloth with red lettering on cover, in original photo-illustrated dustjacket, red lettering on spine. The song is directly inspired by photojournalist Danny Lyon’s book The Bikeriders, a collection of photographs and interviews with members of the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club in the mid 60’s.After graduating in June 1963, he joined the SNCC as its first staff photographer, remaining in the role until mid-1964, when fraught internal politics and his own ambitions meant it was time to move on.