Chocolate George, Hells Angels, & the Grateful Dead 1967

This pic was take in the ride for Hell's Angels member Chocolate George on August 28th, 1967. The Hells Angels-style funeral cortege dots a hilly Dolores Street as hundreds of bikers roared to the funeral party of one of their brothers. His real name was Charles G. Henricks, (known for his love for chocolate milk hence the name Chocolate George) a 34 year old Angel who was killed in an accident in San Francisco's Hippie Haight-Ashbury district. It was the kind of last run Chocolate George would have dug the most. The cycles paraded into Golden Gate Park, where they all indulged in a frenzy of beer and wine..women..and rock music. After all the dining and dancing it was perhaps, appropriately that one of the music groups attending the send-off was the Grateful Dead… Here's a partial video of the Dead playing from that day.

The photograph of Chocolate George's funeral was shot by Bob Campbell The original poster that was printed by The Print Mint (first poster shop on Haight Street) was so popular that it became an iconic poster that is still highly sought after today. An original 24" x 48" poster will run you at least several hundred bucks if you can find one at all! The photo ran in the SF Chronicle with an article on the funeral entitled The Gang Gathers. I'd love to find one of these posters for myself!

Over forty years later, with the shooting death of (Hell's Angel president of the SF Chapter) Mark "Papa" Guardado on September 3rd, 2008, this scene was recreated in a a similar procession only this time with well over 2000 bikes in the ride around the city and ending up at the cemetery.

PS. I am not affiliated with the Hell's Angels in any way.