Soul On Bikes : the East Bay Dragons MC and the Black Biker Set

by Tobie Gene Levingston

When Sonny Barger formed the Oakland Hell's Angels in 1957, a few miles up East 14th Street in East Oakland, a young black bike rider form Louisiana named Tobie Gene Levingston was soon to follow in Barger's footsteps. The two knew and respected each other and had ridden their Harleys together in the same East Bay neighborhood. In 1959, Tobie Gene organized the Dragons, a loosely knit, all-black men's club, one of the first of its kind. The dragon's earliest incarnation began as an all-black car club. It originally stemmed from Tobie Gene's big brother role to keep his younger brothers and friends occupied and out of trouble. The Dragons became ten strong, including members like MacArthur, Hooker, Tobie's brothers Joe Louis and Jonas, Baby Joe, Sam and Cousin Rabbit. Tobie Gene became the East Bay Dragons MC's first and only president, still reigning and riding after forty-four years.'

Genres: History, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tend to just default at a 3* for books like this, because most of them share the same sort of issues, but I enjoyed this one. Somehow, lacking the all-out depravity of books about clubs like the Angels or Outlaws actually made it a more interesting read.

[Dave Bones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. The guy writes really well about growing up in a sharecropper family, Black, white and mixed motorcycle gangs, the panthers and a whole load more. A really interesting perspective of California through the 50s to the present.

[Tommi Kahinoja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirjan otsikossa oleellinen; lukusuositus niille joita kiinnostaa.

[Debonnaire_betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true gem ❤ this has been an amazing read

[Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is the written account of one man, Mr. Levingston, who is basically sitting down and telling the reader about his life from start to where it is today (as president, at time of publishing, of the East Bay Dragons). No more, no less. There is a little philosophizing, but it's a "how we got here" tale, and all the more enjoyable for it. Mr. Levingston grew up with, and was/is friends with, Sonny Barger of the Hells Angels. The all-black Dragons, then, share a lot in common with the all-white HA.

The authors descriptions of discovering, building, and wrecking bikes is just fun. The stories of encounters with hippies, cops, other MCs, locals, and celebrities are just fun. The book is a quick, enjoyable read about a club I knew nothing about (and I wager most people outside of the Bay Area don't, either).

The contrast (according to the author) with HA is interesting. The goals of the club, the activities of the club, and the club's attitude towards police and the general public differ from HA. "Having a good time" is the same with both, but the means and ends of that "having fun" differ, again according to the author.

The book is filled with b/w and color photos, which really help to tell the story. The language is straightforward. There are some honest laugh-out-loud passages in there (hearing him describe riding through the Haight in SF, and the reaction of some of the girls, got a chuckle). And what little philosophizing there is in the book is interesting, coming from a guy who lived through the 50s-80s on a bike in Oakland.

Good, fun read, and you can get a bit of trivia knowledge to use on your non-Bay Area friends.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

En ole ikinä antanut suuremmin arvoa Helvetin enkeleiden kaltaisille prätkäjengeille tai ollut erityisen innostunut moottoripyöristä, mutta 1960-luvun kuohuva amerikkalainen yhteiskunta on kiinnostanut koko rahan edestä.

Niinpä Tobie Gene Levingstonin "East Bay Dragons MC: Oaklandin soul-bikerit" (Johnny Kniga, 2011) tarttui puolivahingossa mukaan Kirjatorilta, mainostihan se takakannessaan sivuavansa muun muassa kansalaisoikeustaistelun, hippiliikkeen ja populaarimusiikin kaltaisia teemoja. Lisäksi kirjan tapahtumat sijoittuivat samoille seuduille, jonne tein myös oman Kalifornian-matkani.

Levingstonin elämänvaiheet vain mustille tarkoitetun moottoripyöräkerhon johtajana ovat epäilemättä olleet kiinnostavia ja epätavallisia, mutta tarina ei kirjamuodossa lähde missään vaiheessa lentoon, vaan tapahtumista kerrotaan yliolkaisesti, mihinkään teemaan ihmeemmin syventymättä tai paneutumatta. Sääli, sillä aineksia parempaan olisi aivan varmasti ollut.

Nopealukuinen kirja on sen verran mitäänsanomaton kuriositeetti, että aiheesta kiinnostuneen kannattaakin etsiä käsiinsä vaikka Hunter S. Thompsonin erinomainen Helvetin enkelit.

[Stace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a really sophisticated book, but I picked it up in a bookshop one Sunday, and I didn't put it down until I had finished it. A story of a black man from the south who grows up a sharecroppers son then travels to the Bay area in the 1950's and starts first a car, and then a motorcycle club. The trials he faces with his family and motorcycle club are interesting, and provide insight into another time in the U.S. Although it's ghost written by a pair of twin brothers-who apparently also worked on a John Lydon memoir-the content really wasn't all that well put together. It was a simple guilty pleasure-kind of a Mod Squad/Starsky and Hutch marthon, but on paper.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to approach this book on its terms: it's an insider's view into early black Oakland motorcycle clubs. The books describes the author's childhood and experiences that led to his joining motorcycle culture; it describes other people in the group, and describes the club as it changes. It's not a complete, fully detailed academic history of the time -- it's conversational, telling a story as if you're sitting next to the author and asking him to reminisce. If you can appreciate it from that perspective, you'll enjoy this book.

[Louis DeFrancesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkably good read. Tobie Gene Levingston has all the answers. For sure he’s someone I would enjoy sitting down with and just listening as he imparts the wisdom of his experience. From growing up on a farm house amongst a large family in the Deep South, to heading out west and becoming the president of the first all black motorcycle club, this guy has lived a life worth living. We need more storytellers and wise men like him in the world. I had a great time reading this book. It’s filled with interesting stories and good life lessons.

[Jason 7734 · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this may be the only book ever written on the history of Oakland CA's all-black male/all Harley only MC, the writing "style" is rather remedial.
A re-write would be a good thing.
It reads like it's geared towards those w/ a reading level of a 10-year old, but the subject material most of the time is not.

My thinking is that most people in the biker set would feel this way, too.
There is definitely a great story to be told here, but you're not gonna find that here. Shame...

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for Ppete because who can resist a cover with a lovely lady with a huge Afro. This book discusses the movement of the Black motorcycle clubs. It has some interesting photos and it is an easy enough read.

[Stephan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biography of the East Bay Dragons MC. Before I read this book, I had no clue. After finishing, I feel like I know a little bit about this Club. Great read for anyone interested in this lifestyle.

[Shonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was during my stage of becoming an biker. This stage didn't last long.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up this book from library as it had Oakland in its title, for no other reason really. I read the finnish translation, which wasn't very well edited. The book was somewhat interesting though.