Rock Stories #10: Patrick Simmons & John Allen Cassady

Musician shares motorbike passion

His father might been an ace, a legend even, at the wheel of a car, but Neal Cassady’s son John Allen has had a lifelong love affair with motorcycles. John adds to our ‘Rock Stories’ series with some anecdotes about Patrick Simmons, a key figure in that great American band the Doobie Brothers, an act who continue, in the mid-2020s, to roll on. Further, guitarist Simmons even wrote a fine tribute to John’s Dad…

I remember when I used to drive downtown to the Classic Motorcycles shop on Mission Street in West Santa Cruz. My old pals Billy Craddock and Pat Simmons (from the Doobie Brothers band – ever heard of them?!), started this shop to restore old bikes.

Pat married Bill's sister Dianne so it was kind of like ‘All In The Family’. One day I came in with a six-pack of beer and Pat said, ‘I didn't know that Heineken came in cans!’ We all laughed and popped one.

Pictured above: John Allen Cassady on Pat Simmons’ Harley Image: Jami Cassady

What was kind of funny, to me, was watching this ‘rock star’ with his arms covered in grease up to his elbows, while disassembling some old Harley crankshaft! I thought, ‘Really?’ He just loved motorcycles! I thought it was cool. It was almost as if he preferred fiddling with motorcycles with his friends to selling out the Oakland Coliseum for a paycheck for more money than any Human could ever imagine! I said, ‘Good for him.’ (And was his hit song ‘Black Water’ written about the Mississippi River, or the motorcycle cleaning tubs in Santa Cruz? Ha ha).

One day I was pumping gas at a ‘self-serve’ gas station on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. Behind me, who pulls up? Pat Simmons, driving his Mercedes 9000 Quattro AWD RS Super Car! (I just made all that up, but you know what I mean. I think that it was actually a Volvo). And Billy is in the passenger seat. They got out of the car and said, ‘Johnny! Congratulations! You've got a new job!’ I said, ‘Funny, fellows. It's a 'self-serve' station!' I pointed up at the sign. We all laughed and went inside to buy more Heinekens.

Pictured above: Cassady and Pat Simmons in the Santa Cruz motorcycle shop

Billy has passed, long ago, but Pat has been a ‘Champion’ for the Cassady family since the '70s! (Just listen to ‘Neal's Fandango’ on the album Stampede from 1972).

So thanks for listening, from your favorite ‘Rock & Roll StoryTeller’.

John Allen Cassady