December 20, 2025 • 6 mins
Original Alice Cooper roadie Mike Allen opens up about the band's harrowing near-fatal car accident in 1968.
Listen to Episode 342 - Alice Cooper Roadie On Near-Fatal Car Crash, 'Toronto Chicken Incident' & More
15% OFF Any Purchase At Old Glory For Booked On Rock Listeners! — Over 300,000 officially licensed items. Featuring legendary music artists like Bob Marley, The Beatles,
Grateful Dead, and more. Use the code "BOOKEDONROCK" or hit this link:
https://oldglory.com/discount/BOOKEDONROCK
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Contact The Booked On Rock Podcast: thebookedonrockpodcast@gmail.com
The Booked On Rock Music: “Whoosh” by Crowander / “Last Train North” & “No Mercy” by TrackTribe
Listen to Episode 342 - Alice Cooper Roadie On Near-Fatal Car Crash, 'Toronto Chicken Incident' & More
15% OFF Any Purchase At Old Glory For Booked On Rock Listeners! — Over 300,000 officially licensed items. Featuring legendary music artists like Bob Marley, The Beatles,
Grateful Dead, and more. Use the code "BOOKEDONROCK" or hit this link:
https://oldglory.com/discount/BOOKEDONROCK
----------
Booked On Rock is part of The Boneless Podcasting Network
BookedOnRock.com
The Booked On Rock Store
The Booked On Rock YouTube Channel
Follow The Booked On Rock with Eric Senich:
BLUESKY
TIKTOK
X
Find Your Nearest Independent Bookstore
Contact The Booked On Rock Podcast: thebookedonrockpodcast@gmail.com
The Booked On Rock Music: “Whoosh” by Crowander / “Last Train North” & “No Mercy” by TrackTribe
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's a highlight from a recent episode of Booked on Rock.
Our guest is Mike Allen, author of Living and Touring
with Alice Cooper and other stories. There was an accident,
car accident, catastrophic that could have the end of the
band in nineteen sixty So let's get to that. And
by the way, we also we're going to get to
the Frank Zapple part of the story that's coming up too,
so we'll get to that. But yeah, what happened with
(00:21):
this accident in nineteen sixty eight, Well, like I.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Said, it was in April sixth we went back to
attend the opening of Alice Cooper the club, which only
lasted three months, but they stuck around, recorded, got Neil
up to speed on some on the music, and we
were supposed to return on the eleventh, but by the
(00:47):
time everybody got together it was after midnight on the twelfth.
Excuse me, I was driving the van and everybody in
all the equipment poured in and off we went and
leaving it after midnight on the twelfth and we got
(01:08):
to the San Bernardino Freeway and rush hour traffic wasn't
as busy as it is now, but it was still
getting to be rush hour at six six point thirty
whenever the time was, and I was driving along and
suddenly there was a freeway opened up all the way
(01:33):
for it looked like miles and there was nobody behind me.
I was just in my lane doing absolutely nothing, going man,
this is great. I can take this all the way
to the Penguin, you know, no stress. And Dennis was
just about ready to walk up and ask me if
I needed a break, and which I would have said, no,
(01:54):
We're only thirty minutes away from where we were. Then alongside,
and I don't know how or why or why this happened,
a forward maijor yellow station wagon with fake wood trim
pulled up alongside of me, about the middle of their
(02:15):
car with the front of my car and came right
over into my lane, causing me to jerk the wheel
hard to the left or the right. I can't be
o the left and all the equipment and all the
people in there, and the band started rotating, and then
(02:37):
I tried to straighten it up and I hit an
embankment and it just went stopped and just went rolling
down the freeway, and the number of rolls I don't
know I've heard three to five by the band members.
But I went out through the front windshield and I
was still strapped to my seat.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Because thankfully my parents before we went over there, gave
me a set of seat belts to install in that
vand I did a crummy job installing on my installed
them to the seat, but it saved my life because
when the seat went out, the seat belts went with
me and held me on the seat when I went
out through the windshield. And when the police saw me,
(03:20):
I was, I don't know, twenty feet down the road unconscious,
but I didn't have a mark on me and I
was still strapped to the seat.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Everybody else was, you know, had got hit by amplifiers
and drums and Dick Christian took as symbol to the
back of the head, which caused a big gash in
his head and needed stitches. Neil told me the last
time we had dinner that he was forced onto the
(03:53):
ground with his head turned to the road because they
were literally the road. The roof was on top of
the road and it was reaching down the highway and
he said he was death in one year because of that.
Noise just penetrated his head and he couldn't get out
from an under the equipment or the bodies on top
(04:14):
of him. Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I mean lucky to be alive.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Absolutely. I mean, Alice to this day says it's a miracle.
And I've got I've got no proof otherwise, you know.
And the other other thing, as my mom before we
took off, gave me a Saint Christopher's metal and I
put it in the visor and unfortunately the visor broke
(04:40):
off during the fall and never could find the metal again.
But you know, but yeah, it was. It was. If
you've seen the pictures from the book, you know, Tudy
came over and took those pictures for the insurance company.
It was some of those pictures looked like there was
a nightmare in there that terribly wrong.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So you shot through the windshield.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yep, Well, luckily the first I'm assuming I don't know
when it happened, but the windshield blew out.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Okay, and I was thankfully because otherwise your head would
have gone through the glass.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Right the windshield blew out. It took half the rear
view mirror with it, so that may have helped me too.
And I just went did a flip. I guess I
just did a flip and landed on the back of
the seat and just scooted it along. You know, it
was amazing because they unbuckled me and told me to
(05:37):
go stand over there, and the police did, and so
I went and stood. You know, I was completely out
of it. I didn't know what was going on because
you know, I'd just been in a car accident.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
No broken bones, no, no nothing.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I didn't I you know, I was stiff and sore
and achy for weeks. But I don't think I had
to cut on because I was wearing a sweater and
Levi's and shoes.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
None of the guys had broken bones and no, just
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Bruises and contusions.
Here's a highlight from a recent episode of Booked on Rock.
Our guest is Mike Allen, author of Living and Touring
with Alice Cooper and other stories. There was an accident,
car accident, catastrophic that could have the end of the
band in nineteen sixty So let's get to that. And
by the way, we also we're going to get to
the Frank Zapple part of the story that's coming up too,
so we'll get to that. But yeah, what happened with
(00:21):
this accident in nineteen sixty eight, Well, like I.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Said, it was in April sixth we went back to
attend the opening of Alice Cooper the club, which only
lasted three months, but they stuck around, recorded, got Neil
up to speed on some on the music, and we
were supposed to return on the eleventh, but by the
(00:47):
time everybody got together it was after midnight on the twelfth.
Excuse me, I was driving the van and everybody in
all the equipment poured in and off we went and
leaving it after midnight on the twelfth and we got
(01:08):
to the San Bernardino Freeway and rush hour traffic wasn't
as busy as it is now, but it was still
getting to be rush hour at six six point thirty
whenever the time was, and I was driving along and
suddenly there was a freeway opened up all the way
(01:33):
for it looked like miles and there was nobody behind me.
I was just in my lane doing absolutely nothing, going man,
this is great. I can take this all the way
to the Penguin, you know, no stress. And Dennis was
just about ready to walk up and ask me if
I needed a break, and which I would have said, no,
(01:54):
We're only thirty minutes away from where we were. Then alongside,
and I don't know how or why or why this happened,
a forward maijor yellow station wagon with fake wood trim
pulled up alongside of me, about the middle of their
(02:15):
car with the front of my car and came right
over into my lane, causing me to jerk the wheel
hard to the left or the right. I can't be
o the left and all the equipment and all the
people in there, and the band started rotating, and then
(02:37):
I tried to straighten it up and I hit an
embankment and it just went stopped and just went rolling
down the freeway, and the number of rolls I don't
know I've heard three to five by the band members.
But I went out through the front windshield and I
was still strapped to my seat.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Because thankfully my parents before we went over there, gave
me a set of seat belts to install in that
vand I did a crummy job installing on my installed
them to the seat, but it saved my life because
when the seat went out, the seat belts went with
me and held me on the seat when I went
out through the windshield. And when the police saw me,
(03:20):
I was, I don't know, twenty feet down the road unconscious,
but I didn't have a mark on me and I
was still strapped to the seat.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Everybody else was, you know, had got hit by amplifiers
and drums and Dick Christian took as symbol to the
back of the head, which caused a big gash in
his head and needed stitches. Neil told me the last
time we had dinner that he was forced onto the
(03:53):
ground with his head turned to the road because they
were literally the road. The roof was on top of
the road and it was reaching down the highway and
he said he was death in one year because of that.
Noise just penetrated his head and he couldn't get out
from an under the equipment or the bodies on top
(04:14):
of him. Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
I mean lucky to be alive.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Absolutely. I mean, Alice to this day says it's a miracle.
And I've got I've got no proof otherwise, you know.
And the other other thing, as my mom before we
took off, gave me a Saint Christopher's metal and I
put it in the visor and unfortunately the visor broke
(04:40):
off during the fall and never could find the metal again.
But you know, but yeah, it was. It was. If
you've seen the pictures from the book, you know, Tudy
came over and took those pictures for the insurance company.
It was some of those pictures looked like there was
a nightmare in there that terribly wrong.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So you shot through the windshield.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yep, Well, luckily the first I'm assuming I don't know
when it happened, but the windshield blew out.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Okay, and I was thankfully because otherwise your head would
have gone through the glass.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Right the windshield blew out. It took half the rear
view mirror with it, so that may have helped me too.
And I just went did a flip. I guess I
just did a flip and landed on the back of
the seat and just scooted it along. You know, it
was amazing because they unbuckled me and told me to
(05:37):
go stand over there, and the police did, and so
I went and stood. You know, I was completely out
of it. I didn't know what was going on because
you know, I'd just been in a car accident.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
No broken bones, no, no nothing.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I didn't I you know, I was stiff and sore
and achy for weeks. But I don't think I had
to cut on because I was wearing a sweater and
Levi's and shoes.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
None of the guys had broken bones and no, just
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Bruises and contusions.
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