Did Keith Moon Really Drive A Car Into A Swimming Pool?
June 9, 2010 – 4:32 am
Keith Moon is one of the most famous rock and roll drummers of all time, and the story of him driving a car into a swimming pool is one of the most retold, infamous stories in rock history. Many people believe that this incident was the catalyst for the outrageous behaviour of many rock stars since that date, setting the bar for the rest of the bands out there.
But did it really happen? Many people now dismiss the famous story as folklore, suggesting that it never actually took place and rather was simply used as part of the bands’ mythology. There is a huge amount of debate between rock historians as to whether or not a young Keith Moon pulled off this stunt in a US hotel – I want to look at if it happened, how it happened and what car the young drummer decided to drive.
Well let’s start with the first question, and I do believe we have a fairly definitive answer. Roger Daltrey recently stated in an interview that the event did in fact take place, insisting:
“It flaming well did happen, we got the $50,000 bill for it – he could have gone to jail for three years.”
Going on to suggest:
“People write books and never talk to the band, they just talk to drunks and people who were half-there”
So I don’t know about other people, but I’m choosing to take my information from the source in the band, rather than listen to authors and journalists. Admittedly it’s possible that the band want to continue the story, but they’re The Who, they don’t need to lie about anything, particularly not stories about cars and swimming pools.
So, that leads us on to what car he was driving, and how it happened.
In most stories, the car is a Lincoln Continental Limousine (pictured below), but it’s also been suggested that the car was a Cadillac.
According to the story, The Who were on tour and were at a Holiday Inn (from which they’ve subsequently been banned) in Flint, Michigan. It was the drummers 20th birthday, although it’s often reported it was his 21st (this was probably due to the fact you have to be 21 to drink in America). The day saw a party that begun in the morning and carried on right through to the evening, with several bands, groupies, roadies and stage crews in attendance, and all (particularly Moon) were highly inebriated. As the party got more and more out of control, the police were called to put an end to the festivities. Moon, ever keen to avoid the boys in blue snuck outside and got into a Lincoln Continental Limousine (or a Cadillac depending on who you believe) and attempted to make a getaway. Unfortunately, in his inebriated state he was unable to properly control the vehicle and as he released the handbrake, the car lurched backwards and began rolling towards the pool. Moon simply sat back and waited, as the car crashed through the fence around the pool and into the water.
As Moon came out of the car and back to the surface, he was greeted by a police sergeant holding a gun. You’d think with a gun in his face and a stomach full of pool chemicals he’d have given up, but even then Moon tried to run, eventually getting caught when he slipped, somewhat ironically, on some of his own birthday cake.
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Tags: drowned car, Keith Moon, Lincoln Continental, The Who