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Bill Graham
Bill Graham.jpg
Bill Graham, alrededor de 1990
Nació
Wulf Wolodi Grajonca

(1931-01-08)8 de enero de 1931
Berlín, Alemania
Fallecido25 de octubre de 1991 (1991-10-25)(60 años)
Cerca de Vallejo, California , EE. UU.
Causa de la muerteAccidente de helicóptero
Otros nombresTío bobo
OcupaciónEmpresario, empresario musical
Años activos1960-1991; su muerte
OrganizaciónBill Graham presenta
Esposos)Bonnie MacLean (divorciada)
Niños3, incluido 1 hijastro

Bill Graham (nacido Wulf Wolodia Grajonca ; 8 de enero de 1931-25 de octubre de 1991) fue un empresario germano-estadounidense y promotor de conciertos de rock desde la década de 1960 hasta su muerte en 1991 en un accidente de helicóptero. El 4 de julio de 1939, fue enviado de Alemania a Francia para escapar de los nazis . A los 10 años, se instaló en un hogar de acogida en el Bronx, Nueva York . Graham se graduó de DeWitt Clinton High School y posteriormente de City College con un título en negocios .

A principios de la década de 1960, Graham se mudó a San Francisco y, en 1965, comenzó a administrar San Francisco Mime Troupe . [1] Se había asociado con el promotor local de Haight Ashbury, Chet Helms y Family Dog, y su red de contactos, para organizar un concierto benéfico , y luego promovió varios conciertos gratuitos. Esto finalmente se convirtió en una carrera rentable a tiempo completo y reunió a un personal talentoso. Graham tuvo una profunda influencia en todo el mundo, patrocinando el renacimiento musical de los años 60 desde el epicentro, San Francisco. Chet Helms y luego Bill Graham hicieron famoso el Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom; estos resultaron ser un campo de pruebas para bandas de rock y actos del área de la Bahía de San Francisco, incluidos Grateful Dead , Jefferson Airplane y Big Brother and the Holding Company con Janis Joplin , [2] quienes fueron administrados por primera vez, y en algunos casos desarrollado por Chet Helms .

Vida temprana [ editar ]

Graham nació el 8 de enero de 1931 en Berlín , [3] el hijo menor y único hijo de padres de clase media baja, Frieda (de soltera Sass) y Jacob "Yankel" Grajonca, [4] [5] que había emigrado de Rusia. antes del ascenso del nazismo . [6] [7] Había seis niños en la familia Grajonca. Su padre murió accidentalmente dos días después del nacimiento de su hijo. [8] [5] La familia de Graham lo apodó "Wolfgang" temprano en la vida. [9]

Debido al creciente peligro para los judíos en Alemania y debido a la muerte de Jacob Grajonca, la madre de Graham colocó a su hijo y a su hija menor, Tanya "Tolla", en un orfanato de Berlín, [5] que los envió a Francia en un pre Intercambio del Holocausto de niños judíos por huérfanos cristianos. Las hermanas mayores de Graham, Sonja y Ester, se quedaron con su madre. Después de la caída de Francia , Graham formaba parte de un grupo de huérfanos judíos sacados de Francia, algunos de los cuales finalmente llegaron a Estados Unidos. Tolla Grajonca, no sobrevivió al difícil viaje y enfermó de neumonía . [10] Graham fue uno de los mil niños(OTC), esos niños principalmente judíos que lograron huir de Hitler y Europa, y llegaron directamente a América del Norte, pero cuyos padres se vieron obligados a quedarse. La madre de Graham murió en Auschwitz . [10]

Una vez en los Estados Unidos, Graham fue colocado en un hogar de acogida en el Bronx en la ciudad de Nueva York. Después de ser burlado como inmigrante y ser llamado nazi debido a su inglés con acento alemán, Graham trabajó en su acento, y finalmente pudo hablar con un perfecto acento neoyorquino . Cambió su nombre para sonar más "americano". (Encontró "Graham" en la guía telefónica; era lo más cercano que pudo encontrar a su apellido de nacimiento, "Grajonca". Según Graham, tanto "Bill" como "Graham" no tenían sentido para él). Graham se graduó de DeWitt Clinton High School y luego obtuvo un título en negocios de City College of New York .[8] [11] Más tarde fue citado describiendo su entrenamiento como el de un "experto en eficiencia ". [ cita requerida ]

Graham fue reclutado en el ejército de los Estados Unidos en 1951 y sirvió en la Guerra de Corea , donde fue galardonado con la Estrella de Bronce y el Corazón Púrpura . A su regreso a los Estados Unidos, trabajó como camarero / maître d ' en los centros turísticos de Catskill Mountain en el norte del estado de Nueva York durante su apogeo. Se le citó diciendo que su experiencia como maître d 'y con los juegos de póquer que organizaba entre bastidores era un buen entrenamiento para su eventual carrera como promotor. Tito Puente , quien jugó en algunos de estos resorts, dijo que Graham estaba ansioso por aprender español de él, pero que solo se preocupaba por las malas palabras.. [12] También menciona en su película biográfica "Last Days At The Fillmore" trabajando para Minnesota Mining.

Carrera [ editar ]

Graham en 1974

Fillmore Auditorium (10 de diciembre de 1965 - 4 de julio de 1968) [ editar ]

Graham se mudó de Nueva York a San Francisco a principios de la década de 1960 para estar más cerca de su hermana Rita. Fue invitado a asistir a un concierto gratuito en Golden Gate Park , producido por Chet Helms and the Diggers, donde entró en contacto con San Francisco Mime Troupe , un grupo de teatro radical. [13]Después de que el líder de Mime Troupe, Ronnie Davis, fuera arrestado por cargos de obscenidad durante una actuación al aire libre, Graham organizó un concierto benéfico para cubrir los honorarios legales de la compañía. El concierto fue un éxito y Graham vio una oportunidad de negocio. Bill Graham comenzó a promover más conciertos con Chet y a respaldar los proyectos de Chet Helms y Family Dog, que brindaron una función vital de la década de 1960, promoviendo conciertos que proporcionaron un lugar de encuentro social para la red, donde se dio un foro a muchas ideologías, a veces incluso en el escenario, como los movimientos por la paz, los derechos civiles, los trabajadores agrícolas y otros. La mayoría de sus espectáculos se realizaron en lugares alquilados, y Graham vio la necesidad de contar con ubicaciones propias más permanentes. Charles Sullivan fue un emprendedor y hombre de negocios de mediados del siglo XX en San Francisco, propietario del arrendamiento principal en elFillmore Auditorium.

Graham approached Sullivan to put on the Second Mime Troupe appeals concert at the Fillmore Auditorium on December 10, 1965, using Sullivan's dance hall permit for the show. Graham later secured a contract from Sullivan for the open dates at the Fillmore Auditorium in 1966. Graham credits Sullivan with giving him his break in the music concert hall business. Charles Sullivan was found dead on August 2, 1966 in San Francisco. The death remains a mystery to this day.[14]

The Fillmore trademark and franchise has defined music promotion in the United States for the last 50 years. From 2003–13 auxiliary writers of the times surrounding the 1960s, and Graham family lawsuits,[15] tell the narrative of the Fillmore phenomena and how the black community there was disenfranchised.[16] The best way to set the historic record straight concerning Charles Sullivan and Bill Graham is to review what Graham left in his own words. Historically the first time Graham mentioned Charles Sullivan, in print, is this article from 1988, "The Historic Fillmore's New Tradition by Keith Moerer":

Bill Graham—and anyone who's even attended a show at San Francisco Fillmore—owes a big debt to Charles Sullivan..."If Mr. Sullivan, Charles, hadn't stood by me and allowed me to use his permit I wouldn't be sitting here."[17]

Although Graham acknowledged Sullivan's part he historically has never revealed how he got the lease to the Fillmore Auditorium and how and when he trademarked the Fillmore brand, which by all historical accounts belonged to Sullivan.[16] In a handbill from Graham's first show at the Fillmore Auditorium, "The Mime Troupe is holding another appeal party Friday night, December 10th, at the Fillmore Auditorium", Bill Graham gives a general impression of the Fillmore neighborhood.

The Fillmore Auditorium was located on Fillmore and Geary which was like 125th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem...In there, Charles Sullivan, a black businessman, had booked a lot of the best R&B acts...Charles had put on James Brown and Duke Ellington. At the Fillmore, Bobby Bland and the Temptations...I met Charles Sullivan by appointment the second time I saw the ballroom...We needed a dance permit but I didn't have one. Of course he had one because he operated the place. So he allowed us to use his permit and didn't charge me for it.[9]

Mime Troupe leader Ronnie Davis states that "Graham... gets very excited about the success of the Fillmore Auditorium Show. He gets a contract with the black guy who owned the Fillmore. He nails it. Closed." On pages 150–156 of his autobiography Graham outlined his battles with City Hall in getting a dance hall permit. By schmoozing with merchants and having criminologists and sociologists from U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Santa Cruz giving merit to the shows Graham managed to obtain a second permit hearing, but was again denied. He reported that Sullivan came to him sometime in March or April and announced he had to pull his dance hall permit. The morning of the next day when Graham is returning to move out of his office in the Fillmore Auditorium, Sullivan meets him on the steps. Graham claimed Sullivan poured out his life story concluding with a pledge of support to Graham to beat City Hall. Graham added, "He was the guy, Charles. He was it. I don't know if I could have ever found another place. Why would I have even tried? That was the place."[9]

Graham was denied by the Board of Permit Appeals who refused to overrule the first denial. Bill then states "Then on April 21, 1966, a Thursday, the Chronicle ran an editorial, 'The Fillmore Auditorium Case'...[I]t was a big turning point for me. In more ways than one"; he secured his permit.[9] He later reported "A few months later, Charles Sullivan got himself killed. He had a bad habit of always carrying a roll of money with him. He was proud of his work and proud of the fact that he earned a good living and always carried a roll. They jumped him and stabbed him to death. I went to his funeral in Colma, California. It was small, mostly family. Had that not happened, I think I would have done anything Charles wanted. Just out of gratitude."[9]

After Graham's death on October 25, 1991 the description of his funeral procession states:

Escorted by motorcycle police, more long black limousines than had ever before been seen at a private funeral in the city of San Francisco formed a phalanx for the procession to the cemetery. Bill was to be buried in Colma, the same small town south of San Francisco filled with graveyards where so many years before Bill himself had gone to the funeral of Charles Sullivan, the black man who stood up for him when the Fillmore Auditorium was on the line.[9]

Charles Sullivan was found shot dead at 1:45am on August 2, 1966, at 5th and Bluxome Streets, San Francisco (South of Market industrial area near the train station). Sullivan had just returned from Los Angeles where he had presented a weekend concert starring soul singer James Brown. The police were undetermined whether it was suicide or homicide.[18] Sullivan was laid to rest on August 8, 1966, according to the Sun Reporter, which reported that "Last respects were paid Charles Sullivan Monday, Aug. 8, when hundreds crowded into Jones Memorial Methodist Church, 1975 Post St. from 11:30 a.m. to view Sullivan for the last time. An enormous crowd had gathered by 1 p.m. to hear the eulogy for a friend."[19] The funeral announcement is accompanied by photographs of the actual funeral covering two pages in which police are stopping traffic to assist the motorcade to the Cemetery in Colma.[19]

Of note in the articles surrounding Sullivan's death an interesting fact is pointed out in The Sun Reporter. "He took over the Fillmore Auditorium at Geary and Fillmore Sts. and began to present different artists in dances and concerts. Some of the greatest names in the entertainment world, like Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Ray Charles and numerous others, have been presented all up and down the Pacific Coast by Sullivan. He always signed these artists for presentations not only in San Francisco, but in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland and Seattle."[19] According to the historical record Sullivan also named the Fillmore Auditorium.[16]

Graham's struggle to get his dance hall permit in 1966 was described in an article in Billboard Magazine, July 11, 1966. San Francisco music critic Ralph Gleason, in defense of Graham's Fillmore Auditorium scene, wrote that Graham got a three-year lease for the Fillmore Auditorium from Charles Sullivan and was still struggling to procure his dance hall permit.[20] A fact never publicly revealed by Graham. Charles Sullivan's last show at the Fillmore Auditorium came a week before his death, it was on July 26, 1966, The Temptations Dance and Show. Graham must have gotten his permit in mid July 1966 confirming his possession of the Fillmore brand.[citation needed] When and how did Bill Graham take possession of the Fillmore Auditorium lease? The answer would come in 2004. Politics Observations & Arguments (1966-2004),[21] by Hendrik Hertzberg. Penguin Press: New York (2004) contains an article, "The San Francisco Sound, New music, new subculture", at the end of which it is stated, "-Unpublished file for Newsweek, October 28, 1966". This articles contains the only published account where Bill Graham reports how he got the Fillmore Auditorium. In the beginning Hertzberg recounts familiar territory with the Mime Troupe, reducing the Fillmore Auditorium to a run-down ballroom in SF's biggest negro ghetto. After the success of the Fillmore Auditorium Mime Troupe shows Graham parts with the Troupe, "He went back to the Fillmore and found that eleven other promoters had already put in bids for it. Graham got forty-one prominent citizens to write letters to the auditorium's owner, a haberdasher named Harry Shifs, and Shifs gave him a three-year lease at five hundred dollars a month ... [T]he hippie community ... has turned out to be something the man from Montgomery Street can point to with pride, in a left-handed way, and say 'these are our boys'", stated Jerry Garcia.[22]

One of the early concerts Graham sponsored, with Chet Helms hired to promote it, featured the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The concert was an overwhelming success and Graham saw an opportunity with the band.[23] Early the next morning, Graham's secretary called the band's manager, Albert Grossman, and obtained exclusive rights to promote them. Shortly thereafter, Chet Helms arrived at Graham's office, asking how Graham could have cut him out of the deal. Graham pointed out that Helms would not have known about it unless he had tried to do the same thing to Graham. He advised Helms to "get up early" in the future. Graham produced shows attracting elements of America's now legendary 1960s counterculture such as the Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Country Joe and the Fish, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the improv group The Committee, The Fugs, Allen Ginsberg, and a particular favorite of Graham's, the Grateful Dead. He was the manager of the Jefferson Airplane during 1967 and 1968. His staff's amount of resourcefulness, success, popularity, and personal contacts with artists and fans alike was one reason Graham became the top rock concert promoter in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fillmore Records, West, East, and later[edit]

Graham owned Fillmore Records, which was in operation from 1969 to 1976. Some of those who signed with Graham included Rod Stewart, Elvin Bishop, and Cold Blood,[24] although of these it seems only Bishop actually issued albums on the Fillmore label.[citation needed] Tower of Power was signed to Bill Graham's San Francisco Records and their first album, East Bay Grease, was recorded in 1970.[25]

By 1971, Graham citing financial reasons and changes he saw as unwelcome in the music industry,[26] closed the Fillmore East and West, claiming a need to "find [himself]". The movie Fillmore and the album Fillmore: The Last Days document the closing of the Fillmore West. Graham later returned to promoting. He began organizing concerts at smaller venues, like the Berkeley Community Theatre on the campus of Berkeley High School. He then reopened the Winterland Arena (San Francisco), along with the Fillmore West and promoted shows at the Cow Palace Arena in Daly City and other venues.[citation needed]

In 1973 he promoted the largest outdoor concert at Watkins Glen, New York with The Band, Grateful Dead, and The Allman Brothers Band. Over 600,000 paying ticket-holders were in attendance. He continued promoting stadium-sized concerts at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco with Led Zeppelin in 1973 and 1977 and started a series of outdoor stadium concerts at the Oakland Coliseum each billed as Day on the Green in 1973 until 1992. These concerts featured billings such as the Grateful Dead and The Who on October 9, 1976, and the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan in 1987.

His first large-scale outdoor benefit concert, at Kezar Stadium, on Sunday, March 23, 1975, "SF SNACK",[27] was organized to replace funds[28] for after-school programs canceled by the San Francisco Unified School District,[29] with performances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, members of The Band and Grateful Dead,[30] Jefferson Starship, Mimi Fariña, Joan Baez, Santana, Tower of Power, Jerry Garcia & Friends, The Doobie Brothers, Eddie Palmieri & His Orchestra, The Miracles, Graham Central Station, and appearing : Marlon Brando, Francis Ford Coppola, Frankie Albert, John Brodie, Rosie Casals, Werner Erhard, Cedric Hardman, Willie Mays, Jesse Owens, Gene Washington, Cecil Williams[31]

Graham as Bill Graham Presents booked the 1982 US Festival, funded by Steve Wozniak as Unuson.[32][33] In the mid-1980s, in conjunction with the city of Mountain View, California, and Apple Inc. cofounder Steve Wozniak, he masterminded the creation of the Shoreline Amphitheatre, which became the premier venue for outdoor concerts in Silicon Valley, complementing his booking of the East Bay Concord Pavilion. Throughout his career, Graham promoted benefit concerts. He went on to set the standard for well-produced large-scale rock concerts, such as the U.S. portion of Live Aid at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 13, 1985, as well as the 1986 A Conspiracy of Hope and 1988 Human Rights Now! tours for Amnesty International.

Graham purchased comedy club The Punch Line and The Old Waldorf on Battery Street in San Francisco from local promoter Jeffrey Pollack, with whom he remained close friends for the rest of his life,[34][35][36] then Wolfgang's on Columbus Ave in San Francisco.[37][38][35][39]

Graham's later near monopoly business practices went as far as contracts with the University of California Regents to control on-campus entertainment venues, thus preventing ASUC (Associated Students of the University of California) and other student organizations from promoting their own rock concerts in the 1980s. In the 1980s, he teamed up with BASS Tickets which tended to drive small ticket-distribution companies out of business in the Bay Area, creating a de facto monopoly.[citation needed] After the smaller operations failed, the remaining one, Ticketmaster (formerly BASS), raised prices to unprecedented levels. Its only opposition came from a few bands, notably Pearl Jam, which protested that the company's high ticketing fees were unfair to music fans. Such practices were targeted by the California Senate in S.B. 815.[40]

Legacy and philanthropy[edit]

Graham was recognized as an expert promoter who genuinely cared about both the artists and the attendees at his concerts. He was the first to ensure that medical personnel were on site for large shows and he was both a contributor and supporter of the St. Mark's Free Clinic in New York and the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic.[41] He often used these clinics as medical support at events.[42] He enjoyed putting together groups onstage from different ethnic backgrounds, many of whom were ignored by other promoters. He had an eye for pleasing his audience, while making an effort to educate them in styles of music they would otherwise not have been exposed to. Graham was credited with assisting the early careers of such artists as Santana and Eddie Money.[30][43]

Graham was instrumental in commissioning and marketing psychedelic concert posters by designers such as Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, and Rick Griffin. Bill Sagan[44] (former CEO of EBP)[45] of Minnetonka, Minnesota, bought the Bill Graham Presents archives and has organized hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of merchandise and video/audio recordings of concerts collected by Graham. Sagan is now selling some of the collection at Wolfgang's Vault, a reference to Graham's childhood nickname.[46]

Personal life[edit]

Family[edit]

Bill Graham had five sisters, Rita Rose; Evelyn (or "Echa") Udray; Sonja (or "Sonia") Szobel; Ester Chichinsky; and Tanya (or "Tolla") Grajonca, however his youngest sister Tolla had not survived the Holocaust.[8][10][47] Rita and Ester moved to the United States and were close to Graham in his later life. Evelyn and Sonja escaped the Holocaust, first to Shanghai, and later, after the war, to Europe.[citation needed] Graham's nephew and Sonia Szobel's son is musician Hermann Szobel.[48]

Graham was married Bonnie MacLean on June 11, 1967 and they had one child, David (born 1968); after many years of not living together the couple divorced in 1975.[49][50] With Marcia Sult Godinez, Graham had another son; Alex Graham-Sult and a stepson, Thomas Sult.[8][51][52]

Home estate[edit]

For many years Graham lived Mill Valley, California, on a 11-acre estate with a ranch-style house he named "Masada".[51][53] The house was replaced in the early 2000s, and later occupied by WeWork CEO, Adam Neumann.[54][55]

Bitburg controversy[edit]

Main article: Bitburg controversy

Graham's status as a Holocaust survivor came into play in 1985, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.[10] When Graham learned that Reagan intended to lay a wreath at Bitburg's World War II cemetery where SS soldiers were also buried, he took out a full page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper in protest.[56] During the same month that Reagan visited the cemetery, Graham's San Francisco office was firebombed by Neo-Nazis.[10] Graham was in France at the time, meeting with Bob Geldof to organize the first Live Aid concert. When he was informed of the fire via telephone, he responded by asking immediately, "Was anybody hurt?" It was only after he was told that everyone was OK that he asked, "Is anything left?" Graham eventually led an effort to build a large menorah which is lit during every Hanukkah in downtown San Francisco.

Acting[edit]

Graham had longed dreamed of being a character actor. He appeared in Apocalypse Now in a small role as a promoter. In 1990, he was cast as Charles "Lucky" Luciano in the film Bugsy.[57] During one scene, he is shown in a Latin dance number, a style of dancing Graham had embraced as a teenager in New York. He also appears as a promoter in the 1991 Oliver Stone film The Doors, which he also co-produced.[58] He had a small part in Gardens of Stone as Don Brubaker, a hippie anti-war protester.[59]

Death[edit]

Main article: Bill Graham helicopter crash
Helicopter crash site on the Napa County–Solano County border

Graham was killed in a helicopter crash[60] west of Vallejo, California, on October 25, 1991, while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Concord Pavilion.[61] Graham had attended the event to discuss promoting a benefit concert for the victims of the 1991 Oakland hills firestorm. Once he had obtained a commitment from Huey Lewis to perform, he returned to his helicopter. Flying in severe weather, with rain and gusty winds, the aircraft flew off course and too low over the tidal marshland north of San Pablo Bay. The Bell Jet Ranger flew directly into a 223-foot (68-meter) high-voltage tower near where Highway 37, which runs between Vallejo, California, and Marin County, California, crosses Sonoma Creek. The helicopter burst into flames on impact, killing Graham, pilot and advance man Steve "Killer" Kahn,[62] and Graham's girlfriend, Melissa Gold (née Dilworth), ex-wife of author Herbert Gold.[63] The charred remains of the helicopter hung in the tower for more than a day.[64]

Aftermath and tributes[edit]

Following his death, his company, Bill Graham Presents (BGP), was taken over by a group of employees. Graham's sons remained a core part of the new management team. The new owners sold the company to SFX Promotions,[65] which in turn sold the company to Clear Channel Entertainment.[66] The BGP staff did not embrace the Clear Channel name, and several members of the Graham staff eventually left the company. Former BGP President/CEO Gregg Perloff and former Senior Vice President Sherry Wasserman left and started their own company, Another Planet Entertainment. Eventually Clear Channel separated itself from concert promotion and formed Live Nation, which is managed by many former Clear Channel executives.

Live Nation is now the world's largest concert production/promotion company and is no longer legally affiliated with Clear Channel or the names Winterland or Winterland Productions.[67]

In tribute, the San Francisco Civic Auditorium was renamed the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. On November 3, 1991, a free concert called "Laughter, Love and Music" was held at Golden Gate Park to honor Graham, Gold and Kahn.[68] An estimated 300,000 people attended to view many of the entertainment acts Graham had supported including Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Fogerty, Robin Williams, Journey (reunited), and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (reunited).[69][70] The video for "I'll Get By" from Eddie Money's album Right Here was dedicated to Graham. Graham's images and poster artwork still adorn the office walls at Live Nation's new San Francisco office. With the band Hardline, Neal Schon of Journey composed a piece entitled "31–91" in 1992 in Graham's honor.[citation needed]

Bill Graham was inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 1992 in the "Non-Performer" category.[71] Graham was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in the "Without Whom" category in 2014.

See also[edit]

  • Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd., 448 F.3d 605 (2d Cir. 2006)—fair use

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Bill Graham Drives His Chevy to the Levee". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  2. ^ Community Contributor Creative Marketing Associates. "Legacy of Legendary Music Promoter Bill Graham Showcased in New Illinois Holocaust Museum Exhibition". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ Glatt, John. Rage & Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock. Birch Lane Press, 1993. p. 3ISBN 1-5597-2205-3
  4. ^ Bill Graham profile, Jewishvirtuallibrary.org; accessed February 10, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Skolnik, Fred (2007). Encyclopaedia Judaica, Volume 8: GOS - HEP. Thomson Gale. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-02-865936-7.
  6. ^ "Bill Graham, Lead Act at Last". Highbeam.com. October 7, 1992. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  7. ^ "Newsbank website". Nl.newsbank.com. May 6, 1991. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d Lambert, Bruce (October 27, 1991). "Bill Graham, Rock Impresario, Dies at 60 in Crash". The New York Times. p. 34. ISSN 1553-8095.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Graham, Bill; Greenfield, Robert. Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out, Delta (1992), pp. 37, 128–129, 153–154, 156, 544.[ISBN missing]
  10. ^ a b c d e "A more personal Bill Graham on display at CJM". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Jewish Community Federations. March 11, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  11. ^ Kipen, David (August 29, 2001). "Flawed look at career of blacklisted director". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 14, 2009. The American 20th century went to high school at DeWitt Clinton High in the Bronx. Multicultural before there was a name for it – at least a polite one – Clinton nurtured such figures as Bill Graham, James Baldwin, George Cukor, Neil Simon and Abraham Lincoln Polonsky.
  12. ^ "Tito Puente interview". Bill Graham Memorial Foundation (billgrahamfoundation.org). Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  13. ^ "Chronology of San Francisco Rock 1965-1969". Sfmuseum.org. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012.
  14. ^ "The Fillmore: Timeline". PBS.org. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  15. ^ United States District Court Northern District of California Oakland Division Case No. CV 10-4877 CW
  16. ^ a b c Harlem of the West www.chroniclebooks.com
  17. ^ May 20, 1988, Bay Area Music.
  18. ^ San Francisco Chronicle article on death of Charles Sullivan, August 3, 1966
  19. ^ a b c The Sun Reporter, August 13, 1966, pp. 8-9, 27
  20. ^ Billboard Magazine, July 11, 1966
  21. ^ Hertzberg, Hendrik (2004). Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004. ISBN 1-59420-018-1.
  22. ^ Politics Observations & Arguments (1966–2004) by Hendrik Hertzberg. Penguin Press: New York (2004). pp. 8–9.
  23. ^ "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Concert". Wolfgang's Vault. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  24. ^ "Fillmore Records". Rock and Roll Map. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  25. ^ "The Band". Towerofpower.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  26. ^ "Cash Box Magazine" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. May 8, 1971. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  27. ^ "Snack concert". www.wolfgangsvault.com. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  28. ^ March 12, Peter Hartlaub on; AM, 2012 at 4:17 (March 12, 2012). "The Colombo Files: Bill Graham's 1975 concert for the kids". The Big Event.
  29. ^ "A Look Back At ...SNACK SUNDAY - Bill Graham Foundation". Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  30. ^ a b Robert Greenfield. "Bill Graham profile at". Billgrahamfoundation.org. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  31. ^ "SNACK Benefit Vintage Concert Poster from Kezar Stadium, Mar 23, 1975 at Wolfgang's". Wolfgangs.com.
  32. ^ "US Festival '82", Softalk magazine, Volume 3 No. 10, pp. 128–140. October 1982.
  33. ^ "News -- St. Petersburg, FL". St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce - Saint Petersburg, FL. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  34. ^ "The Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA, USA Concert Setlists - setlist.fm". Setlist.fm. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  35. ^ a b "Old Waldorf - Former Venue On Battery Street In San Francisco, CA". Rockandrollroadmap.com. December 18, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  36. ^ "Punch Line Comedy Club, San Francisco, CA, USA Concert Setlists - setlist.fm". Setlist.fm. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  37. ^ "Wolfgang's - Former Venue On Columbus Ave In San Francisco, CA". Rockandrollroadmap.com. December 18, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
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Further reading[edit]

  • Rage & Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock (1993) by John Glatt; ISBN 1-55972-205-3
  • Tito Puente: When the Drums are Dreaming (2007) by Josephine Powell; ISBN 978-1425981587

External links[edit]

  • Bill Graham Foundation
  • Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
  • Bill Graham discography at Discogs
  • Bill Graham interview with Robert Greenfield, famousinterview.ca/interviews/bill_graham.htm; accessed May 7, 2014.
  • "Concert Archive Draws Digital Suit", December 2006 MP3 Newswire article about the fight over "Wolfgang's Vault" and the digital rights to the Bill Graham concert legacy
  • Bill Graham's Stairway to Heaven..., check-six.com; accessed May 7, 2014.
  • The Houston Freeburg Collection website; accessed May 7, 2014.
  • Wolfgang's Vault—contains live music audio/video
  • Kenny Wardell of 106 KMEL Interviews Bill Graham, kmelforever.com; accessed May 7, 2014.
  • A Video of 106 KMEL Broadcasting Live from Bill Graham's House, kmelforever.com; accessed May 7, 2014