Bill Graham (promoter)

Bill Graham (born Wolfgang Grajonca January 8, 1931 in Berlin, Germany - October 25, 1991) was a well-known concert promoter, beginning in the 1960s.

Career

Graham moved from New York to San Francisco in the early 1960's to be closer to his sister, Rita. He was invited to attend a free concert in Golden Gate Park, where he made contact with The San Francisco Mime Troupe. He gave up a promising business career to manage the troupe in 1965 and produce concerts. One of the first concerts he promoted with in partnership with Chet Helms of the Family Dog organization and feature the Steve Miller Band. The concert was an overwhelming success and Graham saw an opportunity with the band. The next morning, he called the Steve Miller Band's management in Chicago and obtained exclusive rights to promote them. Shortly after that, Chet Helms showed up at Graham's office, asking him how he could 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 and advised him to "get up earlier in the morning" in the future.

Related Topics:
New York - San Francisco - 1960's - Golden Gate Park - The San Francisco Mime Troupe - 1965 - Chet Helms - Family Dog - Steve Miller Band - Chicago

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A magnetic but often difficult personality, Graham's shows attracted elements of America's now legendary alternative culture of the time such as Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, The Committee, The Fugs, Allen Ginsberg, and , a particular favorite of Graham's, The Grateful Dead. His successes and popularity allowed him to become the top concert promoter in rock music. He operated the famous venues the Fillmore West and Winterland (both in San Francisco) and the Fillmore East (in New York City), where the best up-and-coming acts would come to play.

Related Topics:
Jefferson Airplane - Janis Joplin - Lawrence Ferlinghetti - The Committee - The Fugs - Allen Ginsberg - The Grateful Dead - Rock music - Fillmore West - Winterland - San Francisco - Fillmore East - New York City

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In the 1970's, he closed the Fillmores on both coasts, citing a need to "find himself." He retreated to a Greek island, but found the peace disconcerting and later admitted he had trouble with the fact that no one knew who he was there.

Related Topics:
1970 - Fillmore - Greek

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He returned to promoting, first putting on concerts at smaller venues, like the Berkeley Community Theatre on the campus of Berkeley High School. He then leased the Winterland Arena in San Francisco and promoted shows at the Cow Palace Auditorium in Daly City. His first large-scale outdoor arena concert was a benefit for the San Francisco after-school programs, called the Snack concert and starred the group, Led Zepplin, who angered Graham by showing up hours late for the show. After that, he was careful to make sure everything ran smoothly at his events, fearing the unpredictable nature of large crowds, and became known for his explosive response to anyone deviating from procedure.

Related Topics:
Berkeley Community Theatre - Berkeley High School - Winterland Arena - San Francisco - Cow Palace Auditorium - Daly City - Snack - Led Zepplin

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He would go on to set the standard for well-produced large scale rock concerts (such as Live Aid in JFK Stadium, Philadelphia on July 13, 1985). In addition, he presented regular concerts in Bay Area stadiums, referred to as "Days on the Green," and was known to agressively challenge potential competition, referring to other promoters by the name "Joe Schlitz." He was often seen pounding his fist into his open hand and announcing that "Joe Schlitz will not come into this town."

Related Topics:
Rock concert - Live Aid - Bay Area

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For all his competitive nature and firey disposition, 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 was both a cotributor and supporter of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, which he often used as medical support at events. He also loved putting together groups onstage from different ethnic backgrounds -- many whom were ignored by other promotors -- and 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.

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In management, Graham is credited with the early careers of groups like Santana, Eddie Money and the Paul Collins Beat. He was also responsible for promoting the careers of virtually every other group that played the concert circuit between 1965 and 1991.

Related Topics:
Santana - Eddie Money - Paul Collins Beat - 1965 - 1991

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Graham's Jewish heritage and Holocaust past came back to haunt him in the mid-1980's, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. When Graham learned that Reagan intended to lay a wreath at the Bittburg Cemetary in Germany, where SS Officers were buried, he organized protests against the act. During the same month that Reagan visited the cemetary, Graham's office was firebombed by Neo-Nazis. Graham, in France at the time, meeting with Bob Geldof to organize the first Live-Aid concert, was informed of the fire via telephone. He responded as follows: "Was anybody hurt?" It was only after he was told that everyone was okay, he asked, "Is anything left?"

Related Topics:
1980 - Ronald Reagan - Reagan - Bittburg - Germany - SS Officers - Neo-Nazi - France - Bob Geldof - Live-Aid

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A complicated man, he was greatly loved by those who worked for him and among his close circle of friends. He recruited staff out of local schools and promoted them up through his close-knit and tightly run organization. Many of these staffers have since gone on to senior positions within the current, more corporate oriented, promotion industry.

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Graham also was instrumental in commissioning and marketing psychedelic concert posters by designers including Wes Wilson and Rick Griffin. These posters are now considered collector's items.

Related Topics:
Psychedelic - Wes Wilson - Rick Griffin

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Graham had a lifelong dream to become a character actor, professing a great admiration for Edward G. Robinson. He appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, as a promotor. In 1990, director Barry Levinson and actor Warren Beatty provided an opportunity for Graham to take a more substantive role by casting him as Charles "Lucky" Luciano in the film Bugsy. During one scene, Graham is shown in a Latin dance number, a style of dancing Graham had embraced in later life.

Related Topics:
Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now - Barry Levinson - Warren Beatty - Charles "Lucky" Luciano - Bugsy

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