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Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock And Out
Gritty, moving, funny, and always fascinating, Bill Graham Presents is the inside story of the explosive and unforgettable man who created the business of rock.
As a child, Bill Graham fled Europe to escape Hitler's armies. He grew up on the streets of New York and in the dining rooms of the hotels in the Catskills. After failing as an actor, he headed for San Francisco right before the Summer of Love where he founded the Fillmore and launched the rock icons of a generation--Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, the Grateful Dead, and more. He was a complex, caring, compassionate whirlwind of energy who rock stars either loved or hated.
In his own voice and those of the people who knew him--Jerry Garcia, Keith Richards, Grace Slick, Ken Kesey, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and Carlos Santana--we hear Bill's story as well as the scoop on the major events in rock for more than three decades, ending with his tragic death in a 1991 helicopter crash.
As a child, Bill Graham fled Europe to escape Hitler's armies. He grew up on the streets of New York and in the dining rooms of the hotels in the Catskills. After failing as an actor, he headed for San Francisco right before the Summer of Love where he founded the Fillmore and launched the rock icons of a generation--Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, the Grateful Dead, and more. He was a complex, caring, compassionate whirlwind of energy who rock stars either loved or hated.
In his own voice and those of the people who knew him--Jerry Garcia, Keith Richards, Grace Slick, Ken Kesey, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and Carlos Santana--we hear Bill's story as well as the scoop on the major events in rock for more than three decades, ending with his tragic death in a 1991 helicopter crash.
609 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
75 people are currently reading
1070 people want to read
About the author
Bill Graham
70 books4 followersBill Graham (January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.
Graham was born Wolodia Grajonca in Berlin and given the nickname Wolfgang by his family early in his life. Graham was the youngest son of a lower-middle-class Jewish family that had emigrated from Russia prior to the rise of Nazism. Graham's father died two days after his son's birth. Graham's mother placed her son and his younger sister in an orphanage in Berlin due to the increasing peril to Jews in Nazi Germany. The orphanage sent them to France in a pre–Holocaust exchange of Jewish children for Christian orphans. Graham's older sisters stayed behind with his mother. After the fall of France, Graham was among a group of Jewish orphans spirited out of France. A majority of the children—including Graham's older sister Tolla—did not survive the journey. Graham's mother was killed in Auschwitz. Graham had five sisters, Rita, Evelyn, Sonja, Ester and Tolla (Tanya). His sister Ester survived Auschwitz. She later moved to the United States and was very close to Graham in his later life. His sister Rita escaped, first to Shanghai and then (after the war) to the United States.
Once in the United States, Graham stayed in a foster home in The Bronx in New York City. After being taunted as an immigrant and being called a Nazi because of his German accented English, Graham first worked on his accent, eventually being able to speak in a perfect New York accent, and changed his name ("Graham" was found in the phonebook, it was closest to his real surname "Grajonca." According to Graham, both "Bill" and "Graham" were meaningless to him). Graham graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and then obtained a business degree from City College. He was later quoted as describing his training as that of an "efficiency expert".
Graham was drafted into the United States Army in 1951, and served in the Korean War, where he was awarded both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Upon his return to the States he worked as a waiter/maître d' in Catskill Mountain resorts in upstate New York during their heyday. He was later quoted as saying his experience as a maître d' and with the poker games he hosted behind the scenes was good training for his eventual career as a promoter. Tito Puente, who played some of these resorts, went on record once saying that Graham was avid to learn Spanish from him, but only cared about the curse words. It was during the 1950s that Graham became a champion mambo dancer in the mambo clubs of New York City ("Latin Music USA", PBS TV, broadcast 2010).
Graham was born Wolodia Grajonca in Berlin and given the nickname Wolfgang by his family early in his life. Graham was the youngest son of a lower-middle-class Jewish family that had emigrated from Russia prior to the rise of Nazism. Graham's father died two days after his son's birth. Graham's mother placed her son and his younger sister in an orphanage in Berlin due to the increasing peril to Jews in Nazi Germany. The orphanage sent them to France in a pre–Holocaust exchange of Jewish children for Christian orphans. Graham's older sisters stayed behind with his mother. After the fall of France, Graham was among a group of Jewish orphans spirited out of France. A majority of the children—including Graham's older sister Tolla—did not survive the journey. Graham's mother was killed in Auschwitz. Graham had five sisters, Rita, Evelyn, Sonja, Ester and Tolla (Tanya). His sister Ester survived Auschwitz. She later moved to the United States and was very close to Graham in his later life. His sister Rita escaped, first to Shanghai and then (after the war) to the United States.
Once in the United States, Graham stayed in a foster home in The Bronx in New York City. After being taunted as an immigrant and being called a Nazi because of his German accented English, Graham first worked on his accent, eventually being able to speak in a perfect New York accent, and changed his name ("Graham" was found in the phonebook, it was closest to his real surname "Grajonca." According to Graham, both "Bill" and "Graham" were meaningless to him). Graham graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and then obtained a business degree from City College. He was later quoted as describing his training as that of an "efficiency expert".
Graham was drafted into the United States Army in 1951, and served in the Korean War, where he was awarded both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Upon his return to the States he worked as a waiter/maître d' in Catskill Mountain resorts in upstate New York during their heyday. He was later quoted as saying his experience as a maître d' and with the poker games he hosted behind the scenes was good training for his eventual career as a promoter. Tito Puente, who played some of these resorts, went on record once saying that Graham was avid to learn Spanish from him, but only cared about the curse words. It was during the 1950s that Graham became a champion mambo dancer in the mambo clubs of New York City ("Latin Music USA", PBS TV, broadcast 2010).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
August 29, 2018
Before adding this autobiography, told chronologically through the unusual method of discrete quotes from the subject and the people in his life (including co-author Robert Greenfield), to my GR to-read shelf, I had heard the name of Bill Graham but had never known what this remarkable man looked like. A grandson of Russian Jews born in Germany during the rise of Nazism, Graham's story is quintessential immigrant comes to USA and makes good. For any fan of rock and roll, this is essential reading about one of its greatest promoters ever.
July 10, 2007
From a historical perspective alone this book is fantastic. Not only do you hear what it was like for one family to be severed and scattered during The Holocaust, but Graham imparts a very nostalgic sense of his years growing up in New York as well as American culture during the 50's and 60's. And this doesn't even take into account the wealth of music industry knowledge and anecdotes shared throughout the book. It seems everyone has a story to tell about everyone else. As you softly repeat the names of bands from bygone eras, you'll find secret power clings to them because you delved into the minds and memories of those who were there.
Read
May 12, 2010One of the most important stories of the music business! Seriously. Mr. Graham lived about 6 lives and was apart of most of the important events in the 20th century. Entertaining, beautiful and certainly worth the read.
June 27, 2019
Magnificent bio of a man,whose life was extraordinary in so many facets. Holocaust survivor,recipient of a Bronze Star for Valor,and one of the most prominent figures on the rock concert scene in the "Golden Era"of the 60's and 70's... If you're a music fan of that era,this book is a MUST read...tons of interesting behind the scenes looks and interviews...If there already isn't a major motion picture about this man,it's long overdue....but it would never do him justice... GET THIS BOOK
June 25, 2012
It's always a good sign when you read something that is so compelling that you not only have a hard time putting it aside, but also you feel somewhat sad when you reach the its conclusion. Such is the case with BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT...an excellent semi-autobiographical take on the life of legendary rock and roll concert promoter Bill Graham...written by Bill Graham and Robert Greenfield.
I've had an interest in Bill Graham for a long time...having first heard about him in a book about Led Zeppelin that I read when I was a teenager. The Zeppelin book portrayed Graham as a villain, in relation to an unfortunate violent incident in 1977 that happened between Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant, drummer John Bonham and Bill Grant and his staff. Charges were filed, arrests were made, and Graham vowed never to book Led Zeppelin again. At the time, I thus did not have much love for Bill Graham...that is until I learned a little more about him...and slowly discovered that Bill Graham was the greatest concert promoter in the world.
As a teenager in New York, I was fortunate enough to attend a few of his concerts...The A.R.M.S. 1983 concert at Madison Square Garden with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page...LIVE AID in Philadelphia in 1985, the CRACK DOWN concert at Madison Square Garden in 1986 with the Allman Brothers, Crosby Stills & Nash and Run DMC, the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert in 1986 in New Jersey with The Police, U2, Peter Gabriel, Miles Davis and Bryan Adams as well as the 1988 Amnesty International concert in Philadelphia with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Sting, Peter Gabriel & Tracy Chapman. On May 14, 1988 I attended an amazing Bill Graham concert at Madison Square Garden for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary. The show featured a large amount of acts including Yes, Genesis, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Foreigner, and ironically enough...an exciting set from the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. It was at this concert where I actually saw Bill Graham near my seats...walking down the aisle, checking out the scene. I should have said hello when I had the chance.
In terms of the book, at first glance I was disappointed in the way the book was structured...As opposed to telling Bill Graham's story in a typical way...with occasional quotes mixed in with an author's prose...BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT is nothing BUT quotes...telling Graham's tale through a series of interviews with the people who were in and out of Graham's life...as well as with Graham himself. Yet it didn't take me too long to became truly enthralled with the story.
Born in 1931 in Nazi Germany to Russian Jews, Graham was smuggled out of the country as a child in order to save his life. He spent the majority of his youth without a real family...being sent to various orphanages throughout Europe for two years, then sent to the United States when he was 10 years old. Graham's father died in a factory only days after his birth, and his mother was gassed on the way to Auschwitz...his sisters either went into hiding, or died in concentration camp. In the U.S., Graham was raised by a foster family in the Bronx, NY, learned English fast, dropped his German accent, and grew up to become a very independent, hard working young man with an excellent sense of business. He was drafted during the Korean War, yet still managed to start an underground business in the Navy.
He worked for years in the great Catskills resorts (i.e. Grossingers, the Concord, etc...) as a waiter...where he saw great acts perform, and really learned how to hustle...and of course had a side business on his own selling food at crap games...He tried being an actor in New York, and loved movies and the theater. After re-connecting with some of his sisters...Graham eventually made his way to San Francisco...worked a variety of jobs...and ended up working for a Mime troupe on the business end. After deliberately getting themselves arrested as a publicity stunt, Bill Graham and the Mime troup organized a benefit to raise funds for their legal defense. The venue for the benefit was the Fillmore Auditorium...and the night of the benefit changed Bill Graham's life forever.
That night he saw the power of the live event..."living theater" as I believed he called it...bringing together large groups of people to experience something special...a one of a kind event. Graham found his calling...and soon would take over the Fillmore, and later other venues like the Winterland Arena, the Fillmore West, and the Fillmore East in New York and present historic concerts by such acts as the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Band, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, The Allman Brothers, and The Grateful Dead plus many many more...Northern California became Bill Graham country...and no band would dare play there without going through Bill Graham at least at some point.
The book gives excellent detail in the way Graham stood up to talent managers who tried to strong arm him in one or another...Bill clashed with The Rolling Stones in 1969 when they were notoriously late for their concerts in the Bay area...yet soon developed a strong relationship with the band...and would book their shows throughout 1972, 1975, and 1978...and was given the job of tour manager for their massive 1981/1982 world tour. Graham grew and expanded his enterprise further and further...yet deplored the emerging greed in the music industry...and the expansion of concerts into larger and larger venues. He fought with people constantly, and was disgusted at how other people mishandled and abused events such as Woodstock and the infamous Altamont concert in 1969 where a young man was murdered by Hells Angels.
In candid interviews with all of the players involved...BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT truly gives you a sense of Bill Graham, the businessman, yet also the idealist...who truly fought hard so that both the band AND the crowd of any given concert came out ahead. He would often do anything....ANYTHING...to get a band to perform encores if the crowd wanted more...
In the 1970's, Graham produced huge concert tours for Bob Dylan & The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and George Harrison. He produced the legendary LAST WALTZ concert for the Band in 1976...fighting with everyone along the way (and was appalled by Martin Scorsese's now classic 1978 film THE LAST WALTZ). The infamous Led Zeppelin incident in 1977 is gone over in detail...and the story is at once brutal, and heartbreaking.
Bill Graham's life was his work...and would too often sacrifice his personal life in favor of business...Relationships were many, and he bore two sons...yet few lasted more than a few years. He publicly vilified Ronald Reagan in the 80's for visiting graves of Nazi soldiers in Germany...a move which would cost him dearly. He fought hard with managers on the Amnesty International tours to keep the shows focused on spreading the message at hand...and not cater to a performer's (or manager's) ego, or career.
Bill was tough as nails, and pissed off artists and mangers alike. He could be a bully, yet he was passionate about putting on the best show possible. In 1989, Graham was absolutely crushed when he was passed over for the job of handling the Rolling Stones huge Steel Wheels world tour...It took him a long time to regain his confidence...yet he did.
By 1991, Graham was 60 years old and full of life...yet unfortunately in October of that year, he and his girlfriend (as well his longtime pilot) were killed in an horrific helicopter crash in Northern California...ended an incredible life and career...bringing all walks of life together, to make history. Bill Graham was/is history...and thank goodness we have BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT to tell his story
I've had an interest in Bill Graham for a long time...having first heard about him in a book about Led Zeppelin that I read when I was a teenager. The Zeppelin book portrayed Graham as a villain, in relation to an unfortunate violent incident in 1977 that happened between Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant, drummer John Bonham and Bill Grant and his staff. Charges were filed, arrests were made, and Graham vowed never to book Led Zeppelin again. At the time, I thus did not have much love for Bill Graham...that is until I learned a little more about him...and slowly discovered that Bill Graham was the greatest concert promoter in the world.
As a teenager in New York, I was fortunate enough to attend a few of his concerts...The A.R.M.S. 1983 concert at Madison Square Garden with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page...LIVE AID in Philadelphia in 1985, the CRACK DOWN concert at Madison Square Garden in 1986 with the Allman Brothers, Crosby Stills & Nash and Run DMC, the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert in 1986 in New Jersey with The Police, U2, Peter Gabriel, Miles Davis and Bryan Adams as well as the 1988 Amnesty International concert in Philadelphia with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Sting, Peter Gabriel & Tracy Chapman. On May 14, 1988 I attended an amazing Bill Graham concert at Madison Square Garden for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary. The show featured a large amount of acts including Yes, Genesis, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Foreigner, and ironically enough...an exciting set from the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. It was at this concert where I actually saw Bill Graham near my seats...walking down the aisle, checking out the scene. I should have said hello when I had the chance.
In terms of the book, at first glance I was disappointed in the way the book was structured...As opposed to telling Bill Graham's story in a typical way...with occasional quotes mixed in with an author's prose...BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT is nothing BUT quotes...telling Graham's tale through a series of interviews with the people who were in and out of Graham's life...as well as with Graham himself. Yet it didn't take me too long to became truly enthralled with the story.
Born in 1931 in Nazi Germany to Russian Jews, Graham was smuggled out of the country as a child in order to save his life. He spent the majority of his youth without a real family...being sent to various orphanages throughout Europe for two years, then sent to the United States when he was 10 years old. Graham's father died in a factory only days after his birth, and his mother was gassed on the way to Auschwitz...his sisters either went into hiding, or died in concentration camp. In the U.S., Graham was raised by a foster family in the Bronx, NY, learned English fast, dropped his German accent, and grew up to become a very independent, hard working young man with an excellent sense of business. He was drafted during the Korean War, yet still managed to start an underground business in the Navy.
He worked for years in the great Catskills resorts (i.e. Grossingers, the Concord, etc...) as a waiter...where he saw great acts perform, and really learned how to hustle...and of course had a side business on his own selling food at crap games...He tried being an actor in New York, and loved movies and the theater. After re-connecting with some of his sisters...Graham eventually made his way to San Francisco...worked a variety of jobs...and ended up working for a Mime troupe on the business end. After deliberately getting themselves arrested as a publicity stunt, Bill Graham and the Mime troup organized a benefit to raise funds for their legal defense. The venue for the benefit was the Fillmore Auditorium...and the night of the benefit changed Bill Graham's life forever.
That night he saw the power of the live event..."living theater" as I believed he called it...bringing together large groups of people to experience something special...a one of a kind event. Graham found his calling...and soon would take over the Fillmore, and later other venues like the Winterland Arena, the Fillmore West, and the Fillmore East in New York and present historic concerts by such acts as the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Band, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, The Allman Brothers, and The Grateful Dead plus many many more...Northern California became Bill Graham country...and no band would dare play there without going through Bill Graham at least at some point.
The book gives excellent detail in the way Graham stood up to talent managers who tried to strong arm him in one or another...Bill clashed with The Rolling Stones in 1969 when they were notoriously late for their concerts in the Bay area...yet soon developed a strong relationship with the band...and would book their shows throughout 1972, 1975, and 1978...and was given the job of tour manager for their massive 1981/1982 world tour. Graham grew and expanded his enterprise further and further...yet deplored the emerging greed in the music industry...and the expansion of concerts into larger and larger venues. He fought with people constantly, and was disgusted at how other people mishandled and abused events such as Woodstock and the infamous Altamont concert in 1969 where a young man was murdered by Hells Angels.
In candid interviews with all of the players involved...BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT truly gives you a sense of Bill Graham, the businessman, yet also the idealist...who truly fought hard so that both the band AND the crowd of any given concert came out ahead. He would often do anything....ANYTHING...to get a band to perform encores if the crowd wanted more...
In the 1970's, Graham produced huge concert tours for Bob Dylan & The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and George Harrison. He produced the legendary LAST WALTZ concert for the Band in 1976...fighting with everyone along the way (and was appalled by Martin Scorsese's now classic 1978 film THE LAST WALTZ). The infamous Led Zeppelin incident in 1977 is gone over in detail...and the story is at once brutal, and heartbreaking.
Bill Graham's life was his work...and would too often sacrifice his personal life in favor of business...Relationships were many, and he bore two sons...yet few lasted more than a few years. He publicly vilified Ronald Reagan in the 80's for visiting graves of Nazi soldiers in Germany...a move which would cost him dearly. He fought hard with managers on the Amnesty International tours to keep the shows focused on spreading the message at hand...and not cater to a performer's (or manager's) ego, or career.
Bill was tough as nails, and pissed off artists and mangers alike. He could be a bully, yet he was passionate about putting on the best show possible. In 1989, Graham was absolutely crushed when he was passed over for the job of handling the Rolling Stones huge Steel Wheels world tour...It took him a long time to regain his confidence...yet he did.
By 1991, Graham was 60 years old and full of life...yet unfortunately in October of that year, he and his girlfriend (as well his longtime pilot) were killed in an horrific helicopter crash in Northern California...ended an incredible life and career...bringing all walks of life together, to make history. Bill Graham was/is history...and thank goodness we have BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS: MY LIFE INSIDE ROCK AND OUT to tell his story
October 26, 2025
this is the most quintessential capricorn sun man to have ever lived
July 16, 2025
A Deadhead comrade, knowing my interest in Robert Greenfield (see my Tim Leary, Bear, co-John Perry Barlow and Dark Star GR takes; I'll seek out STP's reissue Stones Touring Party), recommended this epic bio, prepared just prior to Bill Graham's sudden death. It's brash, bold, astoundingly vivid.
It's Bill himself, interspersed with his family, friends, colleagues, and even a few of the inevitable enemies he picked up in his peripatetic career. Of course, his childhood escape by Kindertransport is foregrounded, but the blur rather than precision he can conjure up only highlights the tragedy he and his kinfolk suffered before, during, and after the Shoah.
His stint in the displaced Jewish children's camp as if in a pet shop awaiting adoption in upstate NY is poignant; his foster parents and brother emerge gradually as sympathetic; his Korean war horror fades; his waiter's manic shifts in the Catskills spark his penchant for Latin dance, affairs, clandestine meal service for gamblers and sailors: an innate talent for giving hungry night owls noisy satisfaction while making an honest, solid profit. Hard-nosed businessmen aren't sexy, necessary not always evil.
Interesting that the bicoastal business rush entered his mad routine early. Driving between NYC and California from his first delivery of a car and golf clubs for Buddy Hackett. Bill in his savvy knew how to cash in connections from serving celebrities, while remaining a "mensch" deaf to fawning or begging; San Francisco ties, through a survivor sister, established in the Fifties continental itineraries, in advance of louche beats let alone stoned rich kids. His energy for more than one kind of mad drive makes me wonder when he slept. He didn't find his muse, revenue + longevity, into his mid-thirties.
It took him until 1965 to grab his groundbreaking chance. His looks stymied his acting ambition. His lucrative waiter job in Beverly Hills clashed with his East Coast personality. SF Mime Troupe's prissy political pretense grated. After successful fundraisers for trustafarian thespians, he perceived how cash could be spewed by doe-eyed, eager recruits to the counterculture: his sly hippie enlightenment.
He managed to fend off Acid Test excesses, instill hard-nosed NY control over West Coast naivete, and to impose commonsense rather than addled babble about communal anarchy. Irritating the sour ilk of Ken Kesey, yet it's likely nobody else could have run the Fillmore and perpetuated a profitable market. And to set up a system (pre-Clear Channel Live Nation) divvying up revenue, ensuring "classic" rock.
As rivals from Family Dog/ Diggers/ Avalon venue and pal Pete Townshend agree, Graham's hustling, streetwise innovations for hosting concerts rewarded fans with quality, rather than Murray the K's tired cavalcade of R+B, blues, and pop acts. Bill's discipline fended off freeloaders. His cocky eagle eye watched how flush ticket buyers might part with higher admission fees in exchange for enjoyment. Bill enabled endurance of a genre long after the 1965-67 explosion and drug-blamed implosion in SF.
He's compassionate about Janis Joplin's loneliness, charitable about funding worthy causes (well, with a few radical chic exceptions cynically manipulating white liberal guilt, in my opinion), and decent about keeping his side of bargains with his clients. Capitalist, but no socialist could have sustained the nascent "electric ballroom" otherwise prey to unscrupulous promoters or chemically altered radicals.
Installing house sound, filling barrels with free apples while skimping on Coke cups to ice ratios, one-dollar Tuesdays, the Fillmore East: Graham's relentless pursuit of perfection models in these details his genius. Considering his drug intake stayed wisely low, adrenaline must have sustained his knack.
Admittedly this narrative's about triple what I anticipated, albeit granted that the subject's engrossing for me. (I started grade school during the fading Summer of Love, so my perspective's always skewed tardy and peripheral.) I avoid rosy-tinted romanticizations, but '60s idealism, naivete, and clashes of reality with fantasy engineered by (as debutante instigator Grace Slick chortles) well-off (she should talk) mostly and "well-educated" coteries snags. Which leaves Graham's blunt credibility a mitzvah.
Second half, after Woodstock and Altamont harsh the mellow, pivot to the corporate mentality as Bill and competitors circle the talent pool, swim with major label sharks, and nab easy prey in the seats. I didn't find this stretch as charming, but it's naturally necessary to chart the rise of what we endure today as the iron grip upon the stage curtain, the scalpers, the surcharges, the merch, the megatours.
Rather than a scrappy Dead or Allman Brothers, it's too soon jetset Stones '72, and a chilling assault by Peter Grant, John Bonham, and Led Zep's thugs hammering the blows against peace. Fillmores and later Winterland succumb to the suits when sponsorships shove aside stickball schemers. A coddled caliber of CSN+Y, say, learned mornings after if Bill's booking, they'd grab a thinner cut. That margin afforded a nice ambiance, enticing crowds, so payoff went into his pocket, if ultimately pleasing '70s frenzied arena audiences. Graham's ego matched these stoned superstars: barbed words exchanged, making for fun anecdotes, tall tales, and mobster banter, if unfit for sensitive non-Bronx-reared ears.
"All my life, I've felt that musicians and artists have looked at me with an attitude. Which is that they get up every day and create and I am not like them. I am someone who uses creative people to my own ends. Whereas all I am ever trying to do is create on my own by putting what they have created out there for others to hear and see and enjoy." If Bill hadn't helmed the endless U.S. tour era, who else?
Yet his relentless push for this success detracted from his marriages. AWOL for births of his two boys. I was curious if Bill could step off the bandwagon, or juggernaut, he commanded. Hypertension by his forties over the Last Waltz, Apocalypse Now, and baseball parks supplanting grim "concrete factories" (auditorium, rink, convention center) took a toll. Didn't he have a downshift gear? Perpetual motion...
Superdomes for the 80's Stones, as football's complexes and t-shirt royalties follow, but homespun humbled Janis or sexy Otis Redding's hard-earned tricks to reward fans are missed in this logo-busy shuffle of hundreds of thousands of boogie fever mobs and coke-headed heavies. Graham's at the top of the pack, yet the massive planning and nationwide logistics distance us and him from Borscht Belt straight-talk, as Jagger's pomposity mirrors a craven mendacity far surpassing Graham's satisfaction.
Eerily as he protests (I borrow the Ramones') "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" and then hears arsonists have immolated his SF office and memorabilia, one senses a 1985 premonition of his 1991 fate, as violence and erasure pursue him, still a refugee, among those who boast of antisemitism, at peak performance.
He deserves a shout-out. Live-Aid, Amnesty Intl efforts worked ok. And the Soviet Peace Committee, dubious though it sounds. One for NYC crack addicts didn't, another for the fiftieth anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge never launched. However, Sting, Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, or Carlos Santana by the MTV generation can't generate the same inherent attraction as their feckless, spacy predecessors.
Verdict? I can't fault the project. Greenfield rarely enters the proceedings. He lets the gabby garrulous primed movers and shimmy shakers strut. It's arguably overkill in its stomp, but crucial in archiving this Aquarian paradigm, Apollonian apogee, and its Dionysian hangover which hasn't worn off for us.
It's Bill himself, interspersed with his family, friends, colleagues, and even a few of the inevitable enemies he picked up in his peripatetic career. Of course, his childhood escape by Kindertransport is foregrounded, but the blur rather than precision he can conjure up only highlights the tragedy he and his kinfolk suffered before, during, and after the Shoah.
His stint in the displaced Jewish children's camp as if in a pet shop awaiting adoption in upstate NY is poignant; his foster parents and brother emerge gradually as sympathetic; his Korean war horror fades; his waiter's manic shifts in the Catskills spark his penchant for Latin dance, affairs, clandestine meal service for gamblers and sailors: an innate talent for giving hungry night owls noisy satisfaction while making an honest, solid profit. Hard-nosed businessmen aren't sexy, necessary not always evil.
Interesting that the bicoastal business rush entered his mad routine early. Driving between NYC and California from his first delivery of a car and golf clubs for Buddy Hackett. Bill in his savvy knew how to cash in connections from serving celebrities, while remaining a "mensch" deaf to fawning or begging; San Francisco ties, through a survivor sister, established in the Fifties continental itineraries, in advance of louche beats let alone stoned rich kids. His energy for more than one kind of mad drive makes me wonder when he slept. He didn't find his muse, revenue + longevity, into his mid-thirties.
It took him until 1965 to grab his groundbreaking chance. His looks stymied his acting ambition. His lucrative waiter job in Beverly Hills clashed with his East Coast personality. SF Mime Troupe's prissy political pretense grated. After successful fundraisers for trustafarian thespians, he perceived how cash could be spewed by doe-eyed, eager recruits to the counterculture: his sly hippie enlightenment.
He managed to fend off Acid Test excesses, instill hard-nosed NY control over West Coast naivete, and to impose commonsense rather than addled babble about communal anarchy. Irritating the sour ilk of Ken Kesey, yet it's likely nobody else could have run the Fillmore and perpetuated a profitable market. And to set up a system (pre-Clear Channel Live Nation) divvying up revenue, ensuring "classic" rock.
As rivals from Family Dog/ Diggers/ Avalon venue and pal Pete Townshend agree, Graham's hustling, streetwise innovations for hosting concerts rewarded fans with quality, rather than Murray the K's tired cavalcade of R+B, blues, and pop acts. Bill's discipline fended off freeloaders. His cocky eagle eye watched how flush ticket buyers might part with higher admission fees in exchange for enjoyment. Bill enabled endurance of a genre long after the 1965-67 explosion and drug-blamed implosion in SF.
He's compassionate about Janis Joplin's loneliness, charitable about funding worthy causes (well, with a few radical chic exceptions cynically manipulating white liberal guilt, in my opinion), and decent about keeping his side of bargains with his clients. Capitalist, but no socialist could have sustained the nascent "electric ballroom" otherwise prey to unscrupulous promoters or chemically altered radicals.
Installing house sound, filling barrels with free apples while skimping on Coke cups to ice ratios, one-dollar Tuesdays, the Fillmore East: Graham's relentless pursuit of perfection models in these details his genius. Considering his drug intake stayed wisely low, adrenaline must have sustained his knack.
Admittedly this narrative's about triple what I anticipated, albeit granted that the subject's engrossing for me. (I started grade school during the fading Summer of Love, so my perspective's always skewed tardy and peripheral.) I avoid rosy-tinted romanticizations, but '60s idealism, naivete, and clashes of reality with fantasy engineered by (as debutante instigator Grace Slick chortles) well-off (she should talk) mostly and "well-educated" coteries snags. Which leaves Graham's blunt credibility a mitzvah.
Second half, after Woodstock and Altamont harsh the mellow, pivot to the corporate mentality as Bill and competitors circle the talent pool, swim with major label sharks, and nab easy prey in the seats. I didn't find this stretch as charming, but it's naturally necessary to chart the rise of what we endure today as the iron grip upon the stage curtain, the scalpers, the surcharges, the merch, the megatours.
Rather than a scrappy Dead or Allman Brothers, it's too soon jetset Stones '72, and a chilling assault by Peter Grant, John Bonham, and Led Zep's thugs hammering the blows against peace. Fillmores and later Winterland succumb to the suits when sponsorships shove aside stickball schemers. A coddled caliber of CSN+Y, say, learned mornings after if Bill's booking, they'd grab a thinner cut. That margin afforded a nice ambiance, enticing crowds, so payoff went into his pocket, if ultimately pleasing '70s frenzied arena audiences. Graham's ego matched these stoned superstars: barbed words exchanged, making for fun anecdotes, tall tales, and mobster banter, if unfit for sensitive non-Bronx-reared ears.
"All my life, I've felt that musicians and artists have looked at me with an attitude. Which is that they get up every day and create and I am not like them. I am someone who uses creative people to my own ends. Whereas all I am ever trying to do is create on my own by putting what they have created out there for others to hear and see and enjoy." If Bill hadn't helmed the endless U.S. tour era, who else?
Yet his relentless push for this success detracted from his marriages. AWOL for births of his two boys. I was curious if Bill could step off the bandwagon, or juggernaut, he commanded. Hypertension by his forties over the Last Waltz, Apocalypse Now, and baseball parks supplanting grim "concrete factories" (auditorium, rink, convention center) took a toll. Didn't he have a downshift gear? Perpetual motion...
Superdomes for the 80's Stones, as football's complexes and t-shirt royalties follow, but homespun humbled Janis or sexy Otis Redding's hard-earned tricks to reward fans are missed in this logo-busy shuffle of hundreds of thousands of boogie fever mobs and coke-headed heavies. Graham's at the top of the pack, yet the massive planning and nationwide logistics distance us and him from Borscht Belt straight-talk, as Jagger's pomposity mirrors a craven mendacity far surpassing Graham's satisfaction.
Eerily as he protests (I borrow the Ramones') "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" and then hears arsonists have immolated his SF office and memorabilia, one senses a 1985 premonition of his 1991 fate, as violence and erasure pursue him, still a refugee, among those who boast of antisemitism, at peak performance.
He deserves a shout-out. Live-Aid, Amnesty Intl efforts worked ok. And the Soviet Peace Committee, dubious though it sounds. One for NYC crack addicts didn't, another for the fiftieth anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge never launched. However, Sting, Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, or Carlos Santana by the MTV generation can't generate the same inherent attraction as their feckless, spacy predecessors.
Verdict? I can't fault the project. Greenfield rarely enters the proceedings. He lets the gabby garrulous primed movers and shimmy shakers strut. It's arguably overkill in its stomp, but crucial in archiving this Aquarian paradigm, Apollonian apogee, and its Dionysian hangover which hasn't worn off for us.
November 20, 2017
When I opened the book I was at first taken aback by the lack of narrative text, but the voice of Bill Graham himself and the voices of SO many familiar and noteworthy artists, music industry colleagues, family members, and his beloved BGP staff drew me in almost immediately.
What a life he led. What an utterly unique and visionary man he was, brimming with such creativity, fierce drive, big heart, and remarkable daring. From his tragic childhood in Nazi Germany, France, and New York, his determined battle to bring his sisters to the U.S. after the war, and his colorful early life and career prior to his concert business, his story is as remarkable as anyone's. It is told here in his own voice as well as through the vivid recollections of this book's numerous contributors. His early days with the Mime Troupe and then the Fillmore, the Fillmore East, Winterland are all richly covered, tracing the evolution of the empire and the legend he built -- a fascinating page in American cultural history.
Bill's own voice in particular shines through, providing rich insights into his inner character, his amazing (and sad) personal history, his sophisticated and eclectic musical tastes, and his fascinating relationships with just about every luminary artist of the past several decades. Not to mention his interactions with everything from Amnesty International and Prince Rupert Lowenstein to Russian bureaucrats while staging a concert in Moscow.
I loved this book. Lots of great photos, too. Highly, highly recommend.
What a life he led. What an utterly unique and visionary man he was, brimming with such creativity, fierce drive, big heart, and remarkable daring. From his tragic childhood in Nazi Germany, France, and New York, his determined battle to bring his sisters to the U.S. after the war, and his colorful early life and career prior to his concert business, his story is as remarkable as anyone's. It is told here in his own voice as well as through the vivid recollections of this book's numerous contributors. His early days with the Mime Troupe and then the Fillmore, the Fillmore East, Winterland are all richly covered, tracing the evolution of the empire and the legend he built -- a fascinating page in American cultural history.
Bill's own voice in particular shines through, providing rich insights into his inner character, his amazing (and sad) personal history, his sophisticated and eclectic musical tastes, and his fascinating relationships with just about every luminary artist of the past several decades. Not to mention his interactions with everything from Amnesty International and Prince Rupert Lowenstein to Russian bureaucrats while staging a concert in Moscow.
I loved this book. Lots of great photos, too. Highly, highly recommend.
Read
October 14, 2021The 1st person narrative via interview made for choppy reading and a disjointed overview. This doesn't take away from the history itself but made the read less enjoyable than I'd prefer.
September 26, 2020
This is a great book if you like rock n roll.
It’s Graham’s perspective on the music scene he created back in the 60’s, conversations with all the artists who played the Fillmore East, the Fillmore West & Winterland, their managers, everyone who helped produce the shows, manage the theaters, or work the huge festivals and tours Graham promoted once multi-stadium tours debuted.
It’s authentic, behind-the-scenes anecdotes by everybody and their brother or, to put it more simply, it’s the behind-the-scenes story to the soundtrack of my life. Loved it.
It’s Graham’s perspective on the music scene he created back in the 60’s, conversations with all the artists who played the Fillmore East, the Fillmore West & Winterland, their managers, everyone who helped produce the shows, manage the theaters, or work the huge festivals and tours Graham promoted once multi-stadium tours debuted.
It’s authentic, behind-the-scenes anecdotes by everybody and their brother or, to put it more simply, it’s the behind-the-scenes story to the soundtrack of my life. Loved it.
March 12, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It is made up of interviews of Bill and all others in his life. I found it fascinating from his harrowing early life story to his fun descriptions of life in the Catskills to his wild life in the music business. The inside stories of bands such as the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Zeppelin, and Santana were fascinating!
September 13, 2017
Man O Man. One of the best biographies that I've read. Of course it follows the great impresario at work. BG had a larger than life, life. Escape from Nazi Germany to US and from Waiter to scene maker.
A great read if you are into Music and the 1960's scene and heroic dudes.
A great read if you are into Music and the 1960's scene and heroic dudes.
November 24, 2011
Fantastic book!
May 25, 2018
I am a child of the 60s, particularly as to music. If you love or loved the music of the late 60s and early 70s, then this book is essential reading. The stories about the Fillmores (East & West), the artists who played there, along with Graham's post-Fillmores concert promoting, are the kinds of things that I just eat up.
In most rock & roll autobiographies, I find the first hundred pages or so to be pretty boring. I want to learn about their music careers, not their childhood. This book was very different on that level. Graham was born in Germany as the Nazis were coming to power. As a jew, his life was in danger. The stories of how he escaped Nazi Germany and made his way to America, his youth in the Bronx and his first jobs in the Catskills are very compelling. They also explain a lot about the less endearing parts of his personality.
The heart of the book is the section called The Sacred Store. That's the part about the first Fillmore Ballroom in San Francisco, the Fillmore East in NYC and the later Fillmore West in San Francisco. Graham will always be known for those years and his nurturing of the music scene of those days. It's hard to imagine the music of the late 60s being the same without his efforts and influence.
The latter part of the book deals with his management of some of the biggest tours of the 70s and 80s. In 1974 alone, he managed the mega tours of Bob Dylan & the Band, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and George Harrison. I saw each of those tours, but didn't realize that they were all Graham tours until reading this book (though I do recall Graham introducing then-Governor Jimmy Carter to the crowd at the Dylan concert in Atlanta). Eventually, Graham seems to become obsessed with managing tours of the Rolling Stones. His failure to land their 1981 tour of the US leads to a period of depression, almost like a nervous breakdown. Fortunately he recovers and has a final act before dying in a helicopter crash in 1991.
Lastly, if there is anyone in particular who comes off badly in this book, it is Led Zeppelin. Their manager, Peter Grant, was a thug. He should have been in prison. He and some of the others were lucky that somebody didn't shoot them. Any remaining positive feelings that I had for LZ were gone by the time that I finished this book.
In most rock & roll autobiographies, I find the first hundred pages or so to be pretty boring. I want to learn about their music careers, not their childhood. This book was very different on that level. Graham was born in Germany as the Nazis were coming to power. As a jew, his life was in danger. The stories of how he escaped Nazi Germany and made his way to America, his youth in the Bronx and his first jobs in the Catskills are very compelling. They also explain a lot about the less endearing parts of his personality.
The heart of the book is the section called The Sacred Store. That's the part about the first Fillmore Ballroom in San Francisco, the Fillmore East in NYC and the later Fillmore West in San Francisco. Graham will always be known for those years and his nurturing of the music scene of those days. It's hard to imagine the music of the late 60s being the same without his efforts and influence.
The latter part of the book deals with his management of some of the biggest tours of the 70s and 80s. In 1974 alone, he managed the mega tours of Bob Dylan & the Band, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and George Harrison. I saw each of those tours, but didn't realize that they were all Graham tours until reading this book (though I do recall Graham introducing then-Governor Jimmy Carter to the crowd at the Dylan concert in Atlanta). Eventually, Graham seems to become obsessed with managing tours of the Rolling Stones. His failure to land their 1981 tour of the US leads to a period of depression, almost like a nervous breakdown. Fortunately he recovers and has a final act before dying in a helicopter crash in 1991.
Lastly, if there is anyone in particular who comes off badly in this book, it is Led Zeppelin. Their manager, Peter Grant, was a thug. He should have been in prison. He and some of the others were lucky that somebody didn't shoot them. Any remaining positive feelings that I had for LZ were gone by the time that I finished this book.
March 17, 2020
Along with many of my friends in the arts world, I’m still working on coming to terms with the current state of things. As the COVID-19 invasion has us all on lock down and using social distancing to help kick this thing back into the dark hole from which it crawled, I’m feeling a bit lost. As most of you who read my postings know, I kinda thrive on the communal sharing of live music and theatre. Until life returns to some semblance of normality, I’ll be seeking (and sharing) alternate experiences. And if all the recent cancellations have taught us one thing, I hope that it’s this (something I have been trying to live for most of my adult life): DO EVERYTHING AS IF IT MIGHT BE THE LAST TIME YOU DO IT! Be present! Embrace the JOY of being able to do the thing you love with the people you love! Give every moment your very best effort! None of this is consistently easy to accomplish, but it’s definitely worth remembering and the application doesn’t have to hard.
All of the above is a great way to introduce you to the book I just finished reading. Bill Graham did all of this! His life wasn’t always easy, but he never gave it less than his best. This can (and did) drive a lot of people crazy, but it also helped make a lot of people incredibly happy (the fans) and incredibly famous (the musicians). If you don’t know who Bill Graham was, he invented the concert-going experience that most of us take for granted today. He started Fillmore East, Fillmore West and Winterland. He organized the American side of Live Aid, he ran two of the Rolling Stones biggest tours, he planned and presented The Band’s Last Waltz, and so much more. Thanks, Bill!
This book is a pretty amazing and unique biography. Its 545 pages are all oral histories/interviews from Bill and the people he worked with, telling the story of his life and career in their own words. It’s meticulously compiled to give us insider looks at all that went into producing these major music events. So it seems like a fitting way to start my self-quarantine…by finishing a book about a guy who helped us get the most out of the live concert experience. Ironically, too, it just makes me yearn even more for the day when I can return to the joy those concerts bring.
Stay safe everyone. Wash those hands and stay away from social gatherings. See you on the other side!
All of the above is a great way to introduce you to the book I just finished reading. Bill Graham did all of this! His life wasn’t always easy, but he never gave it less than his best. This can (and did) drive a lot of people crazy, but it also helped make a lot of people incredibly happy (the fans) and incredibly famous (the musicians). If you don’t know who Bill Graham was, he invented the concert-going experience that most of us take for granted today. He started Fillmore East, Fillmore West and Winterland. He organized the American side of Live Aid, he ran two of the Rolling Stones biggest tours, he planned and presented The Band’s Last Waltz, and so much more. Thanks, Bill!
This book is a pretty amazing and unique biography. Its 545 pages are all oral histories/interviews from Bill and the people he worked with, telling the story of his life and career in their own words. It’s meticulously compiled to give us insider looks at all that went into producing these major music events. So it seems like a fitting way to start my self-quarantine…by finishing a book about a guy who helped us get the most out of the live concert experience. Ironically, too, it just makes me yearn even more for the day when I can return to the joy those concerts bring.
Stay safe everyone. Wash those hands and stay away from social gatherings. See you on the other side!
August 11, 2021
Robert Greenfield took an interesting approach to putting this book together. The entire story is told in the words of interviewees who shared in the events of Graham's life. Imagine a documentary made up entirely of talking heads, with no further narration. The stories, therefore, reveal the complexities of Bill Graham, and sometimes say more about the speakers than they realize.
I had only been dimly aware of Bill Graham as the big time promoter who yelled a lot. If tantrums had been his whole repertoire, he never would have been as successful as he was, nor would he have inspired the devotion of so many people. When the occasion called for it, he could be a great calmer of people, a sort of star whisperer. And he could fawn with the best of them.
Although the music business became huge and seemingly too big to handle, Graham's approach came across to me as a sort of mom and pop, very detail-oriented style. His way of doing business was informed by his youthful experiences waiting tables in the Catskills. He was dedicated to giving the customer a good experience.
The stories in this book, be they hilarious or brutal (see Led Zeppelin) or sad, are priceless.
I had only been dimly aware of Bill Graham as the big time promoter who yelled a lot. If tantrums had been his whole repertoire, he never would have been as successful as he was, nor would he have inspired the devotion of so many people. When the occasion called for it, he could be a great calmer of people, a sort of star whisperer. And he could fawn with the best of them.
Although the music business became huge and seemingly too big to handle, Graham's approach came across to me as a sort of mom and pop, very detail-oriented style. His way of doing business was informed by his youthful experiences waiting tables in the Catskills. He was dedicated to giving the customer a good experience.
The stories in this book, be they hilarious or brutal (see Led Zeppelin) or sad, are priceless.
May 30, 2025
As a Deadhead and overall music devotee, I've always been aware of Bill Graham as the legendary promoter and owner of the Fillmore and Winterland concert venues who helped put Rock n Roll music on the map in the USA, but this autobiography goes deep and I do mean DEEP on the man's entire life. Bill Graham truly was one of the most influential figures in American music history and this is a wildly fascinating look into his life from his childhood fleeing Europe to escape Adolf Hitler's Nazi armies, to the streets of the Bronx, to the Summer of Love in San Fransisco, to the biggest stages in the world. This book is an inside look into the history of Rock n Roll from Bill and key figures directly involved in the explosion of the genre and music commercially. We're talking Jerry Garcia, Kieth Richards, Carlos Santana, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, and dozens more. It's pretty long winded and with so much of the information coming directly from Bill who knows the full story or exactly how accurate everything is, but man, what a great look into the inside story of America's most iconic moments in rock music history.
September 14, 2019
Started reading these oral accounts of Graham's life somewhere in the middle hoping to delve right into the 'good stuff'. Wanted to get to the behind-the-scenes stories about the bands I grew up listening too and skip what is usually the boring upbringings. It wasn't long before I realized that Bill Graham, who is driven to succeed to the point of being possessed, was as much the story as any of the wild music-tales. Almost single-handedly he created and maintained a musical revolution that in some ways would change everything. By the time I got to the end I immediately flipped to the front and continued on. His WWII childhood and lone escape from Europe at the age of 10 (or so) while leaving his entire family behind was pretty mind blowing. This section, which included accounts from his two surviving sisters, could've been it's own book. Bill Graham saw more, did more, lived more and visited more places on the earth before he was 30 than most people would do with five lifetimes at their disposal. And he did it from absolutely nothing.
February 18, 2021
This is my favorite biography I've ever read and possibly my favorite book. It's not necessarily the writing style (it's an oral history), but I just really enjoyed the ride. The book just really clicked with me as a music lover... especially live music. Bill lead an incredible life and crossed paths with so many musicians. Name someone in rock and roll, and I bet there's a story in this book. There are so many great stories without it being a book that tries to capitalize on shock value or scandalous accusations. Of course, if you are Grateful Dead fan, you will love the many stories about Uncle Bobo.
I will say the the book got a bit slow for me in between Bill's childhood and when he gets into the music business. However, the beginning of the book, where his family is fleeing Europe in WWII is unbelievable. And of course, it really takes off once he gets involved with music. Like all of us, Bill was not perfect, but it is tough not to really like the guy... especially if you are a music lover.
I will say the the book got a bit slow for me in between Bill's childhood and when he gets into the music business. However, the beginning of the book, where his family is fleeing Europe in WWII is unbelievable. And of course, it really takes off once he gets involved with music. Like all of us, Bill was not perfect, but it is tough not to really like the guy... especially if you are a music lover.
December 3, 2023
So much of the music I love was brought to audiences by this man.
I wish I had grown up at the time when I could have attended one of the concerts promoted by Bill Graham because I'd say that we just don't understand what that would have been like. The concerts we attend now are great and everything, such a pleasure to watch a band I love perform live. However, there is a distinct difference between what we go to see now, and a show that Graham would've put on.
That difference is Bill Graham.
If you know anything about popular music in the second half of the 20th century, you'll have heard the name Bill Graham before. Even if not, you'll surely know the name, The Fillmore. There are few more iconic venues in rock and roll history more than The Fillmore East and West. Classic shows that defined the eras for the largest and most important bands of their generation were performed at these venues.
Definitely worth a read for anyone who has a love of that era and the music that came from it.
I wish I had grown up at the time when I could have attended one of the concerts promoted by Bill Graham because I'd say that we just don't understand what that would have been like. The concerts we attend now are great and everything, such a pleasure to watch a band I love perform live. However, there is a distinct difference between what we go to see now, and a show that Graham would've put on.
That difference is Bill Graham.
If you know anything about popular music in the second half of the 20th century, you'll have heard the name Bill Graham before. Even if not, you'll surely know the name, The Fillmore. There are few more iconic venues in rock and roll history more than The Fillmore East and West. Classic shows that defined the eras for the largest and most important bands of their generation were performed at these venues.
Definitely worth a read for anyone who has a love of that era and the music that came from it.
July 29, 2022
Great book on how (live) rock music became a business. And how one of the biggest players in that business wasn’t too much into rock n’ roll himself, nor into making money, but eager to put up an excellent show for the people (who did need to pay for that :-)). On another level, this is about a refugee escaping the holocaust, who is desperately in need of recognition and actually never stopped running.
I was a bit hesitant about the ‘quotes’-format, but that worked out surprisingly well. Since not all interviewees were too kind for Graham, it feels like a truthful portrait instead of a success story.
I was a bit hesitant about the ‘quotes’-format, but that worked out surprisingly well. Since not all interviewees were too kind for Graham, it feels like a truthful portrait instead of a success story.
November 20, 2022
4 1/2 stars. This has been on my bucket “must read” list for decades. Glad I finally read it. Not a straight forward memoir, loved that Bill would tell a story and then nearly everyone who was part of that story offered their perspective. Felt more like an oral history than an autobiography. This is one of those books that charts the history of the modern music business while also telling the story of THE pioneer of live concerts, tours, and festivals. Bill always put the artist and the fan first, and that’s what I appreciate most.
October 13, 2021
Supplied a lot of details that I previously did not know. I was surprised at how little I knew about Bill's entire life, and that what I knew was largely limited to his dealings with the Grateful Dead. Great choice and a tremendous amount of effort went into telling the story from all of the relevant people's point of view, and not just Bill's.
June 11, 2025
Fabulous (auto-)biography from page one. I knew little of his history, but we surely overlapped in The City. I also overlapped in the Catskills, where he was a waiter and surely a hidden entrepreneur.
I am on page 120 of 520 pages now, and loving each paragraph. Stories from Bill and from those who knew him.
I am on page 120 of 520 pages now, and loving each paragraph. Stories from Bill and from those who knew him.
July 30, 2017
Fairly entertaining insight to behind the scenes rock scene in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Another sadly flawed human being who lost his parents to the Nazis. A surprising number of typos and misspellings.
February 7, 2018
Excellent read. From his early life fleeing the war in Germany, growing up in New York as a foster child and all though the 60's and beyond Bill Graham's story is very interesting. Lots of information on history during WWII, the San Franciscan Rock scene of the 60's and his career promoting and putting on shows for rocks' greatest bands. I highly recommend this book.
March 30, 2018
Interesting Book
Put together as a series of quotes from the people who directly involved, this semi-autobiography is a insightful look into the history and life of one of the seminal figures of the rock music business.
Put together as a series of quotes from the people who directly involved, this semi-autobiography is a insightful look into the history and life of one of the seminal figures of the rock music business.
September 5, 2022
One of the best extremely comprehensive books I have read on the music scene in the 60's and beyond. Bill Graham's life was fascinating from early on escaping the Germans as a child to becoming the greatest (in my mind) music promoters ever.
January 11, 2025
A memoir like no other, it’s a boots-on-the-ground oral biography told through transcribed interviews from the Bill himself as well as the musicians, the performers, the, colleagues, the crews, the even the family of possibly the most un-sung hero in the history of rock and roll.
February 17, 2025
What a disappointment. Where is the magic? I was not looking for an encyclopedic approach to his career. I was just in San Francisco and went by Fillmore street. And thought about how disappointing this book was.
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