Winterland Nights: A Memoir of Rock in the Seventies

by Richard Gylgayton

In the 1970's musicians from America and Great Britain composed music established on the cornerstone of rock n’roll, but also took inspiration from folk, country, classical, and jazz. Bands toured constantly to support new releases for audiences anxious to witness performances by their favorite artists. In San Francisco, the Fillmore West had closed. The new venue of choice was Winterland Ballroom, a rundown ice rink arena at the corner of Post and Steiner with enough capacity to host 5500 rabid music fans. Every weekend there was a new group of musicians, some holdovers from the Sixties, others that were taking their first steps into fame that would catapult them into a libidinous world of sex, drugs, notoriety, and wealth.Winterland Nights is a personal memoir of that transformative time, a story of coming of age during seven years of concerts at a venue that presented legendary acts like Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Genesis, The Grateful Dead, The Who, and Bruce Springsteen. An intimate chronicle of a musical era, Winterland Nights will resonate with readers who lived through it and younger readers who discovered the music decades later.

218 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2020

Reviews

[Stephany Houghton]

Great read. Well written, informative as well as autobiographical. Lots of fun.