by John Glatt
Since then I have written more than twenty books on a wide variety of subjects, but I’ve always wanted to revisit the rock music I grew up with and still love so much. And nothing crystalizes it more than Bill Graham, who bottled rock ’n’ roll lightning at the Fillmore East and the Fillmore West.
On March 8, 1968, he launched the Fillmore East on New York’s Lower East Side. Two months later he opened the Fillmore West, three-thousand miles away in San Francisco. In just three transcendent years, these two legendary venues would change rock music forever.
Like a rock ’n’ roll colossus standing astride the East and West Coasts, they became meccas for a generation of devoted music fans who treasure their precious memories to this day. Every major rock act of the time played the Fillmores, performing classic shows that entered rock mythology. Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and the Allman Brothers; the list is endless.
There are so many people to thank, but first and foremost I owe a huge debt to Joshua White, whose legendary Joshua Light Show shared equal billing with all the rock stars on the marquee of the Fillmore East. I want to thank Josh for his friendship and his guidance throughout the writing of this book. I am also indebted to Bill Graham’s ex-wife Bonnie MacLean for her generosity and help. She was with Bill in the trenches at the beginning, helping him build the foundations of his Fillmore empire.
I am especially indebted to Paul Kantner, who gave me his insight into Bill Graham and the Jefferson Airplane early one Saturday morning outside his favorite coffeehouse in North Beach, San Francisco.
I would also like to thank all those who were interviewed for the book: Peter Albin, Sam Andrew, José “Chepito” Areas, Allan Arkush, Marty Balin, Bruce Barthol, Jane Bernstein, Eli Bleich, Lee Blumer, Chris “Sunshine” Brooks, Arthur Brown, David Bustamonte, Jack Casady, Robert Christgau, Bobby Cohen, David Bennett Cohen, Kip Cohen, Richard Cole, John Byrne Cooke, Robbin Cullinen, Alex Cooley, Dave Davies, Vinnie Fusco, Bonnie Garner, Dave Getz, Bob Grossweiner, Bill Hanley, Jim Haynie, Chet Helms, Herbie Herbert, Gary L. Jackson, Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe), Jorma Kaukonen, Dennis Keefe, Alton Kelley, Bill King, Michael Lang, Chris Langhart, Bill Laudner, Ken Mednick, Barry Melton, Chip Monck, John Morris, Dan Opatoshu, Lydia Pense, Hugh Romney (Wavy Gravy), Amalie R. Rothschild, David Rubinson, Marc Rubinstein, Ron Schneider, Neal Schon, Bob See, Richard Segovia, Michael Shrieve, Howard Smith, Dusty Street, Derek Taylor, Bill Thompson, Butch Trucks, Leslie West, Mike Wilhelm, Bill Wyman, and Jene Youtt.
I would also like to thank Bill Sagan and Grant Feichtmeir of Wolfgang’s Vault for all their help with the book, and for allowing me free access to Bill Graham’s personal papers and correspondence.
I also owe a huge debt to my editor, Keith Wallman, for all his help and guidance, and to my literary agents, Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich, who first came up with the idea for this book, for their help and encouragement throughout.
Thanks is also due to Jennie Thompson and Dianna Ford of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives, Marta Sanchez, Karen Rogers, Shandi Vanore, Danny Trachtenberg, Larry Cancro, Adrian Areas, George Eichen, Cash Edwards, Annette Witheridge, Roger Hitts, Onnie MacIntyre, Debbie, Doug and Taylor Baldwin, and Emily and Jerry Freund.
Bill Graham takes a break at the Fillmore Auditorium in June 1966.
Photo by Gene Anthony / © Wolfgangsvault.com
Grace Slick takes a break between Jefferson Airplane sets in Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium office on December 30,1966. Graham had started managing the Airplane several months earlier.
Photo by Gene Anthony / © Wolfgangs vault.com
Janis Joplin took the stage to join Grace Slick in a song during Jefferson Airplane’s 1967/1968 New Year’s show at Winterland in San Francisco.
Photo by Gene Anthony / © Wolfgangsvault.com
The Joshua Light Show mesmerized audiences for almost two years at the Fillmore East. (L–R) William Schwarzbach, Cecily Hoyt, Thomas Shoesmith, Jane Rixman, Ken Richman, Joshua White.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault.com
The Joshua Light Show team posing on the stage of the Fillmore East (L–R) Eugene Theil, Amalie R. Rothschild, Ken Richman, Jane Rixman, William Schwarzbach, Joshua White, and Cecily Hoyt.
Photo by Amalie Rothschild / © Joshua White
Bill Graham and Joshua White at the Fillmore East in 1968.
Photo by Amalie Rothschild / © Joshua White
Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company launched the Fillmore East on March 8, 1968.
© Wolfgangsvault.com
Janis Joplin backstage at an East Coast show in 1968.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault.com
Proud father Bill Graham with his baby son, David. Graham first saw David’s photograph projected on the screen at the Fillmore East, just hours after his birth in San Francisco.
© Bonnie MacLean
Bill Graham ran a tight ship at his Fillmore East. Here he is making a last-minute inspection before Jimi Hendrix’s 1969/1970 New Year’s Eve show at the Fillmore East.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault.com
Jimi Hendrix’s 1969/1970 New Year’s Eve show, which later became a best-selling live album, was legendary.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault .com
After Jimi Hendrix’s first 1969/1970 New Year’s Eve set, Bill Graham critiqued his performance, complaining that he was playing to the crowd with his visual pyrotechnics. Hendrix took his advice and concentrated on the music for the second set. Then he let loose for the encore.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault.com
Grace Slick performing with Jefferson Airplane during an East Coast run of shows in March 1970. By this time the Airplane had fired Bill Graham as manager but had become the de facto house band at his Fillmore East.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault.com
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young insisted on bringing in their own sound equipment and lighting during their run of shows in June 1970.
Photo by Gene Anthony / © Wolfgangsvault.com
The Joshua Light Show made history by mixing live video of Janis Joplin performing at the Fillmore East into the light show in 1970.
Photo by Amalie Rothschild / © Joshua White
Janis Joplin performing at the Fillmore East with the innovative Joshua Light Show.
Photo by Amalie Rothschild / © Joshua White
Bill Graham took his wife,Bonnie, on a rare vacation to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1970 to visit his sister, Evelyn Udry. Also pictured is Evelyn’s husband, Jean-Pierre Udry, and their daughter, Cathy.
© Bonnie MacLean
Bill Graham discovered Carlos Santana during an audition at the Fillmore West and nurtured his rise to rock superstardom. This shot of Carlos performing at the Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, New York, was taken on October 14, 1970.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangs vault.com
John Lennon and Yoko Ono spontaneously took the stage to perform an encore with Frank Zappa on June 5, 1971, stunning the Fillmore East audience.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangs vault.com
Bill Graham takes the stage to introduce the Allman Brothers Band at one of the final Fillmore East shows on June 25, 1971.
Photo by Joe Sia / © Wolfgangsvault.com
The Allman Brothers Band closed the Fillmore East with a legendary set on June 27, 1971.
Photo by Joe Sia /© Wolfgangsvault.com
Notes
Prologue
1 Interview with Allan Arkush, January 20, 2013.
2 Transcript of Bill Graham’s April 17, 1971, staff meeting.
3 Transcript
of Bill Graham’s Fillmore East press conference, April 28, 1971.
PART ONE
Chapter One: The Refugee
1 The Escort Notes, September 26, 1941.
2 Details magazine, October 1991.
3 Detail from his temporary passport issued by the American Friends Service Committee, August 10, 1941.
4 Performance Magazine, December 22, 1989.
5 The Foster Home Bureau Files and Escort Notes, September 26, 1941.
6 Letter from the Foster Home Bureau’s Director of Placements, Lotte Marcuse, to her superior, Elsie L. Heller.
7 Letter from Lotte Marcuse to Robert Lang, executive director of the US Committee for the Care of European Children.
8 Chabad Journal, 1983.
9 The Foster Home Bureau Supervisory Reports, March 5, 1943, and June 29, 1943.
10 Bill Graham Presents, Graham and Greenfield, 31.
11 Details magazine, October 1991.
12 Ibid.
13 USNA Report Summary, January 4, 1949.
14 Foster Home Bureau Report, January 30, 1950.
15 Details magazine, October 1991.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Graham’s business résumé would claim he attended City College from 1953 to 1955 and graduated with a BA in business administration.
19 Interview with Jack Levin, February 8, 1992.
20 Rolling Stone, December 12, 1991.
21 Interview with Irving Cohen, February 8, 1992.
22 Details magazine, October 1990.
23 Ibid.
Chapter Two: Carlos
1 Soul Sacrifice, Simon Leng.
2 Billboard, December 7, 1996.
3 Ibid.
4 Voices of Latin Rock, McCarthy.
5 Angels & Demons, BBC TV, 2004.
6 Ibid.
7 Angels & Demons, BBC 4, 2011.
8 Billboard, December 7, 1996.
9 Soul Sacrifice, Simon Leng.
10 Billboard, December 7, 1996.
11 Soul Sacrifice, Simon Leng.
Chapter Three: Finding Direction
1 Interview with Bonnie MacLean, October 14, 2012.
2 Ibid.
3 Interview with Peter Coyote, May 7, 1992.
4 Interview with Jim Haynie, March 24, 1992.
5 Interview with Chet Helms, March 23, 1992.
Chapter Four: Grace
1 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 11.
2 Religion Matters, cable TV show, September 16, 2012.
3 Got a Revolution, Tamarkin, 97.
4 New York Times, October 18, 1998.
5 Religion Matters, cable TV show, September 16, 2012.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Religion Matters, cable TV show, September 16, 2012.
9 Interview magazine, 2007.
10 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 17.
11 Vanity Fair blog, June 15, 2012.
12 Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2011.
13 Got a Revolution, Tamarkin, 100.
14 Time Out Chicago, 2008.
15 Oui magazine, February 1977.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Rolling Stone, November 12, 1970.
19 Oui magazine, February 1977.
20 Got a Revolution, Tamarkin, 103.
21 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 34.
22 Rolling Stone, November 12, 1970.
23Fly, Jefferson Airplane, DVD, 2004.
24 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 47.
Chapter Five: The Right Time at the Right Place
1 Interview with Alton Kelley, March 19, 1992.
2 Ibid.
3 Interview with Bonnie MacLean, October 14, 2012.
4 Bill Graham–Day at Night, PBS Radio, 1974.
5 San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, December 8, 1991.
6 Jefferson Airplane and the San Francisco Sound, Gleason.
7 Interview with Jorma Kaukonen, April 3, 2013.
8 Interview with Ronnie Davis, January 10, 1992.
9 Interview with Mary Travers, June, 8, 1975.
10 Summer of Love, Selvin, 45.
11 Interview with Bonnie MacLean, October 14, 2012.
12 Interview with San Andrew, March 26, 1992.
13 Interview with Jim Haynie, March 24, 1992.
14 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 78
15 Vanity Fair, July 2012.
16 Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2011.
17 Up Close: Jefferson Airplane, radiow show, 1989.
18 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 68.
19 Ibid.
20 Oui magazine, February 1977.
21 Ibid.
Chapter Six: The Saloon Keeper
1 Interview with Chet Helms, March 25, 1992.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Interview with Alton Kelley, June 14, 1992.
5 Interview with Jim Haynie, March 24, 1992.
6 Buried Alive, Friedman, 74.
Chapter Seven: Janis
1 BBC Radio 2, Janis Joplin documentary, January 19, 2011.
2 Love Janis, Joplin, 29.
3 Texas Monthly, October 1, 1992.
4 Buried Alive, Friedman, 17.
5 Texas Monthly, October 1, 1992.
6 BBC Radio 2, Janis Joplin documentary, January 19, 2011.
7 Ibid.
8 Time, August 9, 1968.
9 Biography Channel, January 13, 2000.
10 New York Times, February 23, 1969.
11 Janis Joplin: Final 24, TV documentary, 2007.
12 BBC Radio 2, Janis Joplin documentary, January 19, 2011.
13 Buried Alive, Friedman, 27.
14 Interview with Peter Albin, summer 1970.
15 Rolling Stone, October 29, 1970.
16 Ramparts magazine, August 1, 1968.
17 Interview with Chet Helms, March 23, 1992.
18 BBC Radio 2, Janis Joplin documentary, January 19, 2011.
19 Texas Monthly, October 1, 1992.
20 Interview with Chet Helms, March 23, 1992.
21 Little Girl Blue, BBC 6 Music, October 4, 2010.
22 Texas Monthly, October 1, 1992.
23 Interview with Chet Helms, March 23, 1992.
24 Ibid.
25 Interview with Jorma Kaukonen, April 3, 2013.
26 Texas Monthly, October 1, 1992.
27 Buried Alive, Friedman, 48.
28 Interview with Bobby Cohen, March 27, 1992.
29 Interview with Chet Helms, March 23, 1992.
30 BBC Radio 2, Janis Joplin documentary, January 19, 2011.
31 Interview with Chet Helms, March 23, 1992.
32 Ibid.
33 Janis Joplin: Final 24, TV documentary, 2007.
Chapter Eight: The Pieces Come Together
1 Don’t You Want Somebody to Love, Slick, 97.
2 Interview with Jim Haynie, June 21, 1992.
3 Interview with Bonnie MacLean, October 14, 2012.
4 Ibid.
5 Voices of Latin Rock, McCarthy, 29.
6 Rolling Stone, December 7, 1972.
7 Angels & Demons, BBC 4, 2011.
8 Ibid.
9 Billboard, December 7, 1996.
10 Interview with Richard Segovia, May 13, 2012.
11 PBS Radio Documentary on Carlos Santana, 1996.
12 Interview with Marty Balin, October 4, 1992.
13 Don’t You Want So
mebody to Love, Slick, 114.
14 Interview with Peter Albin, December 14, 2012.
15 www.countryjoe.com.
16 Rolling Stone, October 29, 1970.
17 Interview with Peter Albin, December 14, 2012.
18 Up-Tight: The Velvet Underground Story, Bockris and Malanga, 47.
19 Seeing the Light, Jovanovic, 86.
20 Up-Tight: The Velvet Underground Story, Bockris and Malanga, 47, 48.
Chapter Nine: Moving Up
1 Interview with Jorma Kaukonen, April 3, 2013.
2 Fly, Jefferson Airplane, DVD, 2004.
3 Interview with Jack Casady, March 22, 2013.
4 Got a Revolution, Jeff Tamarkin, 113.
5 Relix magazine, April 1993.
6 Interview with Bill Thompson, January 28, 2013.
7 Interview with David Getz, March 26, 1992.
8 Interview with Nick Gravenites, April 16, 1992.
9 Ibid.
10 Interview with Bonnie MacLean, October 14, 2012.
11 Ibid.
12 Interview with Jack Casady, March 22, 2012.
13 Ibid.
14 Interview with Paul Kantner, May 18, 2013.
15 Interview with Jorma Kaukonen, April 3, 2013.
16 Interview with Paul Kantner, May 18, 2013.
17 Jefferson Airplane and the San Francisco Sound, Gleason. 283.
18 House of Rock BlogSpot interview, July 31, 2009.
19 David Gans interview with Bill Graham, 1984.
20 Vanity Fair, July 2012.
21 Bill Graham: My Life Inside Rock, PBS Radio.
Chapter Ten: 1967
1 Interview with Jim Haynie, March 24, 1992.
2 Interview with Joe Smith, 1988.
3 Interview with Bill Thompson, January 28, 2013.
4 Interview with Jorma Kaukonen, April 3, 2013.
