Bill Graham on A&E Biography Monday night 7/15/02, 2 hours

No message, just a quick heads-up. (Couldn't post this without filling out the message field)

 

Hi Dan,

Great info!!

Thanks,
Jeffrey

 

This received a great review in Entertainment Weekly, for what that is worth. I believe it is also a milestone episode, hence its double length - 1,000th biography, perhaps? I can't remember...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

Did anyone catch the Jan & Dean and Brian Wilson Biography shows last week? Fun shows to watch.

Interesting thing I learned was that "the infamous" BOB NORBERG was a roommate with Brian Wilson after he left his father's house back in the 60s. Its gotta be the SAME Norberg, I'd figure (Capitol records tie-in, ya see).

 

That's what I thought when I read about Bob Norberg in the liner notes to "Hawthorne, CA" (he owned the tapes to one of the rare tracks, and they talked a bit about him), but F. Einstein said it's actually TWO different Bob Norberg's that have ties with Capitol: one who was a close friend of the Beach Boys since the early days, and another who's currently a mastering engineer.

 

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the heads up!! The show was AWESOME.

-Jeffrey

 

The Biography special mentioned the fire (arson) that destroyed Graham's business archives in the '80s.

Does anyone have any idea about the amount of stuff that survived? Specifically, I'm wondering about the number of shows from the Fillmore/Fillmore West/Winterland/Fillmore East days that were videotaped by Graham's company.

There were a few clips from these black and white videos shown during the Biography special (various G. Dead shows, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin at the Fillmore West with Ray Charles), and I've seen other excerpts in various VH-1 specials.

Additionally, the "complete" (?) Graham footage of the Hendrix Band Of Gypsy's Fillmore East shows was released on the recent "Hendrix - Live At The Fillmore East" DVD.

Graham apparently had a professional-quality, multi-camera system, so this material would be incredibly important in documenting that era.

Does anyone know what else was recorded and what material has survived? Any plan to release more of it? Who owns it? etcetera...

Thanks

John
Vancouver, BC

 

I would hope/think that safety copies of most of stuff lost in the fire still exist. As far as Fillmore/Winterland recordings and films here's w/ I know off the top of my hear regarding Jimi and The Doors at The Fillmore East/West and Winterland.

A 40 min SB of one of Jimi's 2/68 Winterland (not the 10/68 shows Ryko released...) shows exists and is in the possession of EH. It has a live version of Dear Mr. Fantasy w/ Buddy Miles on drums!! Bill Graham gave this tape to a concession stand worker when Winterland was shut down in '78.

The Doors 3/68 Fillmore East shows have not turned up yet.

The Doors 2/70 Winterland show also has not turned up yet.

A SB recording of a 12/27/67 Doors show at Winterland survives but it only has the keyboards and Jim.

None of the 6 consecutive nights that Jimi played at the Fillmore West after Monterrey have turned up.

EH has the complete/near complete SB's of the 12/31/69 and 1/1/70 BOG Fillmore East shows but Paul Allen and EMP has the multitracks. The complete 1/1/70 footage is on the BOG DVD but there are some alternate angles out there doing the rounds. Stepping Stone/Fire and bits of a few others songs survive from the 12/31 show.

Also, none of the '67 PF shows with Syd at The Fillmore and Winterland have turned up yet

Hope this helps,

Chris

 

Yeah, I taped this, I'm glad, a lot of stuff went by too quickly.

I saw a quick shot of Garcia walking over to Duane Allman on stage. That cued a memory of an LP I have called Garcia's Gang.

Sure enough, this double LP's first side is the Dead with Duane Allman (Sugar Magnolia, It Hurts Me Too, Beat it on Down the Line). The whole LP was recorded at the Fillmore East, April 26 - 28, 1971. Can't remember how it sounds, will have to give it a listen sometiime soon.

The LP cover itself is hilarious. Check these details:

Fugitive Records 63-67
Side 4 has photos of the Fugitive and the one-armed man instead of the track listing.
Other notes on the back cover:
To correspond with band members write:
Sing Sing
Cell 1020
Ossining, N.Y. 10562

Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws
© 1986

And besides a person could get hurt doin' stuff like that.


Which brings to mind, who put this LP out? AMG has no mention of the LP or label. Maybe someone in the Bill Graham organization, from the sound system boards, or a taper in the audience. I'll have to see how good the fidelity is on these LP's.

Pretty funny, the bootleggers themselves warning of unauthorized duplication.

 

Also, the program mentioned Graham had trouble with a drug called Halcyon (sp?) towards the end of his life. Never heard of it. Anyone?

 

Hi Dan,

Halcion is for sleeping disorders & anxiety. This is one of the few complaints I had about the show, it kinda gave the impression that Bill was juicing on street drugs when, in fact, he was addicted to prescription meds as were many who took Halcion.

-Jeffrey

 

Hi Dan,

While I don't have this lp, I'll bet lotsa $ this is a pure boot that has no affiliation w/ a legit label or BGP. I'll also bet the same amount of green that the sonics are mediocre.

The 4/71 Fillmore East shows are some of the best the Dead ever did. They actually played five nights, 4/25-29/71. The best sounding release of these shows is the 4 cd release titled "Ladies and Gentlemen.....The Grateful Dead". This is a recent release that can be found just about anywhere that peddles cd's and will give you much better sonics than your boot lp (no offense, I got bunches of 'em). These shows have been very well circulated in Dead circles and were actually some of the best sound quality cassettes in circulation in the late 70's & early 80's. Too bad some chumps decided to produce & sell your boot lp's instead on giving the tapes away for free like all the rest of us!

-Jeffrey

 

Thanks, Chris...

I had wondered about the multi-tracks when the "Live At The Fillmore East" 2 CD set came out a few years ago. So it looks like E.H. didn't have access to the multi-tracks, but at least everyone knows where they are.

The E.H. and Paul Allen thing is a strange situation. I read about it when the Hendrix family won their court cases (back in '96?), but haven't heard much about it since. Is there any more info you can add regarding that?

I have one more bit of recently-released Bill Graham material to add to our list, and that is Albert King/Booker T. And The M.G.s on the Fantasy Records "Booker T./MGs" 3 CD box set released in 1998.

There is about 10 minutes of material; the MGs improvising a short medley of R&B ballads and Albert King joining in on "Born Under A Bad Sign" as a surprise guest. The sound quality is acceptable but the music is great...

Jerry Pompili of BGP (Bill Graham Productions, I would guess) is thanked in the credits. How much of this show is still unreleased?

Little snippets like this make me wonder what else is left hidden in the Graham vaults. Hopefully material like soundboards of Cream's first San Francisco shows in August 1967, video footage of the Derek and The Dominos at the Fillmore East in October 1970, and Hendrix, Floyd, etcetera.

Not to mention all the amazing R&B, Jazz, and Blues artists that played for Graham; Albert King, BB King, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis...

Lastly, Bill Graham's autobiography is a fantastic account of that time period. All of Graham's life was amazing, actually (starting as a young jewish boy escaping the Nazis in 1940) and the book is very well written.