Bill Graham (Born Wolodia Grajonca)
January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991
Bill Graham was a world famous concert promoter who played a key part in the growth of ’60s American rock ‘n roll. As a Jewish child born in Berlin, Graham barely escaped the Nazis by being placed in an orphanage by his mother. Fortunately, that orphanage relocated him to France before the Halocaust. Graham moved to New York City where he received his schooling after which he served in the Korean War and eventually ended up in San Francisco. In 1965, he landed his first show businees job, managing the San Francisco Mime Troupe which lead to him booking and promoting shows at the Fillmore Auditorium. Graham had a knack for finding acts that appealed to the city’s growing counter-culture scene and in doing so helped the scene itself grow. Some of the acts he featured in those early years were Janis Joplin, Country Joe & the Fish, the Fugs, Jefferson Airplane and of course, the Grateful Dead. By the late ’60s, Graham was the most popular rock concert promoter in the country. Besides the Fillmore and Winterland in San Francisco, he was booking the Fillmore East in New York City. He also promoted tours by the Rolling Stones as well as such concert events as Live Aid and Human Rights Now tour for Amnesty Now. On October 25, 1991, 60-year-old Bill Graham was flying home after a Huey Lewis concert in nearby Concord, California. The helicopter he was in crashed shortly after takeoff, killing Graham, his girlfriend, and the pilot. Reports indicate that less-than-ideal weather caused the pilot to crash into an electrical tower.