Bill Graham Presents!

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I've told the story here a number of times about the night Bill screamed at me mercilessly on the steps of the Oakland Auditorium in 1982. I won't tell the whole story again here, except to say  1) that he totally eviscerated me for about two minutes straight, in front of hundreds of people - the worst anyone has ever spoken to me  2) he had mistaken me for someone else, i.e. he was completely wrong to be screaming at me - I was innocent.

Bill Graham in true screaming mode was truly disturbing, and those who knew Bill would tell you that he had two types of yelling, when he was acting for leverage & effect and when he was really pissed. My personal moment was clearly the latter. I was so disturbed by this event that I wrote him a letter about it, and this is the letter he wrote back... 

The funny thing about this story is that the situation ended up having a a profound effect on the course of my life & career.

But that's a story for another time. 

Wow, Lance, that's pretty heavy. I'd love to hear the rest of your story of life, etc...

Would it be stating the obvious to say that at least he stepped up to a sincere apology? This is the 'complicated" Wolfgang Grajonca aka Bill Graham I have always known and loved. I''ve been shredded by Bill, but in my case I deserved it. I've also busted his chops a couple times. . I've heard stories from many people that disparage his behavior. But how many of those people know what it's like being orphaned by the Nazis at age 6?

Lance, did you get some backstage passes or free tickets for that!? I would have asked! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thscvZq58QE

Always loved this interview with Jerry and Grace and Bill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mc05osNEdo

Wow Lance I was standing right next to you in that line. That whole scene blew my mind as a 19 year old kid at his first west coast show. Hey there's Bill Graham. Hey there's Bill Graham loosing his shit. My memory is as he walked by the line someone yelled out Bill Graham this sucks because the line was moving slow. He stopped in his tracks turned around and completely lost it. Screaming who said that and going off on all he does for the ungrateful dead heads. Good times. 

I love the story about some kid heckling him for a ticket and the kid won't stop.   And Bill finally says, ask me one more time and so the kid asks and Bill rips his fucking head off.   

Did you ever call him back or go see him at his office, Lance?

I remember reading after he died that his personal assistant drove around San Francisco to various safe deposit boxes where he had put large sums of cash. Some of the stashes had been there so long that the rubber bands had rotted off. Since he barley escaped the holocaust he was always ready to hit the road if things went bad. His assistant said she doubted they found all of his stashes and that there was probably ones he never told any body about. 

Local, nice shot from Squaw Valley!

We passed him on the chairlift going up while he was heading down. Sadly, it was our only time seeing Uncle Bobo. (RIP; sorry, I know he did not like that moniker.)

Wow. That's the kind of letter that just begs for an in-person follow up.

Fillmore East Grand Opening March 1968

Wow El Nino, that sure sounds like my situation... WERE YOU THE ONE WHO YELLED AT HIM???!!???

And no, I didn't follow up. The incident had happened over three months before and I didn't have anything more to say about it; at that point I was actually surprised that he answered at all. Plus, I took his bit about "I'll be doing a great deal of traveling in the next few weeks" as a polite blow-off.

I also didn't really believe the part about him reflecting on the moment later that night and regretting it, as while the episode was pretty heavy for me it was just another moment of many for him.

Still, I believed that he was sincere in his apology, and I did get to relate the situation to him years later. He didn't remember it exactly but he smiled and said, "Yeah, that sounds like me."

good stuff, Lance.  thanks for sharing!

Uncle Bobo screaming at you. A badge of honor.
Getting a written apology from Bill Graham. Priceless.
Nice, Lance.

>>>WERE YOU THE ONE WHO YELLED AT HIM???!!???

No it wasn't me I was way to freaked out to be yelling at Bill Graham. I had flown out on an employee free ticket which in those days meant you had to dress up. That wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that my luggage with my more appropriate dead show clothes and all my camping gear for camping in the park went to Puerto Rico instead of San Francisco. So I was the strange looking guy standing there in a button down dress shirt and dress pants waiting to get into the first night of the run. 

If it makes you feel any better one of my really good friends is a photographer and was back stage a few years later and was walking fast looking down at his camera bag and ran right into Bill Graham knocking him back on his ass. So some sort of pay back. 

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Lunt Fontanne Theatre, 10/31/1987

Here's a photo that I'd never seen until a few weeks ago. It's pretty funny, and pretty classic Bill...

Dude, you wanted to be a teacher anyway

Dude, I never wanted to be a teacher.

That's not how that story plays.

"Wanted"

dude means that maybe being a teacher is what was meant to be / 

should have happened

speaking out of turn, without knowledge or authority  (yes, for the first time...)

its all part of the bigger story ...   BTW, I  too miss that big a hole, he sure made many great things happen, and contributed to much of our culture, and was a big part of many of our lives  beloved uncle bobo indeed 

When Closing of Winterland tickets went on sale at our local record shop BASS outlet, it was a lottery.  I got the impression that the lottery was rigged, and in my mind, I blamed Bill when I got shut out.  Afterward, I realized he had nothing to do with it, but I felt bad that I had thought "F-you Bill", so from then on when I saw him in passing I'd say "Thanks Bill".  Never met the man, but it was obvious he helped create and cared for our scene.  RIP.

Reminds me of seeing Phil in TXR after one of the the free backyard shows.  I said "Thanks for everything, Phil" and he turned and replied "You're welcome!"  My big conversation with Phil.

And, one Bill memory:  him storming up to the dance area behind the bleachers at the '87 Greeks because the Berkeley campus cops were busting people for smoking weed.  Boy did he look pissed!

Tickets at Winterland- I remember a Dead show there in 73- still wasn't sold out when I stepped to the box office and Bill was dealing out the tix and grabbing the cash -- priceless.

He bowled in the next lane to me a few nights before his death.

Bill was known for being an asshole and a bully, and he could be very hard on his staff, but he was also incredibly loyal to his staff and could be amazingly kind, generous & embracing.

Here is a photo of a letter he wrote about two of his main lieutenants (and the two guys most responsible for most of what we actually loved about Bill Graham shows) Bob & Peter Barsotti. Sadly it's written about a month before Bill died. I hope you can read it. To me it's a peak into what Phil Lesh might call Bill's generosity of spirit. 

Peter is the one in the shot with Bill. That photo is of the framed letter that Peter had, the shot taken at Peter's memorial a number of years ago.

Bob & Peter Barsotti were brilliant guys and very, very cool, and really were the heart & soul behind the creativity of BGP shows.

Here is a shot of Bill with Peter & Bob (and some clown)...

And here is a photo I've always liked, his staff saluting Bill on the floor of Winterland. To me it shows how dedicated to Bill they were, since no one would know better how skanky that floor was, and they sat on it anyway!

And since I'm looking at my BG photos, here's another I've always loved. Bill jamming with Santana (who he managed at the time) at Woodstock.

Lance, I've never seen the letter Bill wrote about the Barsotti's. So right on. I think I've written about this before; I was friends with 4 of the 5 Barsotti brothers in the late '60s, mostly Dave, Peter and Stevie, Bob was around but not close. My first husband went to high school with Dave (maybe before high school, I don't remember) and he was part of our closer group of friends. A bunch of them played music together, including Peter and Steve. I went to Peter's wedding to Bettike, and last saw him in 1990 or '91 at Shoreline. He invited me up to Groveland but I never made it.

I looked up some of the bands they played in. Scroll down to Haymarket Riot if you want to read the full story. Dave Allen was my first husband. http://www.deaddisc.com/GDFD_NorCal_H.htm

Haymarket Riot were a Berkeley band who were formed in the fall of 1966 following a personnel change in the earlier Berkeley group The Livin' End. The original Haymarket Riot line-up was Peter Barsotti (vocals), Dave Carpender (guitar, vocals), Mark Batterman (guitar, vocals), Steve Barsotti (bass, vocals) and Steve Nelson (drums). Mark Batterman left the band in 1967 ,to form The John Douglas Company, and was replaced by Scott Donaldson (guitar). The group changed their name to Lazarus possibly in 1968. The Haymarket Riot did not release any music during their existence but an archive live CD was released in Europe in 2001.

John Douglas Company were a short lived group that existed for only part of 1967. The group included Mark Batterman, Dave Barsotti and Dave Allen.

One of my cards with Bill's #. I was told "don't call that # unless you have a real good reason". Running late or calling in sick was not a real good reason.
Nick Nicora pretty much ran Bill's catering company, along with the Barsotti bros.
My work with them was pretty much part time and just Sac and SF shows, except for the US Fest.

Currently at NY Historical Society:

https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/bill-graham-rock-and-roll-revolution

If this exhibit mirrors the SF Jewish Museum's from a few years ago it is excellent...

GTTE