As a child; Bill Graham fled Europe to escape Hitlers armies. He grew up on the streets of New York and in the dining rooms of the hotels in the Catskills. After failing as an actor; he headed for San Francisco right before the Summer of Love where he founded the Fillmore and launched the rock icons of a generation--Janis Joplin; Otis Redding; Jefferson Airplane; Cream; the Grateful Dead; and more. He was a complex; caring; compassionate whirlwind of energy who rock stars either loved--or hated.In his own voice and those of the people who knew him--Jerry Garcia; Keith Richards; Grace Slick; Ken Kesey; Eric Clapton; Pete Townshend; and Carlos Santana--we hear Bills story as well as the scoop on the major events in rock for more than three decades; ending with his tragic death in a 1991 helicopter crash. Gritty; moving; funny; and always fascinating; Bill Graham Presents is the inside story of the explosive and unforgettable man who created the business of rock.
#1527011 in eBooks 1994-09-26 1994-09-26File Name: B001E96D7U
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. very good on historical material; not so much on comtemporaryBy Vegas SlimOverall I like this book mainly for the exhaustive historical analysis Hall offers. The book is full of photos from various historical societies with Halls description and analysis below each one. I bought the book mostly looking for information on visiting ghost towns in Southern Nevada and at first was disappointed that the book focuses so much on history. But after reading the book I appreciate Halls passion and herculean effort to bring together disparate information on all these ghost towns. I still wish the author had combined his historical analysis with a little more on visiting these sites today. Hall certainly does talk about visiting today (with a keen eye toward preservation) but this book would be better with maps and; even a brief; "how to visit." He states; for example; that Candelaria "is a wonderful ghost town to spend time exploring" (p. 97) but provides no details on getting there; etc. Perhaps I am expecting too much from the book since there is so much information online now.There are no ghost towns from Clark County (home of Las Vegas) in this book. This seems a major oversight as Clark county has many interesting ghost towns that can make fun daytrips from Vegas (e.g.; Potosi and St. Thomas). In fact the ghost towns discussed are not that "southern" geographically speaking. Nevertheless; this book is an excellent resource to supplement your outings to Southern Nevada ghost towns. In sum; this is a very good book for historical and some contemporary information on the nine ghost towns Hall presents. I learned a lot from the book; but it had potential to be so much more.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. mining bookBy ladybugwell done; great photos; areas covered well; some photoswe had never seen before.Very enjoyable to read as well just to look at.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. One StarBy cabokalzthanks;
