So, who was Bill Graham?
A Bill Graham was born Wolfgang Grajonca in Berlin, the youngest son of a Jewish family that had emigrated to Germany prior to the rise of Nazism. He was the pioneer of rock promotion. As the leading impresario of rock from its earliest days in San Francisco, Bill Graham worked with a virtual Who’s Who of rock-n-roll: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the Band, the Grateful Dead, and many others. It was Bill Graham who organized what was rock’s first massive stadium tour with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in 1974. What are now routine shows for today’s stars were logistical nightmares in the early days of rock. Anyone who attended CSNY’s stadium shows in ’74 can attest to the challenges faced by fans and performers. He wrote a book called “Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out” and discusses Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Zeppelin, the Stones, J Geils Band, Santana, the Who and all the tense dealings with each of these personalities. Graham
