"Presenting: Bill Graham"
For anyone who has ever gone to a concert at the Fillmore, this exhibit of the world's greatest rock impresario's life is a must-see. The month-long free show is a visual document of Bill Graham's history—from a traumatic childhood in war-torn Germany to his epic career as a concert promoter in San Francisco. Each image is accompanied in caption form by Bill's own words, pulled directly from his biography Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out. Personal photos, newspaper articles, posters, and band shots (provided by Bill's family, rock photographers from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, and collectors) bring Bill back to life. There are more than 100 images on view, many of them never before seen by the public, including the first-ever Fillmore posters of bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Muddy Waters, and Led Zeppelin and performance photos of everyone from Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding to Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead. And while Bill Graham the man is gone, this exhibit makes clear that his legacy lives on with every show that rocks the Fillmore today.
Opens Thurs. 5/5; Lush Life Gallery at the Jazz Heritage Center, 1320-1330 Fillmore St.
