Legendary promoter's stash to be released and it ain't only rock'n'roll Collector Bill Sagan is a legal step away from opening an archive of some of the greatest shows in popular music history, writes John Harlow from Los Angeles
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19812107-16947,00.htm July 17, 2006 THE world's largest independent rock and pop music archive, featuring stars from Jimi Hendrix to Elvis Costello and from Janis Joplin to Madonna, is to be opened for the first time. Up to 100,000 songs recorded and filmed between 1966 and 1991 by Bill Graham, the US concert promoter, languished in a San Francisco basement for more than 10 years after his death. Then the collection was bought by Bill Sagan, a health company executive turned rock entrepreneur, who is negotiating to secure the stars' permission to release their music. He was in London at the weekend to meet lawyers for British rockers such as Led Zeppelin and The Who. The archive has unseen footage of a legendary show by The Who in 1973, when drummer Keith Moon collapsed and a student was picked from the audience to finish the show, and the final concert by the Sex Pistols in 1978. It includes unknown performances by Led Zeppelin such as a version of Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor, which they later rewrote as The Lemon Song, and a tousle-headed Elton John singing his 1970 ballad Your Song. Luminaries may prefer to forget some of the footage, such as Joe Cocker vomiting on stage and Madonna hitting herself in the face with her chunky necklaces. All were pitilessly captured by Graham's photographers or, in later years, four cameramen. Graham, born Wolfgang Grajonca in Nazi Berlin, was described by Joplin as the first concert promoter to respect the artists and give them what they wanted -- on and off stage. Normally wary performers such as Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan signed contracts that allowed him to record their concerts at venues he managed in New York and California. Graham hoarded everything, from ticket stubs and backstage passes to psychedelic Jefferson Airplane posters and surplus Duran Duran T-shirts. When Graham died in a helicopter crash in 1991, he had packed an air-conditioned cellar with 30 million artefacts. Three years ago his corporate heirs sold the collection for $7million to Sagan, a Led Zeppelin fan, who joked he had only snapped it up for the garish Zeppelin tour ties. He beat Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen to the deal. Now, having spent months going through enough boxes to fill 25 14m-long trucks when he moved the archive to a more secure warehouse, Sagan estimates his trove could be worth more than $122million. Sagan, 56, has already started recouping his investment by selling posters and tickets through the Wolfgang's Vault website. But he believes the 7000-plus concerts captured on audio tape and film are his prize asset. In February, Sagan started gauging reactions by broadcasting live recordings by Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Berry over the internet. He was inundated with requests for more. Some of the shows, such as Aretha Franklin at the Fillmore West in 1971, have been officially released, in truncated form, and others are on bootlegs. But most of the music has been heard only by those who were lucky enough to be there at the time. Jimmy Page, of Led Zeppelin, who spent years begging from bootleggers so he could compile a history of the band in 2003, is keen to dive into the archive. "Bill recorded a San Francisco show that Jimmy remembers as momentous -- which Zep fan would not want to hear that?" said an Atlantic Records source last week. The Sunday Times Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
