Date: June 26, 2005 3:25:52 AM PDT
Subject: [ctrl] Music Promoter Who Launched Joplin Dies
Music Promoter Who Launched Joplin Dies
Sunday June 26, 2005 9:16 AM
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Chet Helms, the revered father of the 1967 Summer of
Love and a music promoter who launched the career of singer Janis Joplin, has died
of complications from a stroke. He was 62.
Helms, who once stood at the center of the 1960s Bay Area music scene, died
Saturday surrounded by friends and family at San Francisco's California Pacific
Medical Center.
``It was a beautiful death,'' said his wife Judy Davis. ``It was a goodbye party. We all
sang to him and told stories. He died as he lived - surrounded by love.''
Helms was the founder and manager of Big Brother and the Holding Company with
Joplin as its lead singer. He was a rock-'n'-roll impresario who helped stage free
concerts and ``Human Be-ins'' at Golden Gate Park that became the backdrop for
what became known as San Francisco's Summer of Love in 1967 at the height of
anti-Vietnam War sentiment.
Helms was instrumental in helping to develop bands that delivered what became
known as the San Francisco Sound.
``Without Chet, there would be no Grateful Dead, no Big Brother and the Holding
Company, no Jefferson Airplane, no Country Joe & the Fish, no Quicksilver
Messenger Service,'' said Barry Melton, the lead guitarist for Country Joe & the Fish.
Helms hooked Joplin up with Big Brother for jam sessions in a basement in the
Haight Ashbury neighborhood. They debuted in June 1966 at the Avalon, officially
launching the bluesy rock-'n'-roll diva's short career.
Helms eventually dropped out of the concert business for a time in 1970.
``Chet was a hippie,'' said Mickey Hart, drummer for the Grateful Dead. ``We were all
hippies. He hated to charge for the music.''~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Alamaine
Grand Forks, ND, US of A
www.ctrl.org
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