Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a Jewish German-American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death in 1991 in a helicopter crash. On July 4, 1939, he was sent from Germany to France to escape the Nazis efforts to kill Jews. At age 10, he settled into a foster home in the Bronx, New York. Graham graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and subsequently from City College with a business degree.
In the early 1960s, Graham moved to San Francisco, and, in 1965, began to manage the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He had teamed up with local Haight Ashbury promoter Chet Helms and Family Dog, and their network of contacts, to organize a benefit concert, then promoted several free concerts. This eventually turned into a profitable full-time career and he assembled a talented staff. Graham had a profound influence around the world, sponsoring the musical renaissance of the '60s from the epicenter, San Francisco. Chet Helms and then Bill Graham made famous the Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom; these turned out to be a proving grounds for rock bands and acts of the San Francisco Bay area including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, who were first managed, and in some cases developed, by Chet Helms.
![Bill Graham (promoter)](https://cdn.calendarz.com/uploads/events/june/27/60478/bill-graham-promoter_compressed.jpg)
1971Jun, 27
After only three years in business, rock promoter Bill Graham closes Fillmore East in New York, the "Church of Rock and Roll".
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Events on 1971
- 8Jan
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh. - 7Jun
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. - 11Jul
Chile
Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. - 21Sep
Bhutan
Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations. - 24Nov
D. B. Cooper
During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.