Positively Philadelphia: Bill Graham And The Rock & Roll Revolution
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - You don't want to miss this exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History.
Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution, tells the story of rock impresario Bill Graham (1931-1991), one of the most influential concert promoters in history.
His story starts in Berlin where he was a child sent out of Germany to flee the Nazis, coming to the United States at the age of 10. And it traces his journey from there to how he changed the musical landscape forever.
"He connected with some bands that are still in our culture today, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, Jefferson Airplane among many others," said Museum Chief curator Josh Perelman.
"Bill helped to organize some of the first concerts for a cause; he did Live Aid in Philadelphia. And the exhibition features so many original concert posters, Janis Joplin's costume and feather boa , Carlos Santana's guitar, and the guitar that Duane Allman played when they recorded "Live at the Fillmore," considered the best live album ever recorded," Perelman continued.
Graham's story is simply amazing. He was born in Berlin, but his mother sent him to France to escape the Nazis. A Red Cross group then helped him get to the U.S., landing him with a foster family in the Bronx at the age of 10.
At all his concerts, there was a basket of apples, a nod to the hungry little boy in France all alone, who swiped apples from a nearby farmer's tree to stay alive.
Learn more about Bill Graham's life:
The National Museum of American Jewish History is at 101 S. Independence Mall East, in Philadelphia.
More about the exhibit and related programming at www.NMAJH.org
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And for this week, that's "Positively Philadelphia!"
