If you are a fan of classic live music, you owe it to yourself to check out the Concert Vault site, which bills itself as “the world’s greatest collection of vintage concert recordings.”
As I type this, I am listening to a streaming audio feed of Bruce Springsteen’s concert at the Winterland in San Francisco on December 15, 1978. And there are literally hundreds of other live shows available on the site ranging from .38 Special to Neil Young, with more recordings added every week. How cool is that?!?
Where does it all come from? In 2003, the Wolfgang’s Vault vintage music and memorabilia site acquired master recordings from the archives of Bill Graham Presents. Bill Graham launched the rock and roll concert industry in the mid-1960s. From then until his sudden death in a 1991 helicopter crash, he promoted more than 35,000 concerts worldwide at venues including the Fillmore West and Winterland in San Francisco and the legendary Fillmore East in New York City. Graham’s first venue, the ground-breaking Fillmore Auditorium, was home to many of rock’s greatest performers; Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Otis Redding and Jefferson Airplane.
Graham recorded thousands of these live performances and stored the tapes in the basement of the BGP headquarters. No one is quite sure what he intended to do with these recordings, but now they (and additional collections as well) are available for our listening pleasure. Free!
Now if you will excuse me, I want to listen to a couple more songs before I head off to bed. BRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCE!!!!!!!!!
