Chester Leo "Chet" Helms (August 2, 1942 – June 25, 2005), often called the father of San Francisco's 1967 "
Summer of Love," was a
music promoter
A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...
and a
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. H ...
figure in San Francisco during its
hippie period in the mid- to-late 1960s.
Helms was the founder and manager of
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...
and recruited
Janis Joplin as its lead singer. He was a producer and organizer, helping to stage free concerts and other cultural events at
Golden Gate Park, the backdrop of San Francisco's
Summer of Love in 1967, as well as at other venues, including the
Avalon Ballroom.
He was the first producer of
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...
light-show concerts at the Fillmore and the Avalon Ballroom and was instrumental in helping to develop bands that had the distinctive
San Francisco Sound. Helms died June 25, 2005, of complications of a stroke. He was 62.
Childhood
Chester Leo Helms was born in
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria (Spanish for "St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County. It is approximately northwest of Santa Barbara and northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the 202 ...
, the eldest of three sons. His parents were Chester and Novella Helms.
Helms' father, a manager at a local sugarbeet
mill, died when his oldest child was nine. Chet's mother, Novella, took the boys and their terminally ill father to Texas where her family, the Dearmore family resided. After Chet's father passed away his mother studied to become a school teacher and took the boys to the Ozarks in southwest Missouri and taught school in a two-room schoolhouse. She taught four grades in one room and the other four grades were taught by another teacher in the other room.
Helms spent the rest of his youth in Missouri and Texas, where he learned to organize events by helping to stage benefits for civil-rights groups. He enrolled at the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
and became part of the music scene there, a scene that included a very young and inexperienced
Janis Joplin. Soon he dropped out of school and, inspired by the Beat Generation writers,
Jack Kerouac and
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
to travel across America in search of freedom and inspiration, he set off wearing shoulder-length hair, beard and rimless glasses
hitchhiking across the country. He ended up in San Francisco in 1962.
Later he returned to
Austin with his best friend at the time, Peter Haigh, to visit his friend
Janis Joplin. He thought she could make it as a singer in San Francisco. After a week of partying, they persuaded Janis to drop out of school and
hitchhike back to San Francisco with them. Later he would bring her to the attention of
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...
.
Arrival in San Francisco
After arriving in San Francisco in 1962, he scrounged a living in various ways, including selling marijuana, an occupation that caused him to go to a boardinghouse at 1090 Page Street. The house was in
Haight-Ashbury, then a rundown, low-rent neighborhood. Having met many musicians in his trade, and appreciating the vibrant music scene in San Francisco, he instinctively recognized the need for a forum for musicians to play music together. When he saw the large basement at Page Street, he began arranging jam sessions for the local bands and musicians. Helms, an astute organizer, made those sessions popular and started charging an admission fee of 50 cents. His career as a rock concert promoter began. Big Brother and the Holding Company formed and Helms functioned as their informal manager. He teamed up
Janis Joplin with Big Brother for music sessions in the Haight-Ashbury basement.
Family Dog Productions
Founding
In February 1966 he formed a loose connection with
the Family Dog at 2125 Pine Street, a
hippie commune, which hosted dances and events.
Helms was the ideal person to help this group organize their presentations and he moved into the Family Dog house. Their first formal production was a concert at Longshoremen's Hall.
In February 1966, Helms formally founded Family Dog Productions to begin promoting concerts at
The Fillmore Auditorium, alternating weekends with another young promoter,
Bill Graham. Helms was instrumental in introducing Bill Graham to the nascent music scene in the Haight Asbury District of S.F. Helms was nurturing when Graham caught wind of the excitement Helms was creating and promoting. As the concerts became more popular, inevitable "conflicts" arose between the two promoters. Chet's style was "easy-going, mellow, soft-tempered until pushed." Graham's style was more driven. Within a few months Helms secured the permits necessary to host events at the Avalon Ballroom, an old dancehall at 1268 Sutter Street, on the corner of Sutter and Van Ness.
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...
debuted there in June 1966. Later Helms would get them the appearance that made them famous, the
Monterey Pop Festival, where
Albert Grossman spotted Joplin and offered her a contract.
Family Dog Concerts
In the context of the Avalon's "anti-business model" and loose ambience, Helms' Family Dog held a series of legendary concerts between April 1966 and November 1968, featuring a mix of artists, including rock, blues, soul, Indian, and rock and roll. They included:
Helms presented top blues performers including
Country Joe and The Fish;
Howlin' Wolf;
Bo Diddley;
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...
;
Little Walter
Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...
;
Buddy Guy;
Junior Wells; the
Paul Butterfield Blues Band;
Buddy Miles;
James Cotton Blues Band;
John Mayall;
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...
;
Albert Collins;
Steve Miller;
Son House;
Mike Bloomfield;
Elvin Bishop;
Blues Project
The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artfu ...
, with
Al Kooper;
John Hammond;
Charlie Musselwhite
Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal ...
;
Siegel-Schwall Band; rock bands like
The Doors;
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song " For What It's Worth", r ...
; the
Byrds;
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
;
The Kinks;The
Edwin Hawkins Singers;
the Animals'
Eric Burdon &
War;
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Originally an R&B ban ...
;
Lovin' Spoonful
Loving may refer to:
* Love, a range of human emotions
* Loving (surname)
* '' Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case
Film and television
* ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film
* ''Loving'' ...
; The
Carlos Santana Blues Band;
Sir Douglas Quintet; the
Soul Survivors; the
Fugs;
Blood, Sweat & Tears;
The Association
The Association is an American sunshine pop band from California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the ''Billboard'' charts (including " Windy", " Cherish", " Never My Love" and " Along Comes Mary") a ...
; Shorty Featuring
Georgie Fame;
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...
;
Iron Butterfly;
the Youngbloods, with
Jesse Colin Young;
Vanilla Fudge;
Steppenwolf;
Poco;
Love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
, with
Arthur Lee; sarode-player and Indian music teacher,
Ali Akbar Khan;
Sandy Bull;
Blue Cheer;
the Leaves;
New Riders of the Purple Sage;
Barry McGuire;
Flamin' Groovies; the Loading Zone;
It's a Beautiful Day;
Joy of Cooking;
the Grass Roots;
the Sons of Adam;
Sons of Champlin;
Captain Beefheart; the
Electric Flag;
Velvet Underground;
Pacific Gas and Electric
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...
;
Moby Grape; the
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the ...
;
13th Floor Elevators;
The Charlatans; Allmen Joy (see http://wingswest.net);
Mother Earth
Mother Earth may refer to:
*The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies
*Mother goddess
* Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life
Written media and literature
* "Mother Ea ...
; Southern Comfort;
The Ace of Cups;
Tyrannosaurus Rex; Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band;
Flying Burrito Brothers; Congress of Love; Notes From the Underground; Chrome Circus; Initial Shock; Oxford Circle;
Daily Flash
The Daily Flash are an American folk rock and psychedelic bandMike Stax, liner notes, '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'' (1998 CD), p. 63. founded in 1965, active until 1968 and reformed in 2002.Nick War ...
; Electric Train; Sparrow; the Orchestra;
Hourglass;
Kaleidoscope;
Mt. Rushmore; Other Half; Phoenix;
Lothar & the Hand People;
Commander Cody; Cleveland Wrecking Company;
The Rhythm Dukes;
A.B. Skhy;
Frumious Bandersnatch
Frumious Bandersnatch was a psychedelic rock band in the late 1960s. The band was named after a character from the Lewis Carroll poem "Jabberwocky". Based in Berkeley, California, the band was active from 1967 to 1969. Their initial three-son ...
; Eighth Penny Matter; Jimmerfield Legend; South Side Sound; Super Ball; Solid Muldoon; Box Top; and jazz artists
Sun Ra and San Francisco's own
John Handy;
Charles Lloyd; the
Jerry Hahn
Jerry Hahn (born September 21, 1940, Alma, Nebraska) is an American jazz guitarist.
Hahn studied at Wichita State University, then moved to San Francisco in 1962, where he played with John Handy (1964–66). He toured with the 5th Dimension in ...
Brotherhood; and folksters
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
;
Dave Van Ronk
David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of M ...
;
Jim Kweskin Jug Band;
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, ...
;
Tim Buckley and
Flatt & Scruggs
Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys, from 1945 to 1948, formed the duo in 1948. Flatt and Sc ...
.
Family Dog Speakers/Poets/Heroes of the Hour
Sometimes Helms cast the music promoter role aside and the Family Dog would feature speakers, including
Alan Watts, Dr.
Timothy Leary,
Stephen Gaskin, poet
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
, and other counterculture gurus. Helms is linked in San Francisco lore with
Bill Graham, the
Diggers,
Emmett Grogan,
Ken Kesey,
Jack Kerouac,
Gary Snyder,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
Michael McClure,
Neal Cassady,
Kenneth Rexroth,
Ralph J. Gleason
Ralph Joseph Gleason (March 1, 1917 – June 3, 1975) was an American music critic and columnist. He contributed for many years to the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', was a founding editor of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, and cofounder of the Monterey ...
, and others.
The Family Dog Denver
In 1967, Helms and budding rock promotor
Barry Fey agreed to open a Family Dog Productions concert dance hall in Denver, Colorado. They called it
The Family Dog Denver, and brought in acts like
The Doors, the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...
,
Van Morrison,
Jefferson Airplane,
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song " For What It's Worth", r ...
,
Chuck Berry, and many others. The San Francisco
psychedelic poster artists were commissioned by Helms to do posters for the shows. Little has been known about the venue until the 2021 release of the documentary, ''The Tale of the Dog,'' which unearthed the story through interviews with the venue staff, bands, posters artists, attendees and Denver police, detailing the full history and lasting impact of "The Dog" for the first time.
Artwork and Posters
To promote their concerts in both San Francisco and Denver, Family Dog published a series of innovative
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...
posters, handbills and other ephemera, created by a group of prominent young San Francisco artists including Wes Wilson,
Alton Kelley and
Stanley Mouse (Mouse Studios),
Rick Griffin,
Steve Renick and
Victor Moscoso.
Often printed using intensely colored fluorescent inks, they typically featured a mixture of found images and specially drawn artwork. The posters of Griffin, Mouse and Kelly, in particular, were known for the intricate and highly stylized hand-lettering in which the concert details were written out, which sometimes took considerable time and effort to decipher. Original Avalon posters are now collector's items. In a slide show published with the obituary at the time of Wilson's death in 2020, ''The New York Times'' included an apparent portrait watercolor of Helms—a book in the foreground has Helms' full name on it.
Helms was also involved in joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts).
Style as promoter
While Graham was an aggressive businessman and professional promoter, Helms presented a philosophical and intellectual business approach. He was the visionary along with Boots Houghston. He related easily to the San Francisco
hippie subculture since, in essence, he was one of them. It wasn't the money he was after, that was the by-product of artistic talent; it was the creative unity of new emerging music sounds that enriched Helms and the community he was talking to, which spread worldwide. The
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...
called Helms "a towering figure in the 1960s Bay Area music scene,".
Helms embraced music for music's sake and the Beat-hipster-generation-turned-hippie philosophy. While the war raged in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
and the nation coped with racial clashes and assassinations, the anti-war, anti-establishment youth thrived in the throes of a social revolution. Meanwhile, Helms was cranking out bands and musicians espousing the same lifestyle as this new audience, while giving the very distinct impression that he was indifferent to money and commercial success.
His benign image could be deceptive. According to
Jay Ferguson of
Spirit, Graham would negotiate shrewdly and frequently offer a lower fee to a band than Helms, but when the concert was over, he would pay the band in full; Helms did not always do likewise. Some of the more serious bands (those not subsidized by trust funds) came to prefer Graham's hard-nosed, businesslike approach. Graham did covertly help Helms financially at various times during the 1970s, keeping San Francisco in the fore as the West Coast Music mecca. Helms also had a reputation at the Avalon of being a rather authoritarian stage manager, once (April 6, 1969) famously unplugging the Grateful Dead's stage amps when they played beyond their allotted hour, forcing them to complete Viola Lee Blues a capella..
The core San Francisco rock bands,
Jefferson Airplane,
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...
,
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...
, Country Joe and the Fish, and
Quicksilver Messenger Service (including pre-
Dino Valenti), would play for both Graham's concerts at
the Fillmore
The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California.
Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...
Auditorium, and the Family Dog at Helms' Avalon dances.
Helms' shows were always more relaxed and offered a pleasant alternative to
Bill Graham Presents
Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a 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 German ...
dances, at a more reasonable admission, and with more room for the stoned, arm-waving type of solo dancing that personified the era. The nearby
Mt. Zion Hospital kept a late-night clinic to treat the many drug-overdose victims from the Fillmore..
Janis Joplin
To concertgoers, Helms' contributions to the music world, like introducing a singer he knew in Texas,
Janis Joplin, to the San Francisco music scene,
were not always well publicized, but witnessing the final product of Joplin, with her powerful performances, was a spectacle. First introduced as a new bandmember of
Big Brother, she brought what the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...
,
Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Big Brother did not seem at that point to have – a lead singer to match Jefferson Airplane's
Marty Balin and
Signe Toly Anderson.
With Joplin as the lead singer, Helms became the group's manager and introduced them on stage when they made their crucial appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, a performance that marked Joplin's elevation to national prominence.
Evolution
Bill Graham Presents shows evolved more into high-power, professional lineups of better-known headline bands that made him known as the can-do guy that he was, while Helms, although managing to produce top-flight bands, still showcased bands that tended to be hipper and local. Helms didn't seem to have the need to hire zealous uniformed security guards, so teenagers found it easier to sneak into his dances. Helms ultimately allowed free admission after midnight. The San Francisco Family Dog dances later re-emerged in a new location, the Family Dog on the Great Highway at the edge of the Western World (its exaggerated sometimes heard full title) which opened in the summer of 69. It was the former Ocean Beach Pavilion
Ballroom
A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic ...
turned
slot car track that was right next door to the old skating rink and "Bull Pup Enchiladas" at
Playland,
Ocean Beach, at 660 The Great Highway in San Francisco's Richmond district.
In his career Helms used other locations like ventures in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Portland, and joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts), etc.
Later years
Helms left the concert business in 1970, except for managing a few later events: Tribal Stomp at Berkeley's Greek Theater (1978), Tribal Stomp II at the
Monterey County Fairgrounds (1979), a concert series at San Francisco's Maritime Hall in 1995 under the Family Dog name, and a 30th Anniversary celebration
of the
Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park (1997), a free event attended by 60,000 people.
Helms became an accomplished art dealer, selling American and European paintings and sculpture at his Atelier Doré art gallery on Bush Street in San Francisco, from 1980 until 2004. After suffering a mild stroke he died within days, on June 25, 2005. Helms is memorialized in a "bright niche decorated with photographs and memorabilia" at the
Neptune Society Columbarium.
Fundraiser and Tribute concert
On July 24, 2005, a fundraiser and tribute concert to Chet was held at the
Great American Music Hall
The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconie ...
in San Francisco. The show was organized by Dawn Holliday (
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB), originally Strictly Bluegrass, is an annual free and non-commercial music festival held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco ...
organizer),
Roger McNamee (who put together a collection of posters from major bay area artists) and
Pete Sears who was responsible for finding and organizing the musicians. Kathy Peck of the H.E.A.R. foundation organized the online auction.
Pete Sears had been talking with Chet while he was sick in the hospital and offered to help get together a benefit to take care of some pressing bills Chet was concerned about. Chet wholeheartedly gave the benefit his blessing. The concert details were well underway and most artists in place when Chet died. They decided to carry on with the fundraiser anyway and turned the concert into a tribute to Chet. The show sold out in just a few days, leaving many lined up outside unable to get in. But the concert obtained its primary goal which was to raise funds to pay off Chet's bills...all money raised was given to Chet's brother John. The concert was highly successful and featured such artists as:
T Bone Burnett
Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...
,
Bob Weir,
Mickey Hart,
David Nelson,
Country Joe McDonald,
Leigh Stephens, Bobby Vega, Joli Valenti & Friends, and the
Flying Other Brothers.
Chet Helms Memorial
On October 30, 2005, San Francisco celebrated Helms' life with a free nine-hour Sunday rock concert in Golden Gate Park, named the "Tribal Stomp"
attended by tens of thousands, and featuring a full lineup of bands, including the old core San Francisco rock bands, and others including:
The Turtles,
Canned Heat,
Dan Hicks (singer),
the Charlatans,
Country Joe McDonald,
Barry Melton,
Blue Cheer, Jefferson Airplane's
Paul Kantner
Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He cont ...
, "
It's a Beautiful Day'"s David LaFlamme,
Quicksilver Gold (derived from Quicksilver Messenger Service),
Lee Michaels,
Lydia Pense Cold Blood,
Pete Sears, Nick Gravenites (
Electric Flag),
Harvey Mandel,
Jorge Santana,
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy.
He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jaz ...
,
Merl Saunders,
Moby Grape Jerry Miller, and
Wavy Gravy (from
Ken Kesey's "
Merry Pranksters" fame).
See also
*
Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 4/18/70
*
Grateful Dead Download Series: Family Dog at the Great Highway
References
External links
* Aidin Vaziri and Jim Herron Zamora,
Chet Helms – legendary S.F. rock music producer" San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 2005.
Articles about Chet Helms- ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helms, Chet
1942 births
Culture of San Francisco
2005 deaths
Deaths from hepatitis
American music industry executives
People from Santa Maria, California
Businesspeople from San Francisco
People from Texas
Mass media people from California
History of San Francisco
Infectious disease deaths in California
20th-century American businesspeople