Bill Graham Presented

Current music: "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor. This version was recorded May 29, 1970 at Berkeley Community Theater.

Have you heard about the release of these massive Bill Graham archives? I thought it was a hoax when I first read it, but after some poking around I've learned that it's legit.

Seems the man was a pack rat extraordinaire. He kept posters, tickets, backstage passes and... ready for this? He recorded shows. Audio, video... supposedly there's audio of about 7000 concerts that's just plumb unreleased prior to now.

Now, I can't claim to be excited about hearing anything Moby Grape recorded at the Fillmore West, okay. But Graham was in business until his death in the early 90s. He recorded Hendrix, Cream, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Nirvana, Sex Pistols, the Who, BB King... I'll bet there's some great stuff.

Now, the site is http://www.wolfgangsvault.com

They've got streaming media I'm just starting to check out, something called Vault Radio. Right now is a Zeppelin show from 1969... it's early enough in their career that Robert Plant is introducing the band members by name.

The FAQ says they're aiming to release CDs, downloads and podcasts this summer.