Bman's Blues Report

Bman: How did you get hooked up with ESP Disk? Howie: In 1966 I was living in a tenement building on Broome Street on the Lower East Side. Living in the apartment above me was Michael Solden, a friend of Jordan Matthews, who was the art director for ESP Disk. Jordan was looking for an artist to do the first album covers for ESP Disk. I worked at a drawing board in his apartment almost non-stop for two years. I had total freedom to create the artwork and was never given any input. The poster shown here was designed by Bernstein and is available through Wolfgang's Vault (Bill Graham) Bman: Looks like you did quite a few covers while you were there. How long was your affiliation with ESP Disk and who else were you working with? Howie: Approximately three years. During that time I built a portfolio. Bman: I have a number of the early ESP Disk covers that you designed available for viewing here. I understand that you actually did these by hand? Howie: Yes, the...

Bman: How did you get hooked up with ESP Disk? Howie: In 1966 I was living in a tenement building on Broome Street on the Lower East Side. Living in the apartment above me was Michael Solden, a friend of Jordan Matthews, who was the art director for ESP Disk. Jordan was looking for an artist to do the first album covers for ESP Disk. I worked at a drawing board in his apartment almost non-stop for two years. I had total freedom to create the artwork and was never given any input. The poster shown here was designed by Bernstein and is available through Wolfgang's Vault (Bill Graham) Bman: Looks like you did quite a few covers while you were there. How long was your affiliation with ESP Disk and who else were you working with? Howie: Approximately three years. During that time I built a portfolio. Bman: I have a number of the early ESP Disk covers that you designed available for viewing here. I understand that you actually did these by hand? Howie: Yes, the first 200 alb...

"For three decades Bill Graham ruled live Rock & Roll. It wasn't simply that he was on a first name basis with just about every important rock star, he was one of the few people in the music business who could hold his own with any of them and who, in his own right, was their equal. Graham didn't simply stage thousands of rock concerts, that was business as usual for his skilled organization. He really earned his reputation by putting together extraordinary benefits and rock events on almost a yearly basis. For thirty years, Graham never stopped raising money for dozens of causes, ranging from AIDS research to the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, Amnesty International to the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Graham never seemed happier than when he was harnessing the tremendous power of rock & roll for the good of a cause. He truly seemed to delight in bringing together the biggest names in pop music to help make the world a better place, while at the same time making ...