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 and a cultural figure in San Francisco during its hippie period in the late Sixties.
Helms was the founder and manager of Big Brother and the Holding Company 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 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 from hepatitis C. He was 62.
Background image for the above artwork is a lightshow image created by Bill Ham. Lights by Bill Ham was the lightshow artist for the Tribal Stomp show. Light Sound Dimension (LSD) was possibly the first psychedelic lightshow and was operated by the legendary Bill Ham. Bill pioneered kinetic lighting and actually used this technique at the Red Dog Saloon back in 1965. It was also at the Red Dog Saloon where Chet Helms first met Bill and asked him to produce lightshows at the Avalon Ballroom. Click on Bill's picture for a trip to his web page. Great reading!!
Big Brother and the Holding Company
with Kathi McDonald and Nick Gravenites
01. Introduction
02. Combination Of The Two
03. In A Broken Dream
04. Going Down
05. Call On Me
06. My Love May Be Crying (??)
07. I’ll Change Your Flat Tire Merle
08. Buried Alive In The Blues
09. Falling For Your Love
