I’ve been meaning to blog about Wolfgang’s Vault for a while and never got round to it.  First, some disclosure.  I do a bit of work for Edelman PR and Edelman does a bit of work for Wolfgang’s Vault.  These views are my own.  Not that they’ll mind, ’cause I absolutely love it, I tell you, I love it.

To cut a long story short, Bill Graham was the fella who, in the 1960s, changed the way that rock concerts were organised and performed, paving the way for the stadium-style concerts we’re all familiar with today.  He wasn’t always Bill Graham though.  He was born Wolfgang Grajonca in Berlin in 1931, escaped Nazi Germany and rew up in a foster home in the Bronx.  Sadly, Graham died in a helicopter crash in 1991.

Being a visionary as he was, however, Graham preserved many of the original recording, photographs, posters and memorabilia from the concerts he organised through the 60s, 70s and 80s – and all of that stuff has now become Wolfgang’s Vault. 

Some of the photography on the site is cracking…as are the vintage t-shirts.  Best of all though, of course, are the original concert recordings, most of which you can listen to free in the Concert Vault once you’ve registered.  Jimi Hendrix live at the Fillmore Auditorium in 1968 anyone?  The Who Live at the Capitol Centre in 1973?  Led Zepplin, 1969?  It’s all there, and loads more.

Every week I get an email from the site with the latest releases.  This week’s was one of the best yet, specifically because of a recording of AC/DC live from Towson State College in October 1979.  The recording was made only four months before Bon Scott drank himself to death so the band was pretty much in its prime.  Worth listening to, if only for the novelty (for those who grew up with this stuff) of hearing Scott say: “This is our new record…Highway to Hell!”

Proper rock and roll.