Special thanks to the staff of Family Dog.com for their support & blessing of this page. Thoughts & prayers go out to all of Chet's family, friends and fans!
Originally, this section of my website was supposed to be for my interview with Chet Helms via e-mail & telephone set for July 2005. Sadly though, Chet passed away June 25th, 2005. I never did get to write or talk with him after many years of reading great things about his very historic and influential work for San Francisco's Bay Area music scene, his work with Family Dog, his thoughts on todays' music and of course, the 40th Anniversary of the Bay Area music scene.
Although I didn't have the pleasure to meet or talk with Chet, I certainly felt like I knew the man all too well. As a music historian/collector, it was hard for folks like me NOT to know Chet in some way. His name has always been written in books, magazines and internet articles when the subject turns to the Sixties and the San Francisco music scene.
Chet helped to create some of the most legendary bands and get them elevated using the deep-rooted belief of 'free music," an always-challenged concept, even by todays' standards & practices in the industry. In the days that followed Chet's passing, I wrote and spoke with many greats of the Bay Area music scene over the loss of a man they call "The Father of the Summer of Love."
The one thing that very much got me wanting to interview him, was hey- this guy saw music & live concerts in their infancy all the way up to the modern day DVD, where music & visuals are stored forever. He saw the Internet explode with the musical download/MP3 capabilities and saw many of his favorites bands & friends still going strong musically and in spirit. One of my first questions to him would have been "From it's infancy to modern day preservation methods and everything in between, care to comment on the evolution of music that you helped guide?"
Who knows how Chet would have answered this question, but let's face it, whatever he would have told me would have been the right answer?!
To me, it's like Chet helped create it and lived long enough to make sure it was ALL preserved and then left.
That's a very FULL life, folks!
This page will aim to hold many photos, memories, quotes, links to great blogs/articles & other special rememberances to Chet.
For his family & friends who loved him & for the Bay Area musicians who worked with him, this page will stand as a fitting tribute to Chet's life and times. All agree there is a special, well-deserved spot for Chet Helms at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and it would be cool to see that happen soon. Enjoy!
-"Wildman" Dave Diamond
Chet Helms references
Here you will find links to various articles, photos and blogs on Chet's life & times.
(photo of Country Joe McDonald, quotes from Barry "The Fish" Melton)
"Without Chet, there would be no Grateful Dead; no Big Brother and the Holding Company; no Jefferson Airplane, no Country Joe & the Fish; no Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the list goes on. He wasn't just a promoter; he was a supporter of music and art. He supported people emotionally, psychologically and psychically. He really made the scene what it was." -Barry "The Fish" Melton
"I'm grieved by the passing of Chet Helms . I'm grieved at how much we had and how much we've lost. It wasn't that it was a simpler age. It's just that we were dreamers who dreamt dreams big and good, and we felt that they could become flesh and walk the earth . The music was great and so are the memories . I'll tell my children who and what they missed ."
"He was a great promoter who really kept close to his roots. He really loved us and kept in contact with the musicians who were his friends. And we all were his friends. I ran into him in NYC in the '70's, when he had just sold his two Gustave Dore paintings that he had been carrying around for years.They were huge, maybe 8 feet tall. He sold them at an auction at Sotheby's (I think) for a huge amount of money and he was in shock. We went out for dinner and on the town, ending up at Peter Stampfel's place in the Village and the party just seemed to go on forever. Chet was a good guy and I miss him."
-David Bennett Cohen
Photo coutesy of Family Dog
The Chet Helms Memorial Concert/Tribal Stomp schedule, October 2005
Barry "The Fish" Melton & Rock Scully
Photo by Barbara Joy Langer
Stanley Mouse posters/courtesy of Family Dog
Photo by Dave Staugas
Photo courtesy of Barbara Joy Langer/William Buchel
For more photos & streaming video, please check out my Links page.
All photos are the property of the photographers and have been used wth permission. Copying, altering or use of these photos are strictly prohibited without the written permission of the photographers. @2006
