Need your help to nominate Chet Helms to Hall of Fame

Chet Helms​

Aug. 2, 1942~June 24, 2005​

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There is a petition to nominate and induct Chet Helms into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The goal is 5000 signatures.

In case you do not know whom Chet was. He was one of the founding fathers of the San Francisco music scene of the 1960’s.

He was rock promoter, manager, producer, opened and ran the Avalon Ballroom under the name Family Dog and a key figure in 1967’s Summer of Love.

In 1961 Chet moved from Texas to San Francisco and began having jam sessions in the basement of the Haight-Asbury boardinghouse where he lived. From one of those parties came Big Brother and the Holding Co. Chet became their manager and needing a singer brought from Texas an old college friend Janis Joplin.

“Without Chet, there would be no Grateful Dead, no Big Brother and the Holding Company, no Jefferson Airplane, no Country Joe & the Fish…and the list goes on…”

Chet was a true hippie “…who stayed true to his hippie ideals through four decades…”

It was always about the music and he didn’t really care about the money. Therefore “He was always broke.” Because “He hated to charge for the music.”

After having issues with city permits and several financial disasters he left the concert business in 1970. Then in Oct. 1997 pulled together the 30th anniversary celebration of the Summer of Love.

All in all Chet was the one who “…really made the scene what it was.”

If you would like to add your name to the nomination list Please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/891211103?ltl=1155994956

*some quotes came from the SF Chronicle

 

It's a noble cause, but sadly the hall of fame rarely inducts non-musicians.

 

Thank you for your comments

 

Since 1986 there have been 27 Non-performers inducted into the Hall Of Fame. To my knowledge the last couple of years there hasn't been anyone worthy of this honor nominated.

 

And that's not many compared to the 179 artists inducted in the performers and early influences categories.

My original point was that there is a pretty wide gap between the number of performers and the number of non-performers who have been inducted. It's alot more likely for a performer to get inducted that a non-performer (which, in itself seems strange, as there are alot more non-performers in the music business than there are performing artists).

I did sign your petition, because like I said before, it's a noble cause. Chet Helms is a worthy candidate for induction. And apparently, alot of other people agree. The last time I checked, your petition was doing well and had a large number of signers (some 1,750 if memory serves).

Anyway, I wish you good luck, and I hope Chet gets inducted.

 

Thank you Woodsman, Maybe I misunderstood your original point~sorry~
You are right in regards to the huge gap. I assume there are alot more performers nominated than non-performers. In the early years there were more inducted each year; but still a huge difference. As the years have passed fewer and fewer have been inducted till none the last several years. I do not know the reason unless none were nominated, didn't get enough signatures or if they just didn't make the final cut. Again thank you for taking the time to vote and your comments.

 

No need to apologize, I really wasn't very clear in my original post. I usually come to this site in the middle of the night and due to lack of sleep, I sometimes overlook important details when making a statement.

After re-reading the post, I realize that I could have done a better job of saying what I was trying to say.

Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, I'm glad we were able to patch up our misunderstanding.