By Pat Christenson
Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry.
In September of 2016, I met Bill Walton in his suite at the Venetian to interview him for my Book “Rock Vegas.” The following blog includes insights, pictures and stories that made up the life of this seven-foot rolling stone.
Only Bill Walton would run into Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary and Mickey Hart on a trip to Vegas where he is taking in all eight John Fogerty shows. This is not 1970, It is 2016.
“We are sitting here on the 30th floor of the Venetian, looking north on the strip – and there was the “Furthur Bus” which was the colorful, psychedelic school bus that became an iconic symbol of the counterculture movement in the 1960s.”
Of course, Bill made a beeline for the bus, climbed aboard and they headed north driving the entire strip. “Keasy is driving the bus as we make our way down the strip, throwing out magic dust, sparklers and party favors, ” remembers Walton. The bus pulls up to the Sands Conventions Center where a drum convention was taking place. The bus empties and Mickey (Hart) hands out a bunch of drums and starts a Conga line that when completed is over a thousand and wrapped throughout the casino.”
Not often you see that in Vegas!
The Dead’s (Literal) Biggest Fan
In the early 1970s, 6-foot-eleven Bill Walton won three successive College Player of the Year awards while leading the UCLA Bruins to two NCAA championships. Subsequently, he had a stellar career in the NBA where he was MVP with the Portland Trail Blazers, which won two championships during his reign.
“When I was young, I was so very shy and being unable to speak, I was very self-conscious, but basketball was a way for me to express myself. I was a straight-A student and a good basketball player, but I couldn’t talk. My challenges in life – academics and athletics are the easiest parts of my life. My challenges have been orthopedic health. I spent half of my adult life in the hospital. I’ve had 37 orthopedic operations and then I couldn’t speak. Learning how to speak is my greatest accomplishment in life and your worst nightmare. “
He started attending Dead shows in 1967 when he was 15. If there’s a record for most Grateful Dead concerts attended, Walton would be up there having logged 880 shows that he recalls—not counting the first 10-12 years.
Bill was a free spirit who marched to his own drum and loved rock ’n’ roll. He went to countless concerts and festivals, but no band impacted him more than the Grateful Dead.
“In those days,” he explains, “No one had any money, but Pacific Southwest Airlines sold $20 weekend passes that allowed you to fly anywhere. There was no business travel on the weekend, so they had these promotions where they gave the tickets away. They served free drinks and never checked IDs. We just flew around to see the Dead.”
Walton meshed with the band, whom he got to know well, traveling with them to Egypt in 1978. “The Dead were fantastic in creating their own world. They said, ‘Let’s go, Bill. Come on with us.’ “
Read how The Grateful Dead got their start in Sam Boyd:
Bill’s Legacy
“It was a culture. My first Grateful Dead concerts, I just couldn’t believe how happy everybody was and how friendly, joyous, and helpful they were. One of the things that I love about the Grateful Dead is that it’s a world of curiosity, a world of exploration, a world of experimentation. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s always different.”
Bill Walton spent his life flying on the wings of live music with the Grateful Dead driving the sleigh.
“I’m a happy and lucky guy and I love to have fun and one of the things that I love about the Grateful Dead in the whole world of rock and roll, is that it’s a world of curiosity, it’s a world of exploration, it’s a world of experimentation.”
And no one experimented like Bill.
Explore the modern saga of concert bands, venues, promoters, and marketers in Pat Christenson’s book ‘Rock Vegas: Live Music Explodes in the Neon Desert,’ showcasing over 35 years and 500 live-music events.
Coming Next Week:
Bill Walton: The Grateful Dead’s Biggest Fan
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