Resner had a long and varied career in the professional music and sound communities, since the late 1960s, as a concert promoter, record label owner, music publisher, recording engineer and producer, trade magazine publisher and non-profit executive.
Born April 14, 1942 in St. Joseph’s hospital in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, Resner graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, and was awarded a journalism scholarship to attend the University of Nevada in Reno, and later transferred to San Francisco State University, majoring in English literature.
Although not a musician himself, working in music was always his dream. In 1966, Hillel partnered with his brother Bill Resner, Luther Greene, Gene “Reg E.” Williams and Jim Wilson in a venture to create a “dance hall” music venue in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. They found an “ideal” space — the Haight Theater, a dilapidated vaudeville-era movie palace that went through a variety of tenants since falling on hard times in the 1950’s and had later been flooded and vandalized. The best part was the rent, which was only $500/month.
Poster for the opening of The Straight Theater in July 1967
The project — eventually christened The Straight Theater — turned out to be more complex than the five partners imagined. At the time, changes were afoot, both in social movements, music and the neighborhood itself. “We hadn’t a clue as to what Haight Street was about to turn into,” said Resner in an oral history with the San Francisco Public Library.
The partners raised about $100,000 in investment money to refurbish the facility (much through unlikely sources, including bands such as Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother & The Holding Company and others, from animator Jay Ward, to famed folk-rock manager/entrepreneur Albert Grossman).
The city of San Francisco did not want a concert/dance venue in the Haight and after making the permit process arduous, it was finally denied, despite completely upgrading the electrical and installing fire sprinklers and an impassioned plea from actress Dame Judith Anderson (Luther Greene’s stepmother). Undaunted, Greene came up with the idea of renaming the project a “dance school,” which did not require a permit.
Hillel in an earlier era…
