Jim Rissmiller--Rock’s Comeback Kid? : Pop music: After reigning for nearly 20 years as the top pop concert promoter in Southern California, he returns this weekend with ‘Troubadours of Folk’ festival.

Jim Rissmiller seemed at once wistful and agitated as he sat in his West Hollywood office and considered a species he believes is in danger of extinction: concert promoters with a flair for showmanship.

“Don King . . . George Steinbrenner . . . those are promoters,” he said. It’s not coincidence, he noted, that these are names associated with sports--not music.

“I think the concert biz is pretty boring. There are really no master showmen anymore. Today concert promoters are administrators. They’re too busy making a living.”

Rissmiller wasn’t suggesting that his name should go on that short list of showmen, but he hopes to give it a try.

Or, more accurately, a second try.

This weekend’s “Troubadours of Folk” festival at UCLA’s Drake Stadium marks the return of Rissmiller, 50, who reigned for nearly 20 years as the top pop concert promoter in Southern California until the early-’80s collapse of his empire following the 1977 murder of his longtime partner, Steve Wolf.

And Rissmiller doesn’t mind if the event makes him look like a throwback to a bygone time.

“With Bill Graham gone, I guess I’m about the last so-called entrepreneur from that era,” he said.

The festival’s lineup of ‘60s-bred or influenced acts and the event’s communal feel, with food and crafts booths and a children’s stage complementing the main musical offerings, is a fitting echo of the decade in which Rissmiller began his career.

Among those scheduled to appear on Saturday are Joni Mitchell, Roger McGuinn, Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane (“unplugged”), John Prine and Janis Ian, while Sunday’s lineup includes Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Beausoleil, Richie Havens, Richard Thompson and Peter, Paul & Mary.

Rissmiller and Wolf practically invented Southern California pop concert promotion, starting in 1964 when they, along with then-KRLA deejay Bob Eubanks, brought the Beatles to the Hollywood Bowl.

First as Concert Associates and later as Wolf and Rissmiller, the pair were virtually synonymous with concert promotion, staging such noted extravaganzas as Elton John at Dodger Stadium in 1975 and several Rolling Stones tour stops in Southern California.

So successful and visible was Rissmiller that there was even talk for a while of his running for political office. He expressed some ambitions about running for mayor of Los Angeles, and his name was floated as a possible candidate for Congress.

Then in 1977 Wolf was shot and killed during an apparent robbery attempt at his home. Wolf’s killer was never caught. Rissmiller, though devastated by the loss of someone he considered a brother, carried on.

“But after Steve was gone it was just a business to me,” he said. “I was just an administrator. 1979 was actually the first year I made a million dollars, but I was miserable, felt suicidal. Then in 1981 at the Coliseum with the Rolling Stones, I stood there and said, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ ”

So he quit. He bought the Country Club in Reseda and attempted to make it the Valley’s premier small concert venue. But that too proved unfulfilling to Rissmiller, who was going through a divorce and other personal difficulties. Amid lawsuits regarding the club property and rents, he declared bankruptcy for his corporation in 1984 and paid outstanding bills for the club out of his own pocket, though he personally remained financially above water.

Soon, stories started circulating about Rissmiller’s being on the skids, unable to recover from the shock of Wolf’s death--one round of gossip had him living in his car. The stories, he said, are untrue, though he describes the time as “devastating.” But self-promoter that he is, Rissmiller took some delight in the tales.

“The best one I heard was I was supposedly in a mental institution in San Francisco,” he said. “As long as they’re talking about you, you’re OK.”

The true story is that Rissmiller, after leaving the Country Club, became impressed with young Texas musician Charlie Sexton and moved to Austin to work as his agent. Then Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon’s first wife, contacted him about helping put on a special concert in Berlin to mark the 1990 celebration of what would have been Lennon’s 50th birthday. The event never got off the ground, in part, Rissmiller says, due to conflicting events being planned by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono. Once again, the promoter was crushed.

Last year, Rissmiller returned to Los Angeles, signed on to teach a few classes at UCLA, then remarried and bit by bit got the promotion bug again. The success of the “Lollapalooza” tours in particular convinced him that there was a market for creative concert events once more.

With his wife, Randy, and Roger Shepherd, formerly of Avalon Attractions and Pacificoncerts, he resurrected Concert Associates, originally planning to stage a country music festival at the Rose Bowl. Those plans fell through due to scheduling difficulties, but Rissmiller soon hooked up with Rhino Records officials who were planning the “Troubadours of Folk” concerts, and he was back in business.

“I thought the time was right, and as long as we could do it at UCLA as a benefit for the community I wanted to be involved,” he said.

And now, Rissmiller is looking ahead to an active future. He’s already helping arrange a scaled-down touring version of the “Troubadours” festival and sees a bright future for himself focusing on festivals and special events that offer more than just concerts.