Explore “Scarlet Begonias,” from its trans-Atlantic origins (including the Dead’s surprising Bob Marley connection) to Cornell ’77 & beyond, featuring the Wall of Sound’s stop at the Hollywood Bowl (with more unheard Owsley Stanley) & a visit from Vampire Weekend’s Chris Tomson.
by Jesse Jarnow
Shout out to a pair of podcasts that fed into the Deadcast’s “Scarlet Begonias.” I recently appeared on the Kingston to Cali podcast, talking about the influence of reggae on the Grateful Dead, and host Henry K hepped me to one of those wonderful stories that doesn’t seem like it could be true but seems to be: that Bob Marley almost signed with the Dead’s burgeoning record company in early 1974. And a few years back, I interviewed Phish’s Trey Anastasio on behalf of Osiris’s Alive Again, and the topic of “Scarlet Begonias” came up.
Vampire Weekend’s Only God Was Above Us is out now, as is Taper’s Choice’s History of Taper’s Choice, Volume One (Taper’s Choice).
More information on Steve Hurlburt’s forthcoming sky yellow/sun blue (which will feature essays by a number of voices familiar to Deadcast listeners, including me), where you can find more information about Steve’s various Dead-related projects.
Lee Jaffe’s memoir One Love is available via W.W. Norton, and Hit Me With Music: roots rock reggae will be published in September by Rizolli. Michael Kaler’s Get Shown the Light is available as part of Duke University Press’s Studies In the Grateful Dead series. David Gans once again generously supplied us with never-heard audio from his many books, radio shows, and other projects, available from his site. We are deeply looking forward to Brian Anderson’s Loud and Clear, a history of the Wall of Sound, to be published next year.
Mary Ann Mayer’s illustration of the Grateful Dead’s PA, circa July 1974, originally published in the Grateful Dead’s newsletter:
“Scarlet Begonias” at Winterland, 19 October 1974:
Comment
Scarlet episode
Great as always. On iTunes, the playback starting at about 25 minutes left has some technical problems at least with mine, talk blending with music followed by gaps. FYI
Scarlet Episode
Same as earlier comment. Seems like there are some editing problems in the last section of the podcast. Great show though, thank you.
Scarlet Episode
Great episode. I'd love to hear the last 30 min again once it's corrected. Will you all be notifying us of the fix?
Many thanks!!
Scarlet fix
transcript
Did I hear correctly that there are now written transcripts of the podcast?
transcripts
Over the Hill
What was the name of the song played by “Over the Hill’ during the Scarlet episode? Is it available anywhere?
Thanks!
Over the Hill
Podcast Audio
Great episode overall! So much history and new learning for me… I ‘ll happily perform free QC listening to make sure mixes are ready to go!
Road Tested and Approved
Deadcast is A+ road trip listening material. Episodes regularly exceed two hours and you easily wish they were longer.
These guys go deep and trace down the smallest details, with audio!
Clever placement of a Jane Eyre reference in this episode, which Hunter might have appreciated. These Dead historians know their culture!
My favorite Scarlet Fire 4/16/78, lyric flubs and all.
Deadcast is A+ road trip listening material. Episodes regularly exceed two hours and you easily wish they were longer.
These guys go deep and trace down the smallest details, with audio!
Clever placement of a Jane Eyre reference in this episode, which Hunter might have appreciated. These Dead historians know their culture!
My favorite Scarlet Fire 4/16/78, lyric flubs and all.
My first and favorite!!!
Great episode overall! So much history and new learning for me… I ‘ll happily perform free QC listening to make sure mixes are ready to go!