The Deadcast sets course for 1973, diving into the newly announced Here Comes Sunshine box set with firsthand tours of the ambitious family businesses in orbit around the Dead in 1973, including an independent record label, booking company, travel agency, clothing boutique, & more.
by Jesse Jarnow
With this episode, the Deadcast plunges full-on into the Grateful Dead’s world-building year of 1973, in which they spawned their own independent record company and a variety of businesses to help support their activities. We delved a bit into the Dead’s fall 1972 tour during our Listen To The River: October 1972 episode, focusing on the band’s last trip to the beloved Fox Theatre in St. Louis. But by the spring of 1973, the Dead had gone beyond theaters.
In 1973, writer Charles Perry wrote about the wide world of corporate Dead, detailing the Dead’s family businesses for a Rolling Stone cover story, published in November. Photographer Annie Leibovitz was dispatched to San Rafael and took the famed group photo that Rosie McGee discusses in this episode, capturing the employees of the adjacent businesses.
Not sure when picture day is this year, but here’s a good one from the Class of 1973.
— Grateful Dead (@GratefulDead) September 6, 2020
Photo by Annie Leibovitz via the 'Long Strange Trip' doc pic.twitter.com/2q4aMzzqCv
Rosie McGee had been part of the Dead’s family from the very start, dating Phil Lesh for a few years in 1966, but working in a number of roles even after their relationship ended, ranging from photographer to interpreter, with many odd jobs in between. Rosie is the author of the memoir Dancing With the Dead and a recent art collection of her Dead photography.
Sally Mann Romano, who worked as Executive Assistant to Sam Cutler at Out of Town Tours, is the author The Band’s With Me, for a very bowtie-spinning look at the Bay Area scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Steve Brown, who worked for Grateful Dead Records from 1973 to 1976, is also an incredible preservationist of artifacts from his years with the Dead, including a desk blotter personally illustrated by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
steve brown's desk blotter, illustrated by jerry garcia & robert hunter, c. 1973. pic.twitter.com/dtY8ylm5wZ
— jesse jarnow (@bourgwick@heads.social) (@bourgwick) November 6, 2018
Comment
This is great
Thanks yet again. Like extended extended liner notes for the upcoming box set. For some reason I have tended to undervalue 1973 compared to other eras. This is going to really help me out. I feel like this fills a niche between "Long Strange Trip" Dave's seaside chats and the books. This is really great stuff. Ecstatic to listen along and then cap it off with the box set this summer.
Thanks yet again. Like extended extended liner notes for the upcoming box set. For some reason I have tended to undervalue 1973 compared to other eras. This is going to really help me out. I feel like this fills a niche between "Long Strange Trip" Dave's seaside chats and the books. This is really great stuff. Ecstatic to listen along and then cap it off with the box set this summer.