Like most Deadheads, I assume, I absolutely love Scarlet Begonias. This is one song that I think I’ve covered enough in these pages to get a representative sample of the song.

Of course, 1977 is a special year for the Grateful Dead and this is the year when the Scarlet Begonias/Fire On The Mountain marriage first occurred. But this version segues in a lovely Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad (which was also covered previously in these pages). In listening back to the first Download Series release I’m amazed that more from the April 1977 shows hasn’t been released. Perhaps they’re not in the vault, but I thought they were. This is some hot playing. Yes, May is great an all, but the April shows are just as good.

My Dad bought my three year old son a CD player for Christmas this year. I don’t know who is more excited about this: me or my son. I’ve already taken the liberty of making a few CDs for him. He listens to each song for about a minute while dancing around his room completely oblivious to the rhythm. But this is a song I know he’ll like. (He already asks for Fire On The Mountain all the time from hearing it in the car, but for my money Scarlet Begonias is the better half of that pairing.) All good things in all good time.

There’s some nice cymbal action right from the get-go and the hi-hats are quite present in the mix. I love Bobby’s upper register chording and Phil’s got a bit of a rubbery bass tone here that is cool. They vamp the intro a bit longer than usual, but I really love the vibe of that section so it doesn’t bother me. Jerry slips up in his transition riff between the first two verses but makes an acrobatic recovery. Fast forward to the first solo section and Jerry starts it of spry and quickly, darting from note to note like a deer bounding through the forest. Bob’s jangly chords are a real key to a solid Scarlet Begonias and here he delivers. The move to the outro jam isn’t what you might expect. The transition is a bit rough and Jerry doesn’t nail down the riff right away, instead taking a few liberties right off the back. This then quickly shifts into a light, airy jam with Donna doing some vocal scatting. Around the 6:40 mark Keith exerts himself with his keyboard, it’s almost an organ sound. I’m not as up on Keith’s gear as others and I didn’t think he ever used an organ, but I like whatever it is he’s playing here. The jam rolls on nicely. I think that’s actually a good way to describe the vibe here: rolling. It’s the type of jam that you just get lost in and time evaporates, like a good Eyes of the World. In very subtle ways the song evolves and moves into a wonderful Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad and not the Fire On The Mountain that most likely expect.

Complete Setlist 4/29/77

Previous Scarlet Begonias DFAY Selections

[AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”0984985212″ features=”0″ locale=”com” listprice=”0″]