Andrew Shields@bourgwick @mangrovevalley Deep down a “Scarlet Begonias” rabbit hole, I came across the claim that Tony Orlando worked in some sort of capacity for/with The Grateful Dead in the late 1960s. But all I can find is the band’s name in lists of artists or groups he worked with (as on the Tony Orlando Wikipedia page). Do either of you, Jesse and Steve, know anything about this supposed work? Or do you know who might know something about it? #TheGratefulDead #TonyOrlando
jesse jarnow@AndrewShields @mangrovevalley news to me! if you can find any primary source that mentions a tony orlando/dead intersection, i'd be curious, but i feel like maybe he was just singing in some act that shared a bill with the dead? maybe @Corry342 knows?
@bourgwick @mangrovevalley @Corry342 From what I’ve seen online, it looks like the Dead got onto a list of people Orlando worked with (as songwriter, producer, executive?) and people copied the list. But I have no idea what might lie behind it. I’ll keep my eyes open!
steve johnson@AndrewShields @bourgwick @Corry342 Interesting, I’ve never heard anything about a Tony Orlando and the Dead connection. I did read that Clive Davis appointed him General Manager of Columbia Records music publishing division, April-Blackwood Music in ‘67. He signed Barry Manilow and also represented James Taylor and Laura Nyro.
That’s all I got.
@mangrovevalley @bourgwick @Corry342 Thanks, everyone. The starting point that led me to reading up on Tony Orlando and then stumbling on the claim that he worked with the Dead (among others) was “rings on her fingers and bells on her toes/shoes”, as I noted at the link below. — Those echoes (and others, such as Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”) end up offering rich material for interpretation of “Scarlet Begonias”. https://111-words.ghost.io/scarlet-begonias-ride-a-cock-horse-to-banbury-cross-and-my-sweet-gypsy-rose-the-grateful-dead-a-nursery-rhyme-and-tony-orlando-dawn/
“Scarlet Begonias”, “Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross”, and “My Sweet Gypsy Rose”: The Grateful Dead, a nursery rhyme, and Tony Orlando & Dawn
The second stanza of the Grateful Dead song "Scarlet Begonias" ("From the Mars Hotel", 1974, lyrics by Robert Hunter, music by Jerry Garcia) describes a woman with "rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes." This echoes the nursery rhyme "Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross", whose "fine