Rick's Music Video of the Day Christmas Edition
Here’s a little bonus story about the writer of the lyrics to Sleigh Ride, Mitchell Parish He was a celebrated lyricist who’d written “Stardust,” “Stars Fell On Alabama,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and “Moonlight Serenade” along with scores of songs for Broadway & Hollywood – the real deal.. He was also the uncle of Steve Parish, the longtime roadie for the Grateful Dead and close friend of Jerry Garcia. Mitchell was invited to a 1990 Garcia Band show at Madison Square Garden, where he and Garcia met and talked about music.
Here’s a firsthand account:
“Mitchell was 90, and his knees were shot so he was in a wheelchair, but he was sharp as hell and definitely ready to rap. Well, he met his match that day. He and Jerry started raving about old songs – songs that Parish or people he knew had written – and Jerry matched him tune for tune. Not an ego thing, just two amazingly knowledgeable music historians (one with the advantage of having lived through the era!) swapping stories. The room was so packed that the Vice President of Arista, in a $2,000 suit, was sitting on the floor – but it was quiet, as everybody just listened to this amazing conversation. Parish started one sentence with, "When I wrote the songs for the Marx Brother’s “Coconuts” in 1928," and you knew he wasn’t b.s.ing. And obscure as it got, Jerry was there, jamming on the rap the way he did on his axe.”
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