GOOD OL’ GRATEFUL DEADCAST – American Beauty 50, Episode 7: Brokedown Palace

Date: November 19, 2020
Hosts: Rich Mahan and Jesse Jarnow

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on “Brokedown Palace,” one of the most beloved tracks from the Grateful Dead’s seminal album American Beauty. Hosts Rich Mahan and Jesse Jarnow, with a variety of special guests, explore both the musical craftsmanship and emotional resonance of the song. Through interviews, archival commentary, and in-depth musical analysis, the episode unpacks the song’s origins, studio recording, and the lasting place it holds in fans’ hearts.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Ripple-Brokedown Seam: Transition and Album Flow

• Ripple and Brokedown Palace are back-to-back on American Beauty, and their segue is seen as more than coincidental.
• Jesse Jarnow (03:16): “It feels like a little magic trick moving from the pure light of Ripple into something more mournful, even biblical.”
• Gary Lambert (Tales From the Golden Road): Emphasizes the emotional impact and hymn-like quality of Brokedown Palace.

2. Genesis: Robert Hunter’s London Epiphany

• Hunter wrote “Ripple,” “Brokedown Palace,” and “To Lay Me Down” on a single inspired day in London in May 1970.
• Hunter (quoted, 06:22): “I wrote Brokedown Palace, Ripple, and To Lay Me Down all at one sitting… It remains in my mind as the personal quintessence of the union between writer and muse.”
• Hunter describes the act as a restoration of the soul, reflected in the song’s lyrics (“apocatastasis”).
• Jesse Jarnow (08:29): Discusses how Hunter, even as a young man, wrote from an old soul’s perspective.

3. Musical Arrangements and Theory

• Mike Hammond (musicologist) (12:49): Dissects the unusual chord progression—starting in G major (key of “Ripple”), moving through C, and settling in F major.
  • Hammond: Notes the seamless but complex musical bridge between the songs.
  • Quote: “It’s very unusual for a song to begin in one key, and then really the bulk of the song is in another key… Not only for a Grateful Dead song, but for any song.”
• Brokedown Palace’s transition musically mirrors the thematic flow from “Ripple”—the “surface tension” is broken by moving from sharp to flat keys, suggesting flowing water (as in the lyrics).

4. Studio Anatomy: The Sound of Brokedown Palace

• Brian Kehew (archival engineer) (20:44–29:54): Breaks down the song’s multi-track recording:
  • Drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars: Simple, layered for richness.
  • Howard Wales’ piano: Gospel-tinged, adds bounce and depth.
  • Jerry Garcia’s pedal steel: Luminous, complex, evocative.
  • Vocal harmonies: Garcia, Weir, and Lesh blend for a “choir-like” sound, especially potent at the song’s end.
  • Notable moment (29:45): “They intended to layer this on top of the original vocal tracks. And then you really get the big choir sound that they intended for the end of the record.”

5. Howard Wales: The Eye of the Piano Storm

• Howard Wales (30:13–38:50): Recalls meeting and playing with Garcia, the Monday Night Band at The Matrix, and a uniquely collaborative musical climate.
  • Wales: “Jerry was such a wonderful friend and such a really good person… A lot of it was music, and the rest of it was just talking about everything and getting loaded. Funny guy, funny. We used to laugh.”
  • Wales describes the explosive growth (and eventual chaos) of the Matrix jams and his eventual departure.

6. Business & Community: The Creation of Ice 9

• Alan Trist (42:59–49:00): Details the formation of Ice 9 (the Dead’s in-house song publishing company), chosen for creative and economic control.

  • Trist: “The music industry was famously shady in those days and the band did not want to trust their activities of business to outside agencies… So they very early on decided to do it themselves with their friends…”
  • The Ice 9 name comes from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle.”
  • Trist: “The Office… was a bubble on the music business and always remained so… There was a constant traffic in and out... a hub for innovation and ideas.”

• Fun tangent (50:30–52:17): Investigation into the legendary pet cat “McGanahan Skagelli Fetti”—possibly apocryphal, but a touchstone for Deadhead lore.

7. Copyright & Ethos: Songwriting, Credit, and Improvisation

• Copyrighting jams: “Space” and other improvisational segments required unique handling (56:10–57:57).
  • Trist: “There had to be a distinction made between what was improvisation attached to a particular song… and what was improvisation that happened between songs…”
• Hunter’s relaxed attitude toward lyrical versions and fan interpretation—songs evolved as listeners heard them (54:37).

8. Song’s Place in Fan Culture

• Nick Palmgarden (The New Yorker) (61:56): Reflects on the emotional resonance of American Beauty, hearing “hymns,” “a sense of majesty and loss,” and the record as a “time machine.”
  • Palmgarden: “There was beautiful singing. There was this sort of sense of majesty and loss, you know, ravages of time. It was like a hymnal or something.”
• David Lemieux (Dead archivist) (65:05): Personalizes the connection, describing Brokedown Palace as a song of homecoming, gratitude, and emotional closure at live shows.
  • Lemieux: “Every time I saw Brokedown Palace…it was my way of saying, thanks, mom and dad… Everything’s going to be okay.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Sequencing and Sentiment

• Jesse Jarnow (03:16):
  “If you were a Deadhead keeping track of a set list… you might write that down as Ripple into Brokedown Palace. With a segue arrow in between. It feels like a little magic trick moving from the pure light of Ripple into something more mournful, even biblical.”

• Gary Lambert:
  “Brokedown Palace…has come to have some of the most profound emotional impact... it’s got that feeling of a hymn, which is, you know, the sacred and profane in Grateful Dead music.”

On Writing the Song

• Robert Hunter (06:33):
  “I wrote Brokedown Palace, Ripple, and To Lay Me Down all at one sitting…. remains in my mind as the personal quintessence of the union between writer and muse…”

• Hunter reflecting (to a fan in 1996) (08:29):
  “Don’t know where I got the long view from, but suspected it had something to do with traumatic family breakup, troubles at age 9… made a melancholy lad of me.”

On Musical Structure

• Mike Hammond (12:49):
  “It’s very unusual for a song to begin in one key, and then really the bulk of the song is in another key… those first four lines that begin in G, take you through C and end up in F major… really unusual not only for a Grateful Dead song, but for any song.”

On Studio Craft

• Brian Kehew (26:49):
  “It’s beautiful to hear him [Jerry] sing by himself on this one, and that would have been enough for most records. But one of the hallmarks of this song is particularly those harmony vocals…combine those three parts together, sung as they were in the room at the same time. Great performances and an even more amazing vocal arrangement.”

On Crossroads of Community and Business

• Alan Trist (42:59):
  "The music industry was famously shady…[the Dead] decided to do it themselves with their friends and companions…Such roots build trust."

• Trist (44:39):
  “Straight economics is the first reason the Dead formed Ice 9… The writers wanted control of licensing... built up cool relationships over the long run.”

Fans’ Emotional Connection

• Nick Palmgarden (61:56):
  “It was like a time machine, you know, so you listen to these songs like Brokedown Palace…they had this power. They were describing something that was going to happen to this band, like the sort of sense of loss…”

• David Lemieux (65:05):
  “Every time I saw Brokedown Palace… that was my life in a nutshell. I would sing that song to myself. It was my way of saying, thanks, mom and dad… many worlds I’ve come, and that song—goosebumps talking about it.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:16 | Jarnow and Lambert on the Ripple/Brokedown Palace segue and tone | | 06:22–08:29 | Hunter’s peak writing day in London; reflections on the “old soul” lyric | | 12:49–16:12 | Mike Hammond’s musicological analysis of the song’s unusual keys | | 20:44–29:54 | Brian Kehew demos the multitrack: drums, bass, guitars, harmonies | | 30:13–38:50 | Howard Wales on meeting Garcia, Matrix jams, & recording sessions | | 42:59–54:37 | Alan Trist on Ice 9, band business, and trusting the inner circle | | 61:56–64:39 | Palmgarden’s fan perspective on American Beauty’s emotional resonance | | 65:05–68:11 | David Lemieux personalizes the encore meaning of Brokedown Palace |

Tone and Language

The episode blends deep affection, reverence, and characteristic Deadhead humor and storytelling. Guests speak with warmth and candor, while technical guests bring analytic precision. There’s an aura of nostalgia but always anchored in genuine inquiry and celebration.

Summary

This Deadcast masterfully paints “Brokedown Palace” as a spiritual, emotional, and musical touchstone within the Dead’s catalog and culture. From its “mournful, hymn-like” transition after “Ripple,” composed in a single creative rush by Robert Hunter, to its enduring vocal arrangements and studio craft, listeners gain insight into both songcraft and scene. Interviews and analysis thread together the personal with the universal—musicianship, friendship, business ideals, and the fan experience—showing why American Beauty’s influence, and the bittersweet comfort of “Brokedown Palace,” continues to “rock our soul.”