Monday, June 3, 2013

Scarlet: A Mystery


If there's one 'mystery track' in the Stones' catalogue, it must be 'Scarlet'. Both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are said to have been working on a song with this title, albeit more than a year apart from each other, and under totally different circumstances. In his "Complete Works" Nico Zentgraf mentions the following details about the recording sessions: 

October 15, 1974: At Olympic Sound Studios, London, Keith Richards works on a song called ‘Scarlet’. Line-up: Keith Richards (vocals, guitar)/Jimmy Page (guitar)/Ron Wood (guitar)/Ian Stewart (piano)/Rick Grech (bass)/Bruce Rowland (drums).

January 10, 1976: At Phonogram Studios, Rio de Janeiro, Mick Jagger works on a song called ‘Scarlet’. Line-up: Mick Jagger (guitar, vocals)/Luiz Cláudio (guitar)/Antonio Adolfo (piano)/Dadi (bass)/Paulinho Braga (drums)/Neném, Marçal, Eliseu, Lula, Risadinha, andCanegal (percussion).

Is there anybody out there who can expand on this information? By the way: Scarlet Page (born 1971) is Jimmy Page's daughter, while Elizabeth Scarlet Jagger (born 1984) is the eldest daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall.

Adapted from the following source: Nico Zentgraf, The Complete Works website.

1 comment:

  1. The only reliable source for the 1974 session, in the Led Zeppelin literature, seems to be the 1975 interview by Cameron Crowe with Jimmy Page:

    (Crowe) "What's this rumor, Jimmy, about a solo album?
    Page: Chalk that off to Keith Richards' sense of humor. I did what could possibly be the next Stones B-side. It was Rick Grech, Keith and me doing a number called "Scarlet." I can't remember the drummer. It sounded very similar in style and mood to those Blonde on Blonde tracks. It was great, really good. We stayed up all night and went down to Island Studios where Keith put some reggae guitars over one section. I just put some solos on it, but it was eight in the morning of the next day before I did that. He took the tapes to Switzerland and someone found out about them. Keith told people that it was a track from my album."
    (Cameron Crowe, The Durable Led Zeppelin. A Conversation with Jimmy page and Robert Plant, Rolling Stone, March 13, 1975: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-durable-led-zeppelin-19750313).

    In 1977 probably referred indirectly to the session when he was interviewed by Angie Errigo in Melody Maker:

    (Errigo) "In a less inflammatory vein, Jimmy Page tales are rife. One of the most persistent is that if Zeppelin did spill, he'd be willing to do service with the Stones if Keith got screwed. Is that nonsense too?
    Page: Well, I've played with Ronnie Wood and Keith and we always have a good time. But it's only jamming. I was upset with that because it looked like it was a stab in the back on Keith, and I really like and respect him."
    (Angie Errigo, Mr Page wishes to announce … that he is perfectly normal, Melody Maker, December 3, 1977)

    In his biography of Led Zeppelin Mick Wall refers to the session without quoting sources. He apparently used the Cameron interview and retold the story in his own words. (Mick Wall, A Biography of Led Zeppelin, London: Orion 2008, p. 343).

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