Dean Reed, the Red Elvis

April 28, 2006 8:54 AM

Born in 1938 and raised on a chicken farm on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado... Dean Reed became the Red Elvis, a huge music and film star in the Eastern Bloc, truly an unlikely icon.. "For a lot of people like Michail Gorbashev he is the first rockstar they see in their life." There are great pictures at this site.
posted by OmieWise (24 comments total)

He looks quite a bit like Roger Moore without the onion loaf hair.

Great post, OmieWise.I have my afternoon reading.
posted by oflinkey at 8:58 AM on April 28, 2006

Yeah, great post.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:25 AM on April 28, 2006

My first thought was he had something to do with The Red Elvises, but according to their bio page they came up with the name independently.
posted by gus at 9:38 AM on April 28, 2006

And lets not forget The Leningrad Cowboys.
posted by Richard Daly at 9:54 AM on April 28, 2006

Awesome post. What a fascinating story. I had never heard of him before.
posted by Falconetti at 10:08 AM on April 28, 2006

I haven't actually heard this Eastern European musician's stuff, but I do like his name. His wiki photo leaves much to be desired however...
posted by tadellin at 10:11 AM on April 28, 2006

Good story. He seems a lot more real than the real Elvis.
posted by mert at 10:11 AM on April 28, 2006

wow. this is fascinating. Kind of reminds me of Paul Robeson in a way. Or even Big Bill Haywood (well, in a round about way).
posted by punkbitch at 10:33 AM on April 28, 2006

Sacha Gervase told me a couple of years ago that he was writing a movie about this guy for Tom Hanks to star in.
posted by unSane at 11:11 AM on April 28, 2006

When I was researching this a bunch of hits about Hanks optioning his life came up, but they seemed to be mostly from around 2003. I was less interested in the possible movie, so I didn't include the links, but if you Google you can find a bunch.
posted by OmieWise at 11:26 AM on April 28, 2006

this photo reminds me more of Kurt Russell

I recorded a presentation by the editor of Comrade Rockstar last year for Walker Books. fascinating stuff.
posted by dubold at 11:40 AM on April 28, 2006

There's a great book on the life of Dean Reed by Reggie Nadelson called Comrade Rockstar.

Thoroughly enjoyable.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:40 AM on April 28, 2006

Once, on a bet, the teenaged Reed raced on foot against a mule 110 miles over the Rocky Mountains and won.

What?
posted by unsupervised at 11:53 AM on April 28, 2006

"Who's Dean Reed?"
posted by xowie at 12:01 PM on April 28, 2006

Pete Seeger has the correct assessment: "Poor guy. He allowed the Soviets to boost him to ‘stardom’ and found out too late what a trap that can be."
posted by Faze at 12:25 PM on April 28, 2006

Once, on a bet, the teenaged Reed raced on foot against a mule 110 miles over the Rocky Mountains and won.

What?

I thought the same thing. Sounds like some sort of bizarre Joh Hnery tall tale got interpolated into his life, but in the context of that article it really sticks out as ridiculous.
posted by Falconetti at 1:03 PM on April 28, 2006

uh, "John Henry"
posted by Falconetti at 1:07 PM on April 28, 2006

Interesting find! What a surprising story.
posted by Miko at 1:07 PM on April 28, 2006

Fabulous Post. A truly fascinating FPP about a unique individual in the middle of the Cold War. Posts like these are what keep me coming back to Metafilter.
posted by MasonDixon at 1:27 PM on April 28, 2006

Great post - I thought it was going to be about The Red Elvises. This is far more interesting - thanks!
posted by freebird at 2:00 PM on April 28, 2006

Excellent post!

In the late 1980s I studied and travelled in the Soviet Union. Nobody could believe that I didn't know who Dean Reed was. I always suspected he was a relative of John Reed.

I have to get my hands on an album now.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 4:28 PM on April 28, 2006

fascinating post! thank you, omiewise.
posted by .kobayashi. at 6:42 PM on April 28, 2006

Strangely interesting thanks OmieWise. I am kind of glad I didn't hear his music however. 'Crooner' always puts me off.
posted by peacay at 8:26 AM on April 29, 2006

Holy synchronicity, comrade, I just got Comrade Rockstar out of the library yesterday. Some (pretty awful) lyrics and mp3s can be found on this German tribute page. "A Pair of Scissors is particularly horrifying, and I love the earworm-quality "shoobedoo" refrain of Elizabet.
posted by nonane at 10:21 AM on April 29, 2006