American Beauty album cover

This is the Viscous Fingers of the Dead, a virtual greatest hits album.

Kronomyth 6.0: The great flower bed of the Dead.

A Expressionless album past any other proper noun would not smell equally sweetness as American Beauty. The band returned to the studio six months later the breakthrough Workingman's Expressionless to record a new collection of songs written this fourth dimension by various members in collaboration with lyricist Robert Hunter, and the results were the strongest of their short career: "Box of Pelting," "Friend of The Devil," "Sugar Magnolia," "Ripple," "Truckin." If their last album had been a revelation, American Beauty was paradise establish. Instruments intertwined similar DNA strands, voices creaked like comfy sneakers, pianoforte and pedal steel provided the perfect punctuation to Hunter'southward sage-poems, and the entire album rolled easy with a deceptively loose feel that belied the artistry underneath.

Although many have heard on American Dazzler a continuation of the band'southward country-stone adventures, this album has always struck me as a partial return to the ornate style of Aoxomoxoa. Again, the comprehend artwork seems to capture the essence of it: psychedelic rock framed in a state-stone context. The track sequence for American Beauty is an interesting one, showcasing different members of the ring before settling in for half an album of Hunter/Garcia songs. Jerry Garcia's contributions have a tranquility intensity to them ("Brokedown Palace," "Attics of My Life," "Candyman"), forming the soul (if not the center) of American Beauty's appeal.

It'southward strange to think this would be the final studio album from the band for several years. Ron McKernan'southward health issues had forced him into a peripheral role ("Operator" essentially amounts to a cameo), and Garcia in particular was already eyeing other alliances with New Riders of the Royal Sage, Howard Wales and David Grisman (all of whom appear on this album). American Beauty thus stands as the pinnacle of the band'due south outset phase, and for my coin the finest anthology they've ever recorded.

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Original LP Version

A1. Box of Rain (Robert Hunter/Phil Lesh) (five:16)
A2. Friend of The Devil (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia/John Dawson) (iii:20)
A3. Saccharide Magnolia (Robert Hunter/Bob Weir) (3:15)
A4. Operator (Ron McKernan) (2:21)
A5. Candyman (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia) (five:12)
B1. Ripple (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia) (four:10)
B2. Brokedown Palace (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia) (four:18)
B3. Till The Morning Comes (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia) (3:xiii)
B4. Attics of My Life (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia) (5:09)
B5. Truckin (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia/Phil Lesh/Bob Weir) (5:09)

CD reissue bonus tracks
11. Truckin' (single version)
12. Friend of The Devil (live)
13. Candyman (live)
14. Till The Morning Comes (live)
fifteen. Attics of My Life (live)
xvi. Truckin' (alive)
17. Ripple (alternating version)*
18. American Beauty Radio Spot*

* denotes hidden tracks

The Players

Jerry Garcia (guitar, pedal steel, piano, vocals), Mickey Hart (percussion), Robert Hunter (songwriter), Beak Kreutzmann (drums), Phil Lesh (bass, guitar, piano, vocals), Sus scrofa Pen (Ron McKernan) (harmonica, vocals), Bob Weir (guitar, vocals) with David Grisman (mandolin on A2/B1), Ned Lagin (piano on A5), Dave Nelson (electric guitar on A1), Dave Torbert (bass on A1), Howard Wales (organ on A5/B5, pianoforte on B2). Produced by the Grateful Dead; audio co-produced past Stephen Barncard.

The Pictures

Anthology artwork by Kelly – Mouse Studios. Rear photo by George Conger.

The Plastic

Released on elpee on Oct xiv, 1970 in the United states (Warner Bros., WS 1893) and in 1971 in the UK (Warner Bros., Thousand 46074); reached #30 on the The states charts (RIAA certified 2X platinum record).

  1. Re-issued on elpee in July 1971 in the United states of america (Warner Bros., 1893).
  2. Re-released on remastered elpee in 1978 in the U.s. (Mobile Fidelity, MFSL-1-014).
  3. Re-issued on elpee in 1979 in the US (Warner Bros., WS 1893).
  4. Re-issued on compact disc and cassette in 1987 in the US (Warner Bros., W2 1893).
  5. Re-issued on compact disc in 1989 in the Great britain and Germany (Warner Bros., 27190).
  6. Re-released on expanded, remastered compact disc on February 25, 2003 in the US and Germany (Rhinoceros, 74397) and in 2003 in Nihon (Rhino, WPCR-11496) with 8 bonus tracks.