American Beauty

The Grateful Dead

album cover

Look Through Any Window . . .

There are many portals through which to begin an exploration of the Grateful Dead. You could start at the beginning, with the 1967 self-titled debut, to hear the San Francisco group trying to shake its jug-band roots while serving up suitably weird blues designed to accompany the storied countercultural acid tests.

Or you could start near the end, with In the Dark (1987), the Dead's last studio work of consequence, which yielded the commercial success "Touch of Grey" and other songs lit with the wisdom of grizzled road vets. Some Deadheads would advise that the only reasonable first recorded encounter with the mythic band that rose from San Francisco hippie culture is a live concert recording—and thanks to an aggressive archive program, there are plenty available.

Sooner or later, though, anyone seeking to understand the Dead needs to hear American Beauty, the crown jewel of the band's studio efforts. Recorded in August and September 1970, this collection documents the Dead before jamming became its raison d'être. The tunes are simple, kindhearted rambles through American folk, country two-step, and appropriations of Appalachian hymns. The performances are reverent, with little soloing and nothing getting in the way of the songs. And what songs: For decades after this release, the presence of its highlights "Sugar Magnolia," "Truckin'," "Box of Rain," or "Friend of the Devil" on a set list was known to send hempnecklaced Deadheads into rapture. That's partly because the tunes are so life-affirming, and partly because in the years of touring, the songs evolved tremendously—from disciplined three-minute miniatures into jaw-dropping twenty-minute odysseys.

The Dead wasn't temperamentally suited to the studio. But around the time of this album, the musicians and primary lyricist Robert Hunter were writing at a fever pitch, building a songbook that was revolutionary and patchwork-quilt quaint at the same time. Just as Hunter appropriated the plainspoken language of old folk songs, guitarist Jerry Garcia, who'd played banjo in jug bands, brought that instrument's crisp articulation to the electric guitar. Everyone else follows that folkloric bent without seeming too worried about details; the performances are sometimes ragged and the vocals stray off-key. Yet somehow the scruffiness becomes part of the charm, helping to speed the trip back to the sounds and folklore of an earlier time while underscoring the Dead's great alchemy trick—transforming the rustic into the revelatory.

Genre: Rock
Released: 1970, Warner Bros.
Key Tracks: "Sugar Magnolia," "Truckin'," "Box of Rain," "Friend of the Devil"
Catalog Choice: Live Dead; Workingman's Dead; Dick's Picks, Vol. 4
Next Stop: The Band: Music from Big Pink
After That: Jerry Garcia Band: Live
Book Page: 323

Buy this Recording

Share this page:

Comments:

#1 from Jeff Perkins, Boise, ID - 11/05/2008 11:58

The Grateful Dead’s success was built on their entrancing sets of psychedelic rock, but on top of this foundation were some incredible studio albums. American Beauty broke many of the conventional rules of an album: The first track ("Box of Rain") is sung by Phil Lesh, and the single “Truckin’” is the last track on the album. Yet this album flows, and has a definite beginning, middle, and end, and is a timeless album.

#2 from Adam Herbst, New Jersey - 11/23/2008 9:42

Could easily go to Harry Smith from here.

#3 from Tom Moon - 11/23/2008 9:53

I’ll second the Harry Smith Anthology as a Next Stop. Particularly the “Social Music” section.

Thanks…

1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die

American Beauty

The Grateful Dead

Look Through Any Window . . .

Comments:

Post a Comment:

Browse the List

Browse by Genre

About 1,000 Recordings