November 1st marks the anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s classic album “American Beauty”, a masterpiece fusion of rock, folk, country and bluegrass music. This recording was the companion piece of the band’s “Workingman’s Dead”, also released in 1970. The Dead’s fifth studio album was hailed as its best album to date, primarily due to the band using more folk harmonies and major-key melodies. At that time, critics said the album was heavily influenced by Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
And the album still stands the test of time, with gems like “Friend of the Devil”, “Ripple”, “Sugar Magnolia”, “Truckin;” and “Box of Rain”. One would be hard-pressed to find a Dead tribute band that didn’t play some of these classic cuts during their set.
To celebrate the album’s half-century mark, below are some interesting things about the album that you may be unaware of–unless you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Deadhead. To wit:
–After a chance encounter at a baseball game, mandolinist David Grisman was asked by vocalist/guitarist Jerry Garcia to play on the album.
–While recording the album, other musicians would drop by the studio including Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick and Paul Kantner, Santana, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Neil Young.
–New Riders of the Purple Sage had a prominent presence on the album: band members David Nelson and Dave Torbert played on “Box of Rain” and vocalist/guitarist John “Marmaduke” Dawson was given a songwriting credit for “Friend of the Devil”. Garcia, bassist Phil Lesh and drummer Mickey Hart returned the favor by playing on NRPS’ debut album. Garcia also briefly toured with NRPS before giving up this side project to focus more on the Dead.
–The title of the album was created as a text ambigram that can also be read as “American Reality”.
–The album was produced after Hart’s father, who was the band’s manager, renewed the band’s contract with its record label without their knowledge and disappeared with “a sizeable chunk of the band’s wealth.”
–Eight of the album’s 10 songs were part of the band’s live setlists thoughout its history.
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