American Beauty is the fifth album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between August and September 1970 and originally released in November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. The album continued the folk rock and country music explored on Workingman's Dead and features the lyrics of Robert Hunter prominently.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
History
The band began recording American Beauty only a few months after the release of Workingman's Dead. An odd occurrence was that the band recorded the album without their sound crew, which was out on the road as part of the Medicine Ball Caravan tour (which the Dead were originally scheduled to join), and this led to staff engineer Stephen Barncard replacing Bob Matthews as producer -- "a move that irks Matthews to this day." Barncard mused that "I had heard bad stories about engineers' interactions with the Dead ... but what I found were a bunch of hardworking guys."[1]
Both Workingman's Dead and American Beauty were innovative at the time for their fusion of bluegrass, rock and roll, folk music and, especially, country. Compared to Workingman's Dead, American Beauty had even less lead guitar work from Jerry Garcia, who instead filled the void with shimmering pedal steel guitar passages on both albums. It was during the recording of this album that Garcia would first collaborate with mandolinist David Grisman. "I just bumped into Jerry at a baseball game in Fairfax, and he said, 'Hey, you wanna play on this record we're doing?'" commented Grisman.[2] Phil Lesh, in his autobiography, commented "the magnetism of the scene at Wally Heider's recording studio made it a lot easier for me to deal with Dad's loss and my new responsibilities. Some of the best musicians around were hanging there during that period; with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, the Dead, Santana, Crosby, Nash, and Neil Young working there, the studio became jammer heaven ... Thank the Lord for music; it's a healing force beyond words to describe."[3]
"Truckin'" and "Ripple" were released as a single,[4] and the songs "Box of Rain", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Friend of the Devil" also received radio play. In his book on Garcia, Blair Jackson noted that "if you liked rock'n'roll in 1970, but didn't like the Dead, you were out of luck, because they were inescapable that summer and fall."[2] American Beauty peaked at #30 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart (North America), while the single, "Truckin'", peaked at #64 on the Pop Singles chart and achieved considerable FM rock radio airplay. It is the final album with Mickey Hart until his return to the band four years later in 1975.
Composition
In addition to the songs on this album, "To Lay Me Down" was recorded during these sessions and included on the So Many Roads (1965–1995) box set.
- "Operator"
- Key: F
- Time signature: 4/4
- Chords used: F, C, Dm, Bb, G
"Operator" debuted at Fillmore West in San Francisco on August 18, 1970. It is the last song recorded by Pig Pen McKernan before his death (March 8, 1973).
The song is about a man calling a telephone operator, trying to learn the phone number for a woman.
The House of Blue Lights, referenced in the song, is an actual nightclub in Chicago, Illinois.
- "Candyman"
- Key: C
- Time signature: 4/4 (12/8 feeling)
- Chords used: B-flat, F, C, G, Gm, Dm, Am7
"Candyman" debuted at the Field House in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 3, 1970. Throughout the band's career, the song was almost always played in the first set.
The song opens with "Come all you"; come-all-ye's are a common type of folk song, and variations on the line open many traditional songs.
A "candyman" is, in early 20th century African-American slang, a man who is lusty, and has "got a stick of candy nine inches long" (in many old blues songs, the "candyman" carries a candy bar, intended as a double entendre referring to the penis). In the 1960s, the term also frequently applied to drug dealers.
The line "roll them laughin' bones" probably refers to gambling with dice.
- "Ripple"
- Key: G
- Time signature: 4/4
- Chords used: G, D, C, A, F#, G7, Am
- Cover versions - Chris Hillman, Jane's Addiction, Perry Farrell, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Rick Danko, Dar Williams
Like many folk songs, "Ripple" addresses itself as a song and an instrument of the performers' emotional expression. Several lines throughout the song echo the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.
The signature lines in this song were played by mandolin master David Grisman.
The songwriter, Robert Hunter, wrote this song in 1970 in London in the same afternoon he wrote "Brokedown Palace" and "To Lay Me Down" (reputedly also drinking an entire bottle of retsina in the process). The song debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco.
Among fans, "Ripple" is widely considered one of the best Grateful Dead songs, and is also often cited as one of the most beautiful and poetic songs in popular music[citation needed].
- "Brokedown Palace"
Robert Hunter, the songwriter, wrote this song in 1970 in London in the same afternoon he wrote "Ripple" and "To Lay Me Down". It debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco.
The term "brokedown palace" comes from John Steinbeck's Cannery Row (1945), where it referred to an abandoned warehouse where some bums slept. In 1986, Steven Brust wrote a fantasy novel called Brokedown Palace, which contains many references to Grateful Dead songs.
In the folksong tradition of the British isles and of the Appalachians, the weeping willow is a symbol of mourning for lost love. Many of the lyrics seem adapted from a folk song called "Fare Thee Well".
In later years of touring, the band would frequently play Brokedown Palace as an encore at the last show of a multi-night stand at a particular venue.
- "Till the Morning Comes"
- Key: E
- Time signature: 4/4
- Chords used: E, D, A, G, A7, B
"Till the Morning Comes" debuted at Fillmore East in San Francisco on September 18, 1970. The song was only performed live five times before it was retired.
The line "till we all fall down" refers to the children's song "Ring around the rosey".
- "Attics of My Life"
- Key: E
- Time Signature: 4/4
- Chords used: A, E, B, D
"Attics of My Life" debuted at Meramec Community College, in Kirkwood, Missouri on May 14, 1970.
The lyrics to the song are structured like a prayer, and it is usually sung with harmonic, slow and reverent vocals.
Cover
The title wording on the front cover is an ambigram; it can also be read as "American Reality". [5] The artwork was produced by Mouse-Kelley Studios. It has also been said that if it is looked at upside down and in a mirror it can also be read as "Devils Kingdom".[citation needed] This is called a mirror image, or glass door ambigram.
Critical reception
In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1991, Rolling Stone ranked American Beauty's album cover as the 57th best of all time.[6]
Track listing
- "Box of Rain" (Hunter, Lesh) – 5:18
- "Friend of the Devil" (Garcia, Dawson, Hunter) – 3:24
- "Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter) – 3:19
- "Operator" (Ron McKernan) – 2:25
- "Candyman" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:14
- "Ripple" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:09
- "Brokedown Palace" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:09
- "Till the Morning Comes" (Garcia, Hunter) – 3:08
- "Attics of My Life" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:12
- "Truckin'" (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter) – 5:03
The 2003 Rhino reissue added the following tracks:
- "Truckin'" (Single Edit) – 3:17
- "Friend of the Devil" (Live - May 15, 1970 at Fillmore East in New York City) – 4:21
- "Candyman" (Live - April 15, 1970 at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco) – 5:18
- "Till the Morning Comes" (Live - October 4, 1970 at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco) – 3:20
- "Attics of My Life" (Live - June 6, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco) – 6:31
- "Truckin'" (Live - December 26, 1970 at Legion Stadium in Wilmington, Los Angeles, California) – 10:10
- "Ripple" (Single Version) - 3:02
- "American Beauty Promo" - 1:11
The final two tracks are unlisted. The "American Beauty Promo" is a radio commercial promoting the release of this album.
Personnel
- Grateful Dead
- Jerry Garcia - Guitar, pedal steel guitar on "Sugar Magnolia", "Candyman", and "Brokedown Palace", piano on "Box of Rain", vocals
- Mickey Hart - Percussion
- Robert Hunter - Lyricist
- Phil Lesh - Bass guitar, acoustic guitar on "Box of Rain", piano, vocals
- Bill Kreutzmann - Drum kit
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - Harmonica, vocals
- Bob Weir - Guitar, vocals
- Additional performers
- Production
- Dave Collins - pre-mastering assistants
- Tom Flye - engineer, mixing, mastering supervisor
- Joe Gastwirt - pre-mastering assistants
- Daniel Goldmark - editorial research
- Robin Hurley - producer
- David McLees - executive producer
- Jeffrey Norman - engineers
- Fred Ordower - engineers
- Rudson Shurtliff - engineers
- Design
- Robert Altman - Photography
- Henry Diltz - Photography
- Ginger Dettman - Project assistants
- Herbert Greene - Photography
- Stanley Mouse - Photography, design
- Fred Ordower - Photography
- Steve Pokorny - Project assistants
- Amalie R. Rothschild - Photography
- Steve Woolard - Project assistants
- Reissue production credits
- Greg Allen - Design, reissue art director
- Shawn Amos - Liner note coordination
- Vanessa Atkins - editorial supervision
- James Austin - Reissue producers
- Stephen Barncard - Producer, audio supervisor
- Hugh Brown - Design, reissue art directors
- Jimmy Edwards - Product manager
- David Gans - liner notes, project assistant
- Joe Gastwirt - Mastering, production consultant
- Daniel Goldmark - editorial research
- Rachel Gutek - Design, reissue art directors
- Michael Wesley Johnson - Associate producer
- Eileen Law - Research
- David Lemieux- Reissue producers
- Jo Motta - Project coordinator
- Jeffrey Norman - Mixing
- Gary Peterson - Liner note coordination
- Steve Silberman, Bill Belmont, David Gans, Jeff Gold, Bill Inglot, Blair Jackson, Gary Lambert, Steve Lang, David McLees, Hale Milgrim, Randy Perry, Janette L. Simmons, Owsley "Bear" Stanley - project assistants
Charts
- Album
- Singles
Certifications
Release history
The album was released in a multitude of ways in the years since its original release.[8] In 2001, the CD version was remastered, expanded and was also part of the The Golden Road (1965–1973) 12-CD box set. This version included live and unreleased studio tracks. On October 24, 2004, it was released as a DualDisc recording, including a DVD side with interviews with Mickey Hart and Bob Weir, a photo gallery, and lyrics to all songs. Additionally in 2001 a standalone DVD-Audio version was released including a 5.1 Surround Sound mix. The album - including the re-release bonus tracks - is also available on the iTunes Music Store.
†Re-mastered edition with bonus tracks
References
- ^ Garcia: An American Life by Blair Jackson, Penguin Books, 1999, pg. 196.
- ^ a b Garcia: An American Life by Blair Jackson, Penguin Books, 1999, pg. 202.
- ^ Phil Lesh: Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh, Little, Brown and Company, 2005, pg. 190.
- ^ List of Grateful Dead singles on DeadDisc.com
- ^ Zwerling, Andy. American Beauty review from Rolling Stone, posted on Musical Stew Daily
- ^ http://rateyourmusic.com/list/fedderedder/rolling_stones_100_greatest_album_covers/
- ^ a b c "RIAA Gold & Platinum database-American Beauty". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=American&artist=grateful%20dead&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- ^ "American Beauty at Allmusic.com". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ajm6zeflkhgf3.
The making of American Beauty and Anthem of the Sun are described by former members and associates of the Grateful Dead in the 1997 Classic Albums documentary Anthem to Beauty.
External links
