American Beauty
by Grateful Dead
- Type: Album
- Released: 1 November 1970
- Label: Warner Bros.
- Country: United States
- Length: 42:02
- Community rating: 4.32/5 from 9 ratings
Artists on this release: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann
Album Notes & Community Reviews
'American Beauty' represents the Grateful Dead's full immersion into acoustic-led folk and country-rock, building upon the Americana foundation of their earlier 1970 release, 'Workingman's Dead'. The album's sound is defined by rich vocal harmonies refined with the help of contemporaries Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and an instrumental texture that favors Jerry Garcia's pedal steel guitar and guest David Grisman's mandolin over extended electric guitar solos. Featuring some of the band's most enduring and concise compositions from the Garcia/Hunter partnership alongside key contributions from other band members, the songs weave tales of American life that became cornerstones of their live repertoire and classic rock radio.
Genres
Descriptors: folk, harmonies, acoustic, storytelling, traditional, guitars, melodic
Tracklist
- Box of Rain (05:17)
- Friend of the Devil (03:21)
- Sugar Magnolia (03:17)
- Operator (02:22)
- Candyman (06:10)
- Ripple (04:11)
- Brokedown Palace (04:05)
- Till the Morning Comes (03:07)
- Attics of My Life (05:10)
- Truckin' (05:02)
Credits
- Jerry Garcia - guitar, pedal steel, piano, vocals, lead guitar, lead vocals, pedal steel guitar, vocal harmonies
- Phil Lesh - bass guitar, guitar, piano, vocals, lead vocal on "box of rain", vocal harmonies
- Bob Weir - guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar, vocal harmonies, lead vocal on "sugar magnolia"
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - harmonica, vocals, keyboards, lead vocal on "operator", vocal harmonies, lyrics on "operator"
- Mickey Hart - percussion, drums, engineer, mixing, remix producer, sound design
- Bill Kreutzmann - drums
- David Grisman - mandolin on "friend of the devil" and "ripple"
- Howard Wales - organ on "candyman" and "truckin", piano on "brokedown palace", keyboards
- Ned Lagin - piano on "candyman", keyboards
- Dave Torbert - bass on "box of rain"
- Dave Nelson - electric guitar on "box of rain"
- Robert Hunter - lyrics, songwriter, lyricist
- The Grateful Dead - producer
- Stephen Barncard - producer, audio supervisor, co-producer, engineer [audio]
- Kelley/Mouse Studios - artwork
- George Conger - photography by [rear]