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Home  >  The Grateful Dead  >  American Beauty [Bonus Tracks]

The Grateful Dead

American Beauty [Bonus Tracks]

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Rated Member Rating by WillGilbert on 02/03/2006

When people tell me they don't like the Grateful Dead I usually nod politely, then think less of them. Don't get me wrong--I dislike a lot of the noodly stuff. But this is a perfect record--I daresay as good as any album ever made. The melodies are solid and really pretty, and Robert Hunter's lyrics are great. "Box of Rain" Hunter wrote for Phil Lesh, whose father has just died. And "Ripple" is one of those songs that, if you're anything like me, when you first heard it hear it when you were 13 you thought it might actually have something cosmic truth to convey. I still wonder, actually. Some of the songs veer into territory that borders on what became the cringe-inducing cliche of the Deadhead mantra (which I might sum up as that sort of Californian "It's all good" or "Don't harsh my mellow" mentality)--like Truckin'. A song like "Operator," with it's lyric "I don't know where's she going / I don't care where she's been / Long as she's been doing it right," might be credibly argued to actually codify the best aspect of the aforementioned sensibility. The harmonies throughout American Beauty are fantastic--so great that it seems odd that, if they were capable of singing like this, they never did it again on any other album. The sound the Dead came up with for this album still seems fresh and original. I think it's really a shame that they didn't make more albums like this. Then, come to think of it, there really isn't any such thing as an album like this.
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Album Details

  • Year: 1970
  • Label: Warner Bros.
  • Producer: The Grateful Dead
  • Musicians: Jerry Garcia (Guitar, Piano, Pedal Steel, Vocals), David Grisman (Mandolin), Mickey Hart (Percussion, Drums), Bill Kreutzmann (Drums), Ned Lagin (Piano, Keyboards), Phil Lesh (Bass, Guitar, Piano, Vocals), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals), David Nelson (Guitar), Dave Torbert (Bass), Howard Wales (Organ, Piano, Keyboards), Bob Weir (Guitar, Vocals)

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