NOSTALGIA G̰r̰a̰t̰ḛf̰ṵl̰ ̰ ̰D̰ead-- A̰m̰ḛrican Beauty-- Full Album 1970

 

Box of Rain – (Robert Hunter e Phil Lesh) 00:00 Friend of the Devil – (John Dawson, Jerry Garcia, e Hunter) 05:18 Sugar Magnolia – (Hunter e Bob Weir) 08:43 Operator – (Ron McKernan) 12:02 Candyman – (Garcia e Hunter) 14:28 Ripple – (Garcia e Hunter) 20:42 Brokedown Palace – (Garcia e Hunter) 24:52 Till the Morning Comes – (Garcia e Hunter) 29:01 Attics of My Life – (Garcia e Hunter) 32:10 Truckin' – (Garcia, Hunter, Lesh, e Weir) 37:23 Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia – guitar, pedal steel, piano, vocals Mickey Hart – percussion Robert Hunter – lyrics Bill Kreutzmann – drums Phil Lesh – bass guitar, guitar, piano, vocals Pigpen (Ron McKernan) – harmonica, vocals, lyrics on "Operator" Bob Weir – guitar, vocals Additional musicians David Grisman – mandolin on "Friend of the Devil", "Ripple" David Nelson – electric guitar on "Box of Rain" Ned Lagin – piano on "Candyman" Dave Torbert – bass guitar on "Box of Rain" Howard Wales – organ on "Candyman", "Truckin'"; piano on "Brokedown Palace" Technical personnel Produced by Grateful Dead Co-producer, audio: Stephen Barncard Dave Collins – pre-mastering assistance Artwork: Kelley/Mouse Studios Rear photo: George Conger Reissue personnel James Austin – producer David Lemieux – producer Peter McQuaid – executive producer Michael Wesley Johnson – associate producer, research coordinator Archival research: Eileen Law – archival research Cassidy Law – project coordinator Eric Doney – business affairs Nancy Mallonee – business affairs Malia Doss – business affairs Dennis McNally – Grateful mentor Jeffrey Norman – additional mixing Joe Gastwirt – mastering, production consultant Jimmy Edwards – project manager Joe Motta – project coordinator Gary Peterson – discography annotation Shawn Amos – liner notes coordinator Vanessa Atkins – editorial supervision Daniel Goldmark – editorial research Hugh Brown – reissue art direction Greg Allen – reissue art direction Rachel Gutek – reissue art direction Design: Rachel Gutek – design Greg Allen – design American Beauty was released just over four months after Workingman's Dead. The title of the album has a double meaning, referring both to the musical focus on Americana and to the rose that is depicted on the front cover. Around the rose, the album title is scripted as a text ambigram that can also be read "American Reality".[21] The back cover is a George Conger photograph of a diorama containing ferns, roses, a bust, shadowboxes and other curios. To each side of the photo are illustrated panels with a vaguely-shaped guitar, whose strings are also rose stems. The cover artwork was produced by Kelley–Mouse Studios. "Truckin'," a blues/boogie-based rock tune with a shuffle rhythm, was also released as a single (backed with "Ripple"), and the songs "Box of Rain", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Friend of the Devil" also received radio airplay. The single version of "Truckin'" is a completely different mix, with extra lead guitar fills throughout, reverb on Weir's vocals, fewer verses, and without Wales's organ part. The autobiographical song became the one most associated with the band, and their track most commonly played on FM radio classic rock formats. 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". American Beauty peaked at No. 30 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart, while the single, "Truckin'", peaked at No. 64 on the Pop Singles chart. It was the final album with Mickey Hart until his return to the band four years later, in 1975. Eight of the album's ten songs would remain in live setlists throughout the band's history. The album was remixed for 5.1 surround in 2001 by Mickey Hart. This version is heavy in reverb and bass drum, and received mixed reviews.[23] It was remastered and expanded with eight bonus tracks, as part of the box set The Golden Road (1965–1973) in 2001. This version was released separately in 2003