Long time out of print, only 1 copy available! Part of a collection purchased from a long-time vinyl enthusiast. The titles from this collection won't last long!
This item not eligible for any further discount offers!
LP condition: Sealed
Jacket condition: Mint
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 215/500!
American Beauty is the most perfectly realized, superbly played, and openly natural folk-rock record ever released. This is a 1970 masterpiece with unrivaled intimacy, realism, detail, and perspective. The Dead might as well be sitting on a Persian carpet right in your living room.
The pinnacle of the Dead's studio output, American Beauty lives up to its nameas well as that of the "American Reality" ambigram on the iconic cover. Airy vocal harmonies blow like fresh breezes. Strummed acoustic guitars amicably intermingle with plaintive percussive beats. Warmth, relaxation, and poignancy envelop the performances and create sensations of bliss, peace, and honesty. Songs flower with majestic melodies and emotionally direct lyrics. It's a rare album that invites and makes you feel, restores one's faith, and renews one's appreciation for all life offers.
The seamless, effortless integration of the group's vocals has always been a high point of American Beauty, and when you hear it here, you'll want every record you own to sound half as good. Every member's distinctive singing resounds with tube-like clarity; the intended expressionism is as plain as day. Instruments, too, resonate in glorious Technicolor. The supple tension of Phil Lesh's bass lines, charismatic timbres of Jerry Garcia's pedal-steel fills, and interwoven dialogue between the pianos and percussion are rendered with lifelike scale and tone.
Made just months after its companion release, Workingman's Dead, the San Francisco legends' second 1970 masterpiece furthers the former work's close-knit relationship between country and folk while adding extra rock and bluegrass currents. Understated amplified passages, graceful melodies, layered singing, and old-time string flavorsincluding mandolin work from masterful guest David Grismanbestow the material with easygoing, comfortable vibes. Again taking advantage of the best songwriting of Robert Hunter's career, the Dead turns in its most collective studio performance, with every individual contributing equally and focusing on nothing but the songs at hand.
Indeed, Garcia doesn't even indulge in a single guitar solo on the record. A majority of fare lacks any significant instrumental breaks. The Dead recorded the foundations (drums, bass, acoustic guitars) of nearly every track live, which helps explain why American Beauty sounds so powerfully rich and clear. Coupled with the band's personal reflections of the circumstances surrounding themBob Weir's parents had died, Garcia's mother and Lesh's father were in the process of passing, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's health was in declinethese characteristics combined to yield a purity of heart that exceeds that managed by Dead peers (and roots revivalist leaders) The Band and Bob Dylan.
From Garcia's breathtaking gospel-laden homage to his mother ("Brokedown Palace") to Lesh's healing salve in the form of the groove-based "Box of Rain," from Weir's jaunty and free-wheeling summer escape "Sugar Magnolia" to McKernan's eloquently simple homespun plea "Operator," all the way to the closing autobiographical anthem "Truckin'," American Beauty feels like the warm, spirit-infusing embrace of a loved one after a long journey away. Welcome home.
Features:
• Mastered Directly from the Original Master Tapes!
• 1/2 Speed Mastered Original Master Recording Series
• Specially Plated and Pressed on JVC's High Definition Super Vinyl
• Special Static Free-Dust Free Inner Sleeve
• Limited Edition
Musicians:
Jerry Garcia, guitar, pedal steel, piano, vocals
Phil Lesh, bass, guitar, piano, vocals
Bob Weir, guitar, vocals
Pig Pen (Ron McKernan), harmonica, vocals
Mickey Hart, percussion
Bill Kreutzmann, drums
Selections:
1. Box Of Rain
2. Friend Of The Devil
3. Sugar Magnolia
4. Operator
5. Candyman
6. Ripple
7. Brokedown Palace
8. Till The Morning Comes
9. Attics Of My Life
10. Truckin'
This item not eligible for any further discount offers!
LP condition: Sealed
Jacket condition: Mint
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 215/500!
American Beauty is the most perfectly realized, superbly played, and openly natural folk-rock record ever released. This is a 1970 masterpiece with unrivaled intimacy, realism, detail, and perspective. The Dead might as well be sitting on a Persian carpet right in your living room.
The pinnacle of the Dead's studio output, American Beauty lives up to its nameas well as that of the "American Reality" ambigram on the iconic cover. Airy vocal harmonies blow like fresh breezes. Strummed acoustic guitars amicably intermingle with plaintive percussive beats. Warmth, relaxation, and poignancy envelop the performances and create sensations of bliss, peace, and honesty. Songs flower with majestic melodies and emotionally direct lyrics. It's a rare album that invites and makes you feel, restores one's faith, and renews one's appreciation for all life offers.
The seamless, effortless integration of the group's vocals has always been a high point of American Beauty, and when you hear it here, you'll want every record you own to sound half as good. Every member's distinctive singing resounds with tube-like clarity; the intended expressionism is as plain as day. Instruments, too, resonate in glorious Technicolor. The supple tension of Phil Lesh's bass lines, charismatic timbres of Jerry Garcia's pedal-steel fills, and interwoven dialogue between the pianos and percussion are rendered with lifelike scale and tone.
Made just months after its companion release, Workingman's Dead, the San Francisco legends' second 1970 masterpiece furthers the former work's close-knit relationship between country and folk while adding extra rock and bluegrass currents. Understated amplified passages, graceful melodies, layered singing, and old-time string flavorsincluding mandolin work from masterful guest David Grismanbestow the material with easygoing, comfortable vibes. Again taking advantage of the best songwriting of Robert Hunter's career, the Dead turns in its most collective studio performance, with every individual contributing equally and focusing on nothing but the songs at hand.
Indeed, Garcia doesn't even indulge in a single guitar solo on the record. A majority of fare lacks any significant instrumental breaks. The Dead recorded the foundations (drums, bass, acoustic guitars) of nearly every track live, which helps explain why American Beauty sounds so powerfully rich and clear. Coupled with the band's personal reflections of the circumstances surrounding themBob Weir's parents had died, Garcia's mother and Lesh's father were in the process of passing, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's health was in declinethese characteristics combined to yield a purity of heart that exceeds that managed by Dead peers (and roots revivalist leaders) The Band and Bob Dylan.
From Garcia's breathtaking gospel-laden homage to his mother ("Brokedown Palace") to Lesh's healing salve in the form of the groove-based "Box of Rain," from Weir's jaunty and free-wheeling summer escape "Sugar Magnolia" to McKernan's eloquently simple homespun plea "Operator," all the way to the closing autobiographical anthem "Truckin'," American Beauty feels like the warm, spirit-infusing embrace of a loved one after a long journey away. Welcome home.
Features:
• Mastered Directly from the Original Master Tapes!
• 1/2 Speed Mastered Original Master Recording Series
• Specially Plated and Pressed on JVC's High Definition Super Vinyl
• Special Static Free-Dust Free Inner Sleeve
• Limited Edition
Musicians:
Jerry Garcia, guitar, pedal steel, piano, vocals
Phil Lesh, bass, guitar, piano, vocals
Bob Weir, guitar, vocals
Pig Pen (Ron McKernan), harmonica, vocals
Mickey Hart, percussion
Bill Kreutzmann, drums
Selections:
1. Box Of Rain
2. Friend Of The Devil
3. Sugar Magnolia
4. Operator
5. Candyman
6. Ripple
7. Brokedown Palace
8. Till The Morning Comes
9. Attics Of My Life
10. Truckin'
