The Grateful Dead’s ‘American Beauty’ Turns 50

This week on the WPDH Album of the week, we'll feature the fifth studio album from the Grateful Dead, American Beauty.

American Beauty was released 50 years ago this week on November 1, 1970, by Warner Brothers Records. The album was released only four months after their previous album, Workingman's Dead.

The title of the album refers to two things, the band's focus on Americana and the rose depicted on the cover. Around the rose, the title of the album is scripted as a text ambigram that also can be read as "American Reality".

Singles from the album include Truckin', Sugar Magnolia, and Friend of the Devil.

The band kept the Americana sound, but on this particular album, they focused on folk harmonies. Once the album was released it entered the Billboard 200 chart and would end up peaking at number 30, staying on the charts for 19-weeks, according to Wikipedia.

In 1974, American Beauty would be certified gold by RIAA and more recently has achieved double-platinum status. American Beauty is ranked on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all-time at number 215.

The album had ten songs in total, years later reissues included additional tracks. Eight of the ten songs would remain in the band's live setlist throughout their career.

The tracklisting for American Beauty:

Side One: