Sources

Rock Concert Audiences. Kevin Mattson. Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America. Ed. Gary S. Cross. Vol. 2.  Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. p221-224. Word Count: 1602.

The Grateful Dead. Josephine A. McQuail. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 2.  Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. p291-294. Word Count: 2448.

"Robert Hunter's Thoughts on American Beauty." SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, Carnegie Mellon. <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mleone/gdead/hunter-on-american-beauty.html>.

Larger Questions

              Pop music is art. Yet, it is art that can be more readily consumed than traditional forms of art such as paintings and sculptures. It is recorded and mass produced to sell millions of copies of records. Today even the music of the 1960's is embed in mp3 form and downloaded in vast quantities from and over the internet. The most valuable art is that that cannot be easily reproduced. Pop music can be readily reproduced, as we see in its frequent exchange, but it is not sound that can be easily reproduced. The Grateful Dead, for instance, recorded American Beauty during wild acid trips. The lyrics were written under the influence of LSD. Their journey of production was not hidden; it was right out in the open, at the free concerts they played for fans. Today, this would not happen. The same drugs that inspired the sounds of American Beauty are illegal today, and artists charge their fans large sums to put on performances. The tracks of American Beauty synthesized the sounds of several instruments. The combination of musical instruments and vocals are aesthetically-rich; pop music is the result of the creative blending of multiple tools.
               We can treat pop music as art by searching for deeper meaning within it, such as in the context of a high school classroom. Literature courses traditionally require students to further examine the pages of a book, but the study of music requires students to open their ears instead of their eyes to discover the significance of the words. The music of the 1960's can be more easily studied in a college classroom than in a high school classroom. The content of the psychedelic movement is mature; now illegal drugs were a central focus, and people expressed themselves very freely sexually. High school students still live with their parents and feel as if administration is always watching and recording every move. High schools enforce stricter rules and policies regarding expression than do colleges. A higher education setting would lend looser discussions in which students would be comfortable to discuss the culture during the 1960's.
              American poetry loses its position in American life as a vital public voice, and is subsequently replaced by pop music. This music is a less formal means of expression, but it is representative of the times. The culture was becoming more casual. The Second Vatican Council of the 1960's lessened the formality of the Roman Catholic Church, causing it to be more accepting and open. Standards became not as strict. Pop music was the new vehicle of the generation; it was freer than the written poetry before. Words were sung aloud to instrumental melody instead of read stanza by stanza. Modern innovations such as new recording technology and drugs shifted the public voice to speak through pop music. The vehicle of our generation is the internet, particularly social media. The aesthetic-poetic vehicle of each generation changes. The late 1950's and early 1960's witnessed the Beat poets, today we witness the Internet, and in the late 1960's pop music was the star of the show.

An Interview with Daniel Bell, a Grateful Dead Fan

Q: What is your favorite track on the album American Beauty?  Why is this song your favorite?

A: I love the album American Beauty so it's hard to say which is my favorite track!  I would probably say that "Friend of the Devil" is my favorite.  The song has a different feel to a lot of the rest of the album.  It is very upbeat and almost makes you want to dance!  I like how the song continues to build up its happy mood - the beginning is empty in essence but then the drums and other instruments start to come in gradually, slowly building up the song.  I also enjoy the use of the mandolin in the song.  Overall, the song puts me in a great mood and always manages to lift my spirits when I'm feeling down.

Q: Is American Beauty your favorite album of the Grateful Dead?  Or is there another album that you enjoy more?

A: I wouldn't say that I have a particular favorite album of the Grateful Dead.  So many of the albums speak to me in different ways.   American Beauty is most definitely one of my favorites, though.  While I enjoy rock and roll, I live and breath country and folk music.  American Beauty is a fusion of all the music that I love.  Though Grateful Dead is a predominantely a rock and roll band, this album fuses together bluegrass, folk and country music - a perfect blend! 

Q: Even though this album was released in the early 70's, would you say it embodies the ideals of the 60's era?

A:  I would say that certainly there are parts of the album that embody the characteristics of the 1960's.  But you are sure to find many songs that truly embody the heart and soul of rock and roll.  Many of the themes and messages of these songs are very typical of a rock and roll song.  "Till' The Morning Comes" for instance, talks of a woman being 'easy' which has a heavy sexual connotation.  Though some of their lyrics were typical of a rock and roll band, American Beauty exemplifies a psychedelic sort of album.  The mix of all different types of music genres puts the listener or "deadhead" in a different sort of world, confusing them and mixing up their senses. 

Q: Do you have a favorite band member of the Grateful Dead?  If so, who?

A: While I love them all, I have to admit that my favorite band member of the Grateful Dead is Jerry Garcia.  Garcia, being the lead vocalist and often times lead guitarist was so inspirational to me when  I was much younger.  Like many of the band members, Jerry was from San Francisco, my hometown.  When he was in the army he was based at the Presidio, an old army base that was located right near my house!  At a few of the Grateful Dead concerts that I went to, I was astounded by his guitar genius.  I was truly inspired by his amazing improvisation and ability to be such a hero to so many young people. 

Q: Were you heavily influenced by the Grateful Dead and the general rock and psychedelic culture during the 60's/70's?  If so, how?

A:  The rock culture during the 1960's and 70's was a revolution, or at least it felt like it at the time!  As a young kid during this era, I felt just by listening to a Grateful Dead album like American Beauty like I was apart of a cultural phenomenon.  Though I did not attend the Summer of Love in San Francisco or use hallucinogenic drugs, I wanted so much for the hippies to succeed with their message of peace and love.  I have not stopped listening to the Grateful Dead even now 50 years later.  Their empowering message and thrilling music are still apart of my life today. 

Power of the Dead

In this comment sharing page of the Grateful Dead's website, the Dead ask their fans to share personal accounts of how their songs helped change their lives. This discussion was catalyzed by the production of the feature film The Music Never Stopped which tells the story of an estranged father and son reconnecting through the power of the Grateful Dead's music.

"Share Your Stories of Healing With the Dead"

In Setting of Academic Study

American Beauty by the Grateful Dead surely represents the psychedelic experience which captured the attention of  Americans in the late 1960's and early 1970's. It continues to demand our attention today, as we have devoured the music and literature of this period, fascinated by the hippies' alternate way of life. This period deserves a place in academic study. It was a parallel movement to the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement, both controversial series of events which shook America forever. We learn in traditional American history courses about the politics of the Cold War and the fight for equality amongst all U.S. citizens, but without learning about the psychedelic movement we would completely ignore a major perspective of the time. A true education takes into account multiple perspectives. In order to be fully informed about the late 1960's and early 1970's the pop music created then should be studied. It grew into a strong form of expression, lending insight about the mood of the U.S. at the time. Pop music belongs in a course of the 20th century. Zeroing in the music in a course on just the 1960's undermines the psychedelic movement's role in the general course of history. The U.S. went to fight in Vietnam because of communism fear which began way before the 1960's. African-American citizens were discriminated for numerous years before the Civil Rights Movement sparked. The pent up frustration of African-American citizens from years of discrimination is what caused the movement to be so strong. Furthermore, the psychedelic movement affected the future. Cultural shifts to a more conservative society ensued later. Today the drugs of the 1960's are illegal because of the dangers they were found to cause during the period the pop music was recorded. Pop music should be studied in a course of the 20th century. It provides context to the history of America. Multiple mediums should be utilized: music, film and literature, however challenging it may be. Using multiple mediums requires constant shift of focus. The 1960's were crazy and all over the place, so studying it should be no different.

Sugar Magnolia

SUGAR MAGNOLIA

Sugar Magnolia, blossoms blooming
Heads all empty and I don't care
Saw my baby down by the river
Knew she'd have to come up soon for air

Sweet blossom, come on under the willow (note 1)
We can have high times if you'll abide
We can discover the wonders of nature
Rolling in the rushes down by the riverside

She's got everything delightful (note 1)
She's got everything I need
Takes the wheel when I'm seeing double
Pays my ticket when I speed

She comes skimming through rays of violet
She can wade in a drop of dew
She don't come and I don't follow
Waits backstage while I sing to you

She can dance a Cajun rhythm (note 1)
Jump like a Willys in four wheel drive
She's a summer love in the spring, fall and winter
She can make happy any man alive

Sugar Magnolia
Ringing that bluebell
Caught up in sunlight
Come on out singing and I'll walk you in the sunshine
Come on honey, come along with me

She's got everything delightful (note 1)
She's got everything I need
A breeze in the pines and the sun and bright moonlight
Lazing in the sunlight, yes indeed

Sometimes when the cuckoo's crying
When the moon is half way down
Sometimes when the night is dying
I take me out and I wander around
I wander round

Sugar Magnolia is definitely the most upbeat of the songs on the album. Robert Hunter describes it as a reaffirmation of the important business of just getting stupid and being in love. The Grateful Dead were active in the acid test organized by Ken Kesey in San Francisco. The documentary Summer of Love 1967 showed the crowds of hippies wandering through the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood without clear intent. It was the summertime so the crowds were composed of college students on summer vacation from school and of the genuine hippies who did not attend to any formal obligations like school or work at all. They were certainly "getting stupid" with the aid of LSD and other drugs, catapulting them into alternate states of consciousness where they claimed to discover higher meaning. Affection was rampant; people were caught making love in the streets. The hippies were all about love, so "Sugar Magnolia" perfectly represents the love that was in the air. The woman sung as "she" is described as the ideal partner, especially with the lines "she's got everything delightful. She's got everything I need." The hippies had everything they needed in each other and would "wander round."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkKuhAxcH7g 

Perspective on Truckin'

Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, and Robert Hunter explain their song "Truckin'," the concluding track of American Beauty. They recorded and produced it without commercial success in mind. "The music we were making had some value to us and to the world that we lived in," says Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead, like the hippies, cared more about meaning and their own personal communities than they did about the world outside. Artistic value was of paramount importance.