The Grateful Dead “American Beauty” released 50 years ago today, November 1st, 1970. Classic Americana psychedelic folk-rock, American Beauty was the Dead’s 5th studio record. Their studio work is generally considered sub-par as compared to their live performances but American Beauty is one of their better releases; it hit #30 on the US charts. Some really excellent tracks and favorites including “Friend of the Devil,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Till the Morning Comes,” “Truckin” and one of my all-time faves “Ripple.” The Dead released “Truckin” as a single the same day as American Beauty’s release; it hit #64 in the US (their best-performing single until ‘87′s “Touch of Grey” hit #9) and was one of their most-performed songs in concert. Also notable is “Operator” which was written and sung by Pigpen (Ron McKernan), his only singing and songwriting Dead track on any of their albums (honestly, though, it’s not one of favorites).