0377. The Grateful Dead
American Beauty

While many (most?) might think that the Grateful Dead were psychedelic zombies, druggin' and jammin' their way across America to the tune of spaced-out music they actually had a very nice album output (and prolific, there's like one-hundred-and-thirty of the buggers). And while I can't say I'm all that swept away by it, this is nice music in the truest sense of the word.

The music's friendly, the singing's full of sunshine (even when the lyrics are overcast) and it's like hanging out with an old pal even though I've never heard this album before. Jerry Garcia, Pigpen and the rest of the gang sort of just hangs out in your ears for a while.

American Beauty is pure Americana - and it's also controversial, as some fundies' see the track Friend Of The Devil (telling the story of an outlaw forging a deal with the Devil to evade capture, but ends up being chased by Old Nick) as Satanic propaganda. Fundamentalists are silly.