Earlier this year, the Grateful Dead surprise-released Workingman's Dead: The Angel's Share -- their first-ever album of studio tapes -- to accompany the 50th anniversary of Workingman's Dead (which comes with a live album from Port Chester, NY's Capitol Theatre). They're now gearing up to release a 50th anniversary reissue of their other 1970 album, American Beauty (also with a live album from the Cap), on October 30, and today they surprise-released studio tapes from that album too: American Beauty: The Angel’s Share.
The new collection includes stripped-back demos of every song on the album, as well as one for "To Lay Me Down," which later ended up on Jerry Garcia's 1972 solo album Garcia. Also included are all kinds of alternate mixes, takes, studio banter, and more. It's a real treat to hear these now-classic songs in such a raw, primitive form, as you can check out for yourself below. Here's a YouTube playlist of the ten demos, followed by a Spotify stream of the full 56-track album:
Tracklist 1. “Friend Of The Devil” – Demo 2. “Sugar Magnolia” – Demo 3. “Candyman” – Demo 4. “To Lay Me Down” – Demo 5. “Truckin’” – Demo 6. “Hand Me Down” (“Ripple”) – Demo 7. “Brokedown Palace” – Demo 8. “Till the Morning Comes” – Demo 9. “Attics of My Life” – Demo 10. “Operator” – Demo 11. “Box of Rain” – Acoustic Mix 12. “Candyman” – Alternate Take 13. “Truckin’” – Alternate Mix 14. “Operator” (Take 1) [Slated] 15. “Operator” (Take 2 Breakdown) [Slated] 16. “Operator” (Take 3) [Slated] 17. “Operator” (Take 4 Breakdown) [Slated] 18. “Operator” (Take 5) [Misnamed As Take 6] [Slated] 19. “Operator” (Take 6 Breakdown) [Slated] 20. “Operator” (Take 7 Breakdown) [Slated] 21. “Operator” (Take 8) [Slated] 22. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 1 Breakdown) [Slated] 23. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 2 Breakdown) [Slated] 24. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 3 Breakdown) [Slated] 25. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 4 Breakdown) [Slated] 26. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 5) [Slated] 27. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 6) [Slated] 28. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 7) [Slated] 29. “Friend of the Devil” (Arranging Take 1) [Not Slated] 30. “Friend of the Devil” (Arranging Take 2) [Not Slated] 31. “Friend of the Devil” (Arranging Take 3) [Not Slated] 32. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 9 Breakdown) [Slated] 33. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 10 Breakdown) [Slated] 34. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 11) [Slated] 35. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 12 Breakdown) [Slated] 36. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 13) [Not Slated] 37. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 14 Breakdown) [Slated] 38. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 15) [Slated] 39. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 16) [Slated] 40. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 17) [Slated] 41. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 18) [Slated] 42. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 19) [Not Slated] 43. “Friend of the Devil” (Take 20) [Slated] 44. “Attics of My Life” (Take 1) [Slated] 45. “Attics of My Life” (Take 2 Breakdown) [Slated] 46. “Attics of My Life” (Take 3 Breakdown) [Slated] 47. “Attics of My Life” (Take 4 Breakdown) [Slated] 48. “Attics of My Life” (Take 5) [Slated] 49. “Attics of My Life” (Solo Version) 50. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 1 Breakdown] [Slated] 51. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 2 With Vocals] [Slated] 52. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 3] [Slated] 53. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 4] [Slated] 54. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 5 Breakdown] [Slated] 55. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 6 Breakdown] [Slated] 56. “Hand Me Down” (aka “Ripple”) [Take 7] [Slated]
