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==Release== ''American Beauty'' was released just over four months after ''Workingman's Dead''. The title of the album has a double meaning, referring both to the musical focus on Americana and to the rose that is depicted on the front cover. Around the rose, the album title is scripted as a text [[ambigram]] that can also be read "American Reality".<ref name=RS1/> The back cover features a photograph by George Conger of a diorama containing ferns, roses, a bust, shadowboxes and other curios. To each side of the photo are illustrated panels with a vaguely-shaped guitar, whose strings are also rose stems. The cover artwork was produced by [[Alton Kelley|Kelley]]β[[Stanley Mouse|Mouse]] Studios. "[[Truckin']] ", a blues/boogie-based rock tune with a shuffle rhythm, was also released as a single ([[A-side and B-side|backed with]] "Ripple"), and the songs "[[Box of Rain]]", "[[Sugar Magnolia]]", and "[[Friend of the Devil]]" also received radio airplay.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deaddisc.com/GDFD_Grateful_Dead.htm#s1|title=Grateful Dead Family Discography: The Grateful Dead Discography|website=www.deaddisc.com|access-date=April 4, 2018}}</ref> The single version of "Truckin{{'"}} is a completely different mix, with extra lead guitar fills throughout, [[reverb effect|reverb]] on Weir's vocals, fewer verses, and without Wales's organ part. The autobiographical song became the one most associated with the band, and their track most commonly played on FM radio [[classic rock|classic rock formats]]. In his book on Garcia, Blair Jackson noted that "if you liked rock'n'roll in 1970 but didn't like the Dead, you were out of luck, because they were inescapable that summer and fall".<ref name="multiple" /> ''American Beauty'' peaked at No. 30 on ''Billboard''<nowiki/>'s Pop Albums chart, while the single, "Truckin{{'"}}, peaked at No. 64 on the Pop Singles chart. It was the final album with Mickey Hart until his return to the band four years later, in 1975. Eight of the album's ten songs would remain in live setlists throughout the band's history. The album was remixed for [[5.1 surround sound|5.1 surround]] in 2001 by Mickey Hart. This version is heavy in reverb and bass drum, and received mixed reviews, with one reviewer calling it "musically and sonically goofy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.audiostream.com/content/grateful-dead-complete-studio-albums-collection|title=Grateful Dead: Complete Studio Albums Collection Remastered in HD|date=October 7, 2013|website=audiostream.com|access-date=April 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228134622/http://www.audiostream.com/content/grateful-dead-complete-studio-albums-collection |archive-date=2013-12-28 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was [[remaster]]ed and expanded with eight bonus tracks as part of the box set ''[[The Golden Road (1965β1973)]]'' in 2001. This version was released separately in 2003. A 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of ''American Beauty'' was released as a three-disc CD on October 30, 2020. Disc one is a newly remastered version of the album. Discs two and three are a live concert by the band, recorded on February 18, 1971 at the [[Capitol Theater (Port Chester, New York)|Capitol Theater]] in [[Port Chester, New York]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Eric |last=Torres |date=September 9, 2020 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/grateful-dead-american-beauty-gets-50th-anniversary-reissue/ |title=Grateful Dead's American Beauty Gets 50th Anniversary Reissue |work=Pitchfork |access-date=August 20, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Hal |last=Horowitz |date=October 30, 2023 |url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-grateful-deads-50-anniversary-american-beauty-review/ |title=The Grateful Dead's 50 Anniversary Reissues Continue With 'American Beauty' |work=American Songwriter |access-date=August 20, 2023}}</ref>
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