The Grateful Dead’s most-covered song, “Friend of the Devil,” also uncovers the secret history of American Beauty, including a never-heard demo reel for the album and totally scrapped session tapes newly released as The Angel’s Share, with guests David Grisman, David Nelson, Stephan Barncard, and more.
Friend of the Devil supplementary notes
By Jesse Jarnow
“Friend of the Devil” would become the most-covered Grateful Dead song, and it was the first written for the album that became American Beauty.
Robert Hunter posted the song’s very first draft back in the days when he was the webmaster of this site, part of his handwritten lyrics collection. The lyric site WhiteGum examines some of the different draft variants.
For a famously tight-lipped lyricist, Hunter often used his online journal to tell the stories of songs, like this “Friend of the Devil” entry, posted in 2006 after receiving a phone call from Buddy Cage, Jerry Garcia’s pedal steel replacement in the New Riders of the Purple Sage.
Jerry Garcia played “Friend of the Devil” with many of his side projects, both acoustic and electric. When he reunited with American Beauty mandolinist David Grisman in the ‘90s, “Friend of the Devil” was part of their repertoire, including on an alternate version of the duo’s first album released by Grisman’s Acoustic Disc label. This wonderful David Letterman performance is from 1993.