Grateful Dead show on July 17, 1989 at Alpine Valley.

Amazon.com This installment of the Classic Albums series follows the making of two Grateful Dead albums, the fiercely experimental Anthem of the Sun and the understated masterwork American Beauty, which spawned melodic gems like "Sugar Magnolia" and "Ripple." Between the archival scenes and contemporary interviews with band members, the DVD shows a band making seismic inroads in pop music--and five young guys coming to terms with artistry, mortality, and, yes, the pursuit of happiness. There is priceless footage of Neal Cassady driving Ken Kesey's bus and of the Dead, surrounded by martini-sipping hipsters, on Playboy After Dark. The best scenes involve band members talking about specific songs (you will never hear Phil Lesh's "Box of Rain" again without thinking of it as a gift to his dying father) or deconstructing a tune by playing each track separately. Intimate and surprisingly cohesive, Anthem to Beauty is a rare glimpse into how the Dead's magic was made. --Anne Hurley Product Description This program looks at the span of the Grateful Dead's music from 1968's "ANTHEM OF THE SUN", which was a hybrid of a live and studio album, and the 1970 country-styled album "AMERICAN BEAUTY". The story is told through new and vintage interviews with band members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, and Mickey Hart, guest musicians, and lyricist Robert Hunter, along with home movies from the Grateful Dead's own archive. Features many classic Dead tunes including: "Truckin'", Mountains Of The Moon", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Box Of Rain".

A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster's fabled road trip across America.

Hey now, I think I have watched this movie about 200 times. Really. But it's not just because I'm a Deadhead. It's not just because the time filmed is during one of my favorite GD years, 1974. And it's not just because they have full versions of Morning Dew and GDTRFB on it. The reason I have watched this movie so many times is because it is food for your mind and soul. ( You can add body if you like to boogie during the film.) It weaves the many layers that make up a Dead show into a cohesive whole. Rather than just show concert footage, the movie dives into the hearts and lives of both the audience and the band members. We get to see pre, during, and post-show activities, as well as interesting insights from the band members. The film also does the best attempt of all released Dead videos of capturing "it" -- that unexplainable, natural force at work which can make the experience transcedent for those in attendance. The mixture of five different cameras and how close they get to the band help aid in their attempt to "explain the unexplainable." The highlight of the film is definitely the "Morning Dew", from 10-18-74, right out of a beautiful Dark Star. Jerry made a wonderful decision to have Morning Dew be shown in its entirety. To this day, I still get chills when listening to the climax of that piece. For Deadheads, this film is essential...but what makes it so respected is that the "uninformed" consumer can just as easily access this movie and see what life was like for a bunch of beatniks from San Francisco. Mike Hanley