Day #22 - Friend of the Devil

Robert Hunter said of Friend of the Devil, “that was the closest we’ve come to what may be a classic song”. Nah, it’s closer than that. It is a classic, and one I’ve struggled to play. Trying to get the descending G major scale right, has been a struggle. Today I got pretty close on the first take. That descending scale is the signature of the song.

The song was written by Garcia, Hunter and John “Marmaduke” Dawson of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. It’s the second track on “American Beauty” which was released the day before my 16th birthday, November 1, 1970. The song has been covered many, many times by a variety of artists. One of my favorite covers is by Lyle Lovett on the Dead tribute album “Deadicated”. I personally witnessed Counting Crows perform the song acoustically at the 2013 RISE conference in Seattle. Thanks to Terry Janssen for convincing the sound engineer at that show to send him a digital recorded of the concert so we can have that version for eternity.

I did my best here and hope you enjoy. See you tommorw.