Friend of the Devil

"Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album American Beauty.

According to band confederate Amy Moore, the song was partially inspired by rakish Grateful Dead road manager/advance man Rock Scully and his entanglements with various women, including longtime common-law wife Nicki Scully; the "child" invoked in the penultimate verse was a homage to Acacia Scully, a child from Nicki Scully's previous relationship who was adopted by the manager.[1]

The song is largely acoustic, like most of American Beauty. It is known for the guitar riff Garcia plays in the bass register, which is a descending G major scale (G F# E D C B A G). The song is among the most covered songs written by the Grateful Dead; Hunter later stated, "that was the closest we've come to what may be a classic song."

The song was introduced in concert on March 20th, 1970 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. Following the group's October 1974-June 1976 touring hiatus, the song was performed in a significantly slower arrangement with extended guitar and keyboard solos. Loggins and Messina, whose version of the song was slowed down, might have inspired the Dead to do the same. In more recent history, Phil Lesh and Friends have performed a more uptempo version similar to the original.

Hunter plays a slightly different version on his album (released only in LP format) Jack O'Roses. He adds a final verse:

"You can borrow from the Devil/ You can borrow from a friend/ But the Devil'll give you twenty/ When your friend got only ten"