"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 albumAmerican 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 wifeNicki 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. The song is largely acoustic, like most of American Beauty. It is known for the guitar riff Garcia plays in the bassregister, which is a descending G major scale. 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 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"
Cover versions
New Riders of the Purple Sage, which featured John Dawson, who along with Jerry Garcia wrote the music, recorded this on their twelfth studio albumKeep On Keepin' On in 1989.
Chris Smither originally released it on his 1972 album Don't Drag it On and covered the song on his live studio album Another Way to Find You, recorded in 1989 and released in 1991.
Loggins and Messina, whose version of the song was slowed down.
Bob Dylan and Tom Petty also both have covered the song in concert, including Petty's 1997 rendition of the track available on his album The Live Anthology and his live performance at 2013's Hangout Festival.
In 2002, Norway's top country-rock band, Hellbillies covered the song on their live albumCool Tur. The song was performed with Norwegian lyrics by Arne Moslåtten and is known as "Hinnmann og eg".
In 2003, Counting Crows included a slower-tempo cover of the song on their compilation albumFilms About Ghosts. While reproducing the acoustic riff, the Counting Crows version also adds electric keyboard and guitar instrumentation at about midway through the song.
In 2008, the song was used in the introduction to an episode of Adult Swim's Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil, sung by the Devil and Terry, the Devil's sentient teratoma.
A version by Lyle Lovett exists on his compilation Here I Am — The Lyle Lovett Collection and on the album . Both were released in 1991.
