i like tom cruise's beard.
a little too skinny, but hot!

Pigpen Ron McKiernan had an awfully authentic manly (or should that be man-DOM-ly) look - went well with his cowboy hat and the leather shirt and the eau du Canadian Club...

Jerry Garcia is of course the archetype for the 'Mr. Natural' look...in those early photos of him WITHOUT the beard he looks vaguely unsettling...kind of like looking at someone's face upside down until it appears that their mouth is talking out of their forehead...except in reverse...

David Crosby is another guy who just looks WRONG without the 'stasch... in shots of him being released from prison he looks like a Beverly Hills lawyer gone wrong.

Saw video of ZZ Top yesterday (Crossroads 2004) and Dusty Hill had to throw his beard up over his shoulder like in the song to prevent knitting it into his bass strings...but maybe them's be's a gimmick.

My fave gimmick hirstutely accessory: the guy from Sparks. Can't figger out why THAT manly look never quite made it to the disco floor...

The two Dead beards you cite, Telewacker are definitely manly and gimmick free, but can you take them out to a 5-start restaurant? Does it combine natural manliness with social graces? The versatility of Levon's beard gives it the edge. That and the elusive mustache definition within the beard framework.

Speaking of which, I got Levon's new album Dirt Farmer this weekend. It's beautiful, and I'm not sure why I resisted getting it at first. His voice has a shaky edge to it now that is very affecting.

Among the current crop of beards, I like Sam Beam's (Iron & Wine). A little long for the five-star restaurant test, but he's a soft-spoken southern boy, and you know he'd behave himself in that setting.

A recent discussion here reminded me of someone who goes too far in the direction of grooming for the five-star restaurant and falls off the natural manliness cliff: http://www.andrewgold.com/agfirstlp.gif.

In a related facial-hair post:

http://sports.aol.com/mlb/facial-hair

Gold not only lost all mustache:beard definition, but his hair blends into that beard. Man, that's a funny image, BigSteve. Thanks for pointing out how it can ALL go wrong.

I've got to pick up that Levon album. I, too, have avoided it, but recently I heard a couple of songs and they were affecting.

Specifically, it’s the unique concave slope of Helms’ moustache – as opposed to the standard convex slope your average beard enthusiast sports – that makes the overall beard work.

Before this goes any further, though, you’re going to have to address the Michael McDonald situation. A robust, manly beard that that could also be repurposed to indicate his soulfulness. Unless you’re going to try to throw it out as a gimmick beard, you need to make a call on Sweet Freedom-era McDonald, where he tamed the early power of his beard just in time to feature the new dusting of white around the edge. This wasn’t just a nice salt-and-pepper beard, go take a look at that thing, it was on a whole other level, like an inverted Mt. Kilimanjaro, and every bit as natural and majestic.

five star restaurant?

well, maybe not quite 5 star, but check out robert lamm's gimmick free beard, by contrast, totally out-badassed AND out gimmicked ultimate gimmick bearder pete cetera (:50 secs) et. al. in this youtube ca. '72.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UTFD1C4tVIg

Yeah, and Cetera's Easter Island necklace is totally over the line.

You're referring to this beard, Alexmagic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PAxl8_pB_k

It's hard to fault McDonald's beard, although as time went on he would fall to singing through it. The beard filter is a tempting, impressive effect, but after its initial appeal you'll find that a lot of good tones get stuck in the beard.

Bob Mould has been doing the just barely longer than stubble thing for a while, which I don't like. Too much grooming to achieve an ungroomed Look. But recently it looks like he's going for the fuller grey-bearded Look. I think it suits his voice. The new Look can be seen in this interview clip: http://www.newnownext.com/2008/03/post-10.html

Wow, that Mould beard is definitely fit for a night out on the town as much as it is for chopping wood. Keeper, but not quite as majestic as Levon's beard. Do we just hand Levon the belt this easily?

I doubt that you're going to top Levon for majesty. here's a shot of the late but always bearded John Peel celebrating Record Store Day early: http://www.roots-and-branches.com/John%20Peel%20record%20shop.jpg.

I was trying to find a good shot of the usually very hirsute Kinks bassist John Dalton, but I came up with what looks like a mid-70s shot of the Kinks with not only John the Baptist bearded as always but also Dave with a full beard. Would you bring these guys to a restaurant of any stars?

Damn, forgot the Kinks link:
http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/images/artist/k/kinks/az_official/281x211.jpg

I'm giving the nod to the Sunflower/Surfs Up era Beach Boys.

Alexmagic said that Michael McDonald's beard is like an inverted Mt. Kilimanjaro, and every bit as natural and majestic.

An inverted Mt. Kilimanjaro indeed would be an awesome site, though it certainly would not be natural. It would be deeply disturbing, as beautiful as nuclear mushroom cloud. Frightening, and yet you couldn't not stare, immobilized. And perhaps this gets closer to the true character of the McDonald beard. It certainly would get him seated immediately by the maitre'd. Still, I'm partial to Helm's Spanish nobleman/musketeer look.

True, I used natural there to mean that – like the normal, right-side-up Kilimanjaro – McDonald’s beard was a legitimate wonder of nature and not man-made. Evidence of Intelligent Design in facial hair.

Not a contender to knock off Levon Helm, but a beard-related Look issue maybe worth mentioning: Was it Brett Nelson who had that really solid, respectable beard in some Built To Spill band photos, almost as if to act as a support structure for that take-no-prisoners, Alan Moore/James Garfield thing on Doug Martsch? I like the idea of that, coordinating complimentary facial hair within a band regardless of who plays what. Rhythm Beard?

The Ultimate Rhythm Beard = Carl Wilson

Some great, gimmick-free beards have been mentioned so far - and I do love the idea of the Rhythm Beard (Glossary term, Alexmagic???) - but just Tvox' characterization of Helms' "Spanish nobleman/musketeer look" alone keeps Levon in the lead!

Don't forget Tom Petty is currently bearded, though I liked it better when he didn't dye it:

http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/temporaryimages/tm95763.jpg

I nominate "Let it Be" era Paul McCartney for the beard most wanting to please

I almost forgot, Gov. Bill Richardson's beard rocks.

If he'd had the beard when he was running, I might have voted for him. Well, I wouldn't have -- for all his good qualities, word around my old stomping grounds is that he's notoriously handsy with the ladies, and I'm not living through THAT nightmare again -- but there is no question that Bill Richardson is sporting the best beard not only in politics, but in America as a whole.