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Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

by 62 Comments

What does it sound like?:

(see review below)

What does it all *mean*?

It means that Dave Lemieux hasn’t quite run out of GD archive material to release.

Goes well with…

Several hundred other Grateful Dead CDs

Release Date:

10 July 2020

Might suit people who like…

“The Grateful-goddamned-Dead”

3

Comments

  1. In the space of 5 months in 1970, the Grateful Dead released the two most acclaimed and best-loved studio albums of their career. The two records were very much of a piece, enjoying widespread popularity well beyond the normal Deadhead circles. The second album of the two was “American Beauty”, while the first is the album that is now celebrating its golden jubilee: “Workingman’s Dead”.

    The change in musical style seen in these albums is reflected immediately in the front cover design of “Workingman’s Dead”. Gone is the garish psychedelia of Aoxomoxoa, and instead we have a downbeat, fuzzy, sepia-toned shot of the band on Evans Avenue, San Francisco: Bill Kreuzmann slouched in a corner doorway, and the rest of the band, plus lyricist Robert Hunter, lined up along the sidewalk, waiting, presumably for the “bus to never-ever-land”. The photo says “Americana”, and of course the music does, too.

    The story of how “Workingman’s Dead” was written and recorded is pretty familiar by now. Robert Hunter had penned a set of short, old-timey song lyrics that were just begging for some simple folk tunes and some decent vocals. In the studio, Garcia, Weir and Lesh were coached in harmony singing by Stephen Stills and David Crosby. It worked well – maybe a bit too well, one might say, as, over the years, the tight harmonies on, say, High Time and Cumberland Blues proved rather difficult to reproduce live.

    If you’re not keen on the Dead’s 4-hour live shows of interminable jamming and noodling, you may still find plenty to like in “Workingman’s Dead”: the stately ballad Black Peter, the gentle bluegrassy swing of Dire Wolf, and the supremely catchy Casey Jones. The latter could easily have been a mainstream hit single, but for the fact that the lyrics feature the word “cocaine” very prominently, every few seconds. Best of all is the album’s opening track, Uncle John’s Band – the Dead song that first hooked me decades ago, starting my own personal odyssey with the band. They played it live 332 times in all, and somehow, when I listen to a Dead show, it’s always the track I look forward to most.

    Six out of the eight songs on “Workingman’s Dead” would serve the Dead well as regular staples of their live set until the band’s demise in 1995. The only exceptions were the Pigpen-sung Easy Wind, which was given the elbow definitively in mid-1971, and New Speedway Boogie, which was abandoned in September 1970 and lay dormant for 21 years before enjoying a surprise resurrection at the Oakland show on 19 February 1991.

    And so now we have this 50th anniversary issue of the album. When details of package were released earlier this year, they got a lukewarm reception from the notoriously picky Deadhead community. They’d been expecting hours and hours of outtakes from the “Workingman’s Dead” sessions, and …. there weren’t any. None at all. This particular riddle was resolved a couple of weeks ago, when 2½ hours’ worth of studio outtakes available for streaming were announced, under the title of “The Angel’s Share”.

    https://lnk.to/theangelsshare

    So, what physical product can one buy to celebrate the album’s half-century from those nice people at dead.net? Well, one item that caught my eye was the workingman’s dog coat, which makes an ideal gift for your Dead-loving canine friend. It’s a smart coat – considerably smarter, it must be said, than any coat worn by the members of the band on the album cover.

    https://store.dead.net/special-edition-shops/workingman-s-dead-collection/workingman-s-dog-coat-5.html

    And then, for a mere $120, there’s the serious-looking Workingman’s Dead hatchet, which makes an ideal gift for any deadheads that … erm … have a need to chop up some wood.

    https://store.dead.net/special-edition-shops/workingman-s-dead-collection/workingman-s-dead-tarnaby-hatchet.html

    And finally, then, there is this 50th anniversary 3CD set. Disc one is …. well, it’s just the original album. That’s it. Every self-respecting deadhead will already have it in every format imaginable. Is it any good? Yes it’s good (but it must be said that “American Beauty”, five months later, would be even better). And so the meat of the package is the live show that makes up discs 2 and 3. Given that “Workingman’s Dead” was released on 14 June 1970, one might expect a show from the summer or early autumn of that year which showcases the album’s folksongs in an acoustic setting. But do we get such a show? We do not. Instead, we get the 21 February 1971 gig from the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York state. It’s a show that has little, if any, connection with “Workingman’s Dead”. Of the 23 tracks played, only four are from the album. Indeed, one might say that the Port Chester show is even too late to showcase “American Beauty”, as by that time, the band were already playing material like Bertha and Wharf Rat that feature on the NEXT album, “Skull and Roses”.

    The show was the fourth night of a famous six-concert run in seven days in Port Chester. And it was only the band’s third as a slimmed-down five-piece following the abrupt departure of drummer Mickey Hart after the first show of the run. The most celebrated gig of the six, 19 February, was issued as a standalone package back in 2007, under the title “Three From the Vault”. And so with one show already released, Dead archivist David Lemieux could hardly turn the complete Port Chester run into a lavish 12CD box set. So there was no harm in putting out a second show from the run as bonus material on another release. The vibe is very much “this is an OK show … will this do?”.

    As it happens, I rather like this show; it’s a decent setlist, well-played and thoroughly worthwhile, apart, perhaps for the band’s first attempt at “Ripple”, which they cock up so badly they have to start again. 1971 versions of China>Rider, Bertha, Loser are always enjoyable. Strangely, I find myself drawn most of all to the three shorter Pigpen-sung tracks: the bluesy Next Time You See Me, a terrific Easy Wind, and that old Slim Harpo chestnut I’m a King Bee. The show doesn’t have any classic Dead jam vehicles like That’s it for the Other One or Dark Star, but Good Lovin’ is given a 17-minute workout, including the obligatory ‘Drums’ section and one of Pigpen’s extended proto-raps.

    But the fact remains that if you want to hear fantastic acoustic performances of the Workingman’s Dead tracks performed live, 6 weeks before the album came out, then look no further than Dick’s Picks Vol. 8, the Binghampton, NY concert from 2 May 1970. This is an absolute solid gold, five-star classic Dead show which I can recommend unreservedly [actually, it’s not the entire show, as it omits an absolutely shambolic, out-of-tune version of Cold Rain and Snow].

    The internet, and indeed the world, is awash with Grateful Dead live recordings. Deadheads have been spoilt rotten for the past 25 years. You could spend your entire life listening to Dead live shows, and of course some people do just that. In that context, this 50th anniversary edition of “Workingman’s Dead” is inessential – presuming, of course, that you already have some version of the original album at home. Deadheads will be hoping for something a little more inspiring when the golden jubilee of “American Beauty” rolls around in a few months’ time. The nice thing about deciding not to purchase a Grateful Dead archival recording is that there’s no need to worry – there’ll be another one along in no time. As Bob Weir used to say to the audience at the end of the first set, as the band ambled off for the interval: “We’ll be back in a few minutes, so … hang loose.”

  4. I adore American Beauty – bought it in the early 70s and ever since have been searching for the holy grail of something else I like by the Dead. I had early hope that WD would be a good companion piece and the opening track is definitely up there but after that its just dullsville. I have just been listening to it again just in case but no joy.

    Im still intrigued by the band though and admit it probably is just me and not them but expect that it only ever be American Beauty that gets a play every now and again.

    • Hello Feedback:
      With the Dead, the live recordings are where it’s at. They make the studio albums more or less redundant.

      It’s always difficult to recommend just one CD set, as the temptation is to compile an enormous list of “essential” live shows. But I think that if I was going to go for just one live set to potentially convert a Dead-sceptic, I think I’d choose “Steppin’ out with the Grateful Dead: England ’72”. It’s a 4CD set that gathers the best bits from all the band’s shows in England on the fabled 1972 tour of Europe. It’s a great mix of material, and the band is absolutely on fire. It costs less than £15.

      Mind you, if you do buy and enjoy this set, you probably won’t thank me, as in a few years’ time your entire house will be full of Grateful Dead records, and you’ll find yourself muttering things like “Alpine Valley 89” and “Merriweather Post Pavilion 84” and “Shrine Auditorium 1967”. It’s a slippery slope….

      • I’m no DeadHead but I do have a surprisingly large number of their records including almost all of Dick’s Picks. But during their “fabled tour” of Europe in 72 I saw them in the Wembley Arena. The only time I fell asleep at a concert! I must have been under for nearly an hour (I was on my own) and I swear they were still playing the same song when I woke up

    • I feel the same. Love American Beauty, but little else with the exception of the 71 Skull & Roses live album.

      I’ll follow up on duco01’s recommendation though.

  5. Thanks for this info, will def check out that acoustic live set. I am not a Deadhead at all but I do love AB, followed closely by Blues For Allah and WMD. Every now and then I check out live shows that knowledgeable folks recommend and while they’re not necessarily awe-inspiring they’re good listening if a bit lurchingly shambolic, which I relate to as it describes most of the bands I’ve played in

  6. Nice review BP. The Dead can be pretty bad on thr vocals at times, actually often, but when they get into those extended grooves and Jerry’s guitar is singing away, petty things like being in tune fade way.

  7. Nice review BP. The Dead vocals can be pretty bad at times, actually often, but when they get into those extended grooves and Jerry’s guitar is singing away, petty things like being in tune fade way.

    • I haven’t listened to that Official Dead podcast yet.

      But for the past few months, we Deadheads have been glued to the “36 from the Vault” podcast hosted by Steven Hyden and Rob Mitchum.
      Basically, in each episode they discuss one of “Dick’s Picks”, the Dead’s archival series of 36 live releases named after the former Dead archivist Dick Latvala who is now, well … ‘dead’.
      In the first season they went from Volume 1 to Volume 9. It’s very much Steven Hyden who leads the discussion. Mitchum basically just sits there and says “yeah … right …. mmm … OK … Oh yeah …. uh-huh … throughout the discussion.
      In podcast 1, when they discussed Dick’s Picks vol. 1, Hyden mentioned that he didn’t much care for the Grateful Dead song “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodle-oo”. Bad move. He incurred the ire of thousands of fanatical Deadheads, who descended on him on social media in a wave of criticism. In every podcast since since then, he’s been forced to apologise and say “I like Mississippi Half-Step really!” Hah!

      https://www.osirispod.com/podcasts/36-from-the-vault/

  9. Thanks for a very informative and interesting review, Duke.

    There are many artists where the ginormous chasm between the studio albums and the live shows is an eternal topic of conversation. But with the Dead it is as though there were two totally different bands,

    My advice? Forget all The Dead -Headery and give those two Classic studio albums a listen. Excellent Songs, beautifully performef.

    But you make me keen to hear those acoustic live shows.

  10. Thanks for the recommendation about the live UK set. I won’t say my usual reservations have been blown away but it’s probably the best GD live album I’ve heard and Garcia is in great form.

    Posts above mention an acoustic set but liking back through @Duco01 opener I can’t see a reference to that ?

    • The acoustic set that people are referring to is the first set of Dick’s Picks Vol. 8, the Harpur College show at Binghampton, NY on 2 May 1970, which I mentioned in my review.

      In the spring and early summer of 1970, the Dead did a few shows where they would start by playing an acoustic set, and then come back later and play two electric sets. Recordings of these shows are cherished by Deadheads. Along with the aforementioned Harpur College gig, the best of these is probably the Road Trips Vol. 3, No. 3 – the all-night show from the Fillmore East, New York City, on 15 May 1970. This is a phenomenal 3CD set – both the acoustic and the electric parts are ace.

      I don’t know why the band stopped playing acoustic sets. They just did. The only time they revived the idea was a decade later for the Warfield, San Francisco and Radio City, NYC shows in September/October 1981. Recordings from these went up to make the “Reckoning” live album. This was one of the first Grateful Dead records I bought. It’s a lot of fun, although it must be said that Garcia’s voice on some of the tracks is weak, even by Dead standards. And that means very weak indeed.

  11. Maybe Garcia and co saved their acoustic longings for various side projects?

    When I was in San Francisco in 1979s, I was lucky enough to catch a gig by Dave Grisman, who played a lot with Garcia over the years.

  13. Fair comment, Mike.

    The bland vocals are always a big stumbling block for my enjoyment of the Dead.

    Here’s the same song performed by a band who can sing.

    It is a very decent tune.

  14. I bought this album on vinyl on recommendation from here but sadly I agree with Feedback, it’s dull. Their songwriting is pretty sure really which is probably why the line experience is the way to hear them. Shakedown Street isn’t Baez and I can hear Lowell George in the producer’s chair sending them back to try harder.

    Actually as I write, I remember Blues for Allah is pretty good, maybe the best Dead studio album I’ve heard.

  17. Disappointed – well, not really, predictable here – to see that old “you had to be there/only good live/studio albums negligible” trope (I said trope!) rolled out again. The studio albums are all, each in their own way, pretty damn fine. You can find out yourself if you’ve a mind to.

    Same goes for the “can’t sing” thing. Uh-huh. Nor could Dylan (remember?) or Hendrix or Clapton or Richard Thompson or Mick Jagger or [insert your favourite non-singer from the many available candidates here]. So let’s not listen to any of that, either.

    Mojo (of fond memory) was always grievously disappointed that the Dead weren’t the heavy rock band he expected from their brilliant covers. If you come to the Dead with any preconceptions at all – and there are many to choose from – there’ll be no room for your enjoyment and appreciation. They’re like no other band more than any other band. Maybe they’ll just click for you one day, maybe not. This is what being on the bus was all about – not getting on or getting off, but suddenly finding yourself on the way to Furthur, when arranging studio and live recordings in order of merit (“American Beauty Is Better Than Workingman’s Dead”) is revealed as pointless. It’s all one Dead.

    (Mike – I know, okay?)

    • I’ve always thought of Dylan as the ideal singer for his own songs. He can carry the melodies, and makes you listen to the words. If you ever see his early duets with Joan Baez, who might be thought of as a more skilled singer with a wider range and sure intonation, he’s the one you just have to listen to; her singing is just a pleasant sound.

      With the Grateful Dead, unlike a lot of bands with cult followings, I don’t think it’s a case of you either love them or hate them, but more you either love them or find them just a bit dull.

      I’ve known some big Grateful Dead fans, and when I first heard the band, I wasn’t expecting any particular sound, but something that would be very different which would explain their following – as in their different ways Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane or Leonard Cohen had. But it just seemed okay. There was nothing distinctive there. They sounded like a pub band from Northampton in the seventies who had fallen in love with West Coast music and at a couple of gigs a month would try to emulate it. Hard to believe this was actually the real thing and that it generated such enthusiasm.

      • “You either love them or find them just a bit dull” – this is very good. I can’t think of a single Dead song (or performance) that gets my pulse racing in a rock (n’ roll) sense. But then I don’t listen to them for the sugar rush.

        You came to the band (you should let them come to you) with expectations of “hearing something that would be very different which would explain their following”, and that’s just what you heard. It just didn’t click for you, and you wrapped the whole thing up with your nice (but hopelessly adrift) pub band analogy.

        Most reviews of individual albums/performances will fall back on the “if you’re new to the Dead don’t/do start with this one” as if getting into them – or letting them get into you – is an incremental thing. After this album, you may be ready for that, and so on. It doesn’t work that way. Most toe-dippers start with American Beauty, relegate Workingman’s Dead to second place, and stop there.

        The thing about the hoary old “on/off the bus” idea is that if you’re off the bus, you can see it, but don’t want to get on, or you don’t have a ticket. If you’re on the bus, you’re not looking at the bus, you’re looking out at the landscape, not thinking about the bus at all. It’s a pretty good analogy for what the Grateful Dead’s music does, if you let it.

            • If I could explain the Dead’s appeal, I would. I’m a little baffled by it myself. But since I first heard Live Dead (lying on the floor of Malc’s mum’s front room) I’ve found them essential. Unlike other big name acts with extensive back catalogues, I’ve never binge listened then left them alone for a couple of years. I can always play Dead albums – especially the studio albums – and after fifty years or so that’s some kind of relationship we have there.

              KFD – the only recommendation I’d make is to listen, but not attentively. Have them on as background music, don’t try to hear anything in it that’s not there. Let it sneak up on you. If it doesn’t, it’s no big deal. Plenty of other music out there, as you know.

      • Can you answer a query for me, duco? I heard a live recording where Bob gives the audience a chance to express any lingering dissatisfaction by booing. It’s hilarious. I probably have it somewhere but don’t know where. Any idea?

  20. The Dead are a constant companion in my musical life. As has already been said, the studio albums should not be overlooked. Some wonderful gems therein, and as for the cream of the live stuff, I have nothing more to add other than my sheer admiration and love. I honestly think that Hunter & Garcia are up their with the very best of the songwriters partnerships, and I’ll go to as far to say that Hunter is far closer to a real poet than Dylan. When The Dead get into my field of thought, that’s it. I gotta listen again. They’ll be on my Ipod this afternoon as I repair some outside window frames. Rock and ROLL, baby! (Deadstyle).

    • Your occasional moments of lucidity are as a healing balm, Rob.

      From The Mars Hotel – Often overlooked, it’s one of the subtlest Dead studio albums. “Ugly Rumours” is in upside-down mirror writing (yay!) on the front cover. The band portrayed themselves on the back cover as “ugly roomers” at the Mars Hotel.

      “China Doll” has a curious, possibly unique structure – verses repeated until the “chorus” comes in right at the end. Hunter’s lyrics are as elliptical and haunting as ever, over some beautiful chord changes –

      A pistol shot at 5 o’clock
      The bells of heaven ring
      Tell me what you done it for
      No, I won’t tell you a thing
      Yesterday I begged you
      Before I hit the ground
      All I leave behind me
      Is only what I found
      If you can abide it
      Let the hurdy-gurdy play
      Stranger ones have come by here
      Before they flew away
      I will not condemn you
      Nor yet would I deny
      I would ask the same of you
      But failing will not die
      Take up your china doll
      It’s only fractured
      And just a little nervous
      From the fall

      The lyrics have been extensively mined for meaning, but ultimately the song reaches you how (and if – it’s not for everyone) you want to accept it. It seems to be a dialogue about dying, but when the voices change is not obvious. The final message is pretty clear – you had a fall, you’re not going to die. It’s poetry, as Dead lyrics often are, which is more than versifying. I can’t imagine it sung as well by anybody else.

      • Spot on there HP. Such a beautiful song, and yes, no one else could have sung it. There’s many instances where a Hunter & Garcia composition can touch an inner depth of the listener’s soul in a way that is so special and rare indeed.

  21. Another thing I love about The Dead is how it was all about the music and good times. Non partisan apolitical small l libertarian and in many senses traditionalist eg. the spirit of the old West. Some good causes aside, Jerry was very much anti mainstream political affiliation of any sort. One big family vibe attracting all sorts. If you cool, you’re cool. That’s it. Very wise indeed. The Beatles had very much that same attitude, until John Lennon wanted to get hip with the student marxists/red mole crowd etc, which he later regretted realising that he had been somewhat naive and was being used ( see ‘Skywriting Word Of Mouth’).

        • I could see it was your overall point, but was pointing out that the music was not all about the “good times” as you suggest. Surely a distinction worth making, lest you give the impression the Dead were more like The Archies than is generally thought.

          • No. You miss my point. I meant ‘having a good time’. The concert. The music. Camaraderie. Escapism from the trials of the world. Not ‘the good times’ eg some arcadian fantsasy trip, and not the bleedin’ Archies, neither.

            • Thank you for clarifying your point. You may I hope understand how I “missed” it, and by extension other readers. I appreciate the efforts you have made to present your argument in the best light, and now find it compelling. If only others would adopt your courtesy and patience, if not your wisdom and learning, which are treasures beyond our reach, I feel the world would not be in the sorry state it finds itself, and my knee joint effusion less troublesome.

              • Bless you. This gladdens my heart, for the way of an Avatar is a lonely path, and yet not without solace. Like Ra, my wisdom and love is ineffable and yet, too often it is clouded to the sight of others. Comments like yours, my child, affirm to me that the nine whole days spent by I upon the dragon tree were not in vain in these dark days of Kali Yuga. All is cyclical. The Sisters of Wyrd spin at the root as the squirrel carries gossip from the dark regions to the branches of light. Bifrost is vibrating with sparks carried from the nodes of seven leys. Put the kettle on. Drink tea.

  22. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time since this never ending thread started listening to the Dead – seeing if I could crack the code. I referred to the various live recommendations from @Duco01 and also took note of HPs comment of not trying to listen too hard. The end result is mixed – there were times when they did work their magic but to be honest there were more misses than hits especially with the live stuff. But I have ended up with a really nice playlist which may appeal to other non converts. Two hours of studio tracks in chronological order (with a big emphasis on AB of course) followed by 6 live tracks.

    • Nice selection. I wouldn’t recommend live recordings over studio to anyone. The studio albums are incredibly varied, from avant garde experimentation through Rn’B to AOR to cowboy songs to jazz/prog to “Americana”. No one style or song represents them best.

      • I agree about the variety of styles HP – I guess I lean towards the less rustic, more jazzy stuff. The surprise for me was the sophistication of some of the playing and the vocals whilst often hopeless on the live albums is better than I expected in the studio

        • Live, their vocals often have a placeholder function. They were concentrating on the playing, and the listening to others’ playing. The audience knew the songs and the lyrics – they weren’t there for that – they were there for the spookily intuitive improvisation, the unexpected segues, and the instrumental interplay you don’t hear from any other band. That’s why fans say the concerts were the best, the whole communal event. I’ve never managed to convince myself I was at a concert by playing a live recording, and I’ve certainly never managed to sit through an entire archived concert. I’m at home, dammit, not sitting at the Great Pyramid sharing joy cigarillos. I enjoy Europe ’72, Live Dead, and a few others, but it’s the unfairly maligned studio sets that keep me going back. There’s not a duff one in the catalogue. A few duff tracks, of course, that’s to be expected over such an extensive discography.

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