Workingmen's Dead

A lot of people have heard of the Grateful Dead , but know nothing of the band and know nothing of their songs. There are also a lot of people who have never heard of the band at all, which give the sheer size of their following , the Dead Heads, is at least a bit of a mystery.

I was once among that throng , but I picked up on them in the late seventies with “Terrapin Station” (review of which you can read here), not one of their most highly regarded albums , even by the band themselves but it impressed me and still does to this day.

Workingman's Dead is the fourth Grateful Dead studio album. The sepia tinged cover and woodcut band images almost set the mood for the music that you are about to hear within. It was recorded in February 1970 and originally released on June 14, 1970. The album and its studio follow-up, American Beauty, were recorded back-to-back using a similar style, eschewing the psychedelic experimentation of previous albums in favor of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's Americana-styled songcraft moving into almost Country and Western territory.

The album title came about when Jerry Garcia commented to lyricist Robert Hunter that the album was "turning into the 'workingman's Dead' version of the band". Having both worked on all of the album's songs and gone out on the road with the band, Hunter appears as a seventh member on the front cover photograph.

Alan Gold suggested I review this album after the Terrapin Station review mentioned above, so I am currently listening to it as I write this review.

This is a collection of eight songs , very low key production, but extremely clear and carving another vision of Americana in a similar universe to The Band and Little Feat, two other bands that help define a historical American sound.

One of the things about The Grateful Dead is that they were fine with people recording their live gigs and producing bootlegs, once the concert was finished they didn’t need the music any more so you would often see very professional recording setups just by bootleggers. The Dead were fine with this.

The album opens with “Uncle John’s Bands” some lovely vocal harmonies reminding me a little of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The song is one of the band's best known, and is included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2001 it was named 321st (of 365) in the Songs of the Century project list.

The closer is “Casey Jones” which makes you think of the traditional song of the same title but it is a Robert Hunter / Jerry Garcia composition. The opening line:

“Driving that train, High On Cocaine”

Sort of takes it away from the mainstream , though it is remarkably relaxed like the rest of “Workingmen’s Dead”.

"Casey Jones" is about a railroad engineer who is on the verge of a train wreck due to his train going too fast, a sleeping switch man, and another train being on the same track and headed for him. Jones is described as being "high on cocaine" (the song even makes a double entendre of advising Jones to "watch his speed"). It was inspired by the story of an actual engineer named Casey Jones.

These are the two most well known songs on the album bookending the other six , though the "Don't Murder Me" refrain in "Dire Wolf" is something you will remember.

The full listing is below with all songs written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Uncle John's Band"

2. "High Time"

3. "Dire Wolf"

4. "New Speedway Boogie"

Side two

1. "Cumberland Blues" (Garcia, Phil Lesh, Hunter)

2. "Black Peter"

3. "Easy Wind" (Hunter)

4. "Casey Jones"

The album is just shy of 36 minutes and a remarkably beautiful listen, I would recommend you check it out. You may be surprised.