Grateful Dead ‎– Workingman's Dead LP

The Grateful Dead ‎– Workingman's Dead

On June 14, 1970, the Grateful Dead released Workingman’s Dead, an album that was unlike anything they’d ever done, one that showed the world a new side of the Dead. It was clearly the same band as before, but now with a distinctly different sound and approach to the music, pivoting from psychedelic improvisation to folk-rock storytelling for the “everyman,” as the album’s title suggests. Workingman’s Dead will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year with two new releases.

WORKINGMAN’S DEAD: 50th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION includes the band’s previously unreleased live performance from 1971 at the Capitol Theatre. The show featured a plethora of songs from both Workingman’s Dead and the band’s follow-up album, American Beauty, which was released in November 1970. Some highlights include Weir’s moving vocal take on “Me and Bobby McGee,” Pigpen’s whiskey-seasoned growl on “Easy Wind” and a stellar run through “Uncle John’s Band” to close out the show.

In the set’s liner notes, acclaimed music journalist David Fricke tells the tale behind the album and also adds some context for the Capitol Theatre show. “The complete Port Chester evening in this 50th-anniversary edition of Workingman’s Dead…was a great night in what has long been deemed a legendary run, another turning point as the band entered a live era combining the focus of Workingman's Dead and American Beauty with the exploratory verve of Live/Dead. Many of the classic songs spread across Dead LPs in 1971 and ’72…were introduced that week at the Capitol, and many of them are in this concert, still fresh off the griddle.”

WORKINGMAN’S DEAD: 50th ANNIVERSARY VINYL PICTURE DISC will be available the same day. Produced in a limited edition of 10,000 copies, it features the newly remastered version of the original album.

Tracklist:
1. Uncle John's Band
2. High Time
3. Dire Wolf
4. New Speedway Boogie
5. Cumberland Blues
6. Black Peter
7. Easy Wind
8. Casey Jones

Label: Warner Records
Released: 1970/2020