Workingman’s Dead |
|
Released: June 14, 1970 Peak: 27 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: folk rock |
Tracks:Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
Total Running Time: 35:33 The Players:
|
Rating: 4.307 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
|
From Psychedelic to Roots RockThe “Dead are long-term champions of the mind-shredding psychic frontier.” JSH Prior to this album, they “were already established as paragons of the free-form, improvisational San Francisco psychedelic sound.” AM Their previous album, Live/Dead, was “their magnum opus of the free-jamming style.” JSH Then they “abruptly shifted gears for the acoustic Workingman’s Dead” AM and “concentrated on writing a more concise series of songs.” JSHThe group was also in a position where they needed to make the album cheaply. They owed Warner Bros. nearly $200,000 and were in trouble with the law after a marijuana bust. This compelled lead singer Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter to return to their “roots and come up with a collection of tight, melodic songs with a simple acoustic framework.” TB The band “knew exactly what needed to be done right from the start – and the simplicity of the arrangements made the going that much easier.” TB “Despite its sharp contrast to the epic live space jams on which the group’s legend primarily rests, Workingman’s Dead nonetheless spotlights the Dead at their most engaging, stripped of all excess to reveal the true essence of their craft.” AM They offer up “a lovely exploration of American roots music illuminating the group’s country, blues, and folk influences.” AM “There’s a rollicking western outlaw spirit to this album that actually lives up to the album cover, which shows ‘em hangin’ out in a railyard like hippie hobos.” JSH They churn out “eight spooky blues and country songs that rival the best of Bob Dylan.” 500 Joe S. Harrington, in writing for the web zine Blastitude, called it “the best country-rock album of all-time.” JSH It was also their commercial breakthrough. The Influence of CSNThe sound was influenced by the band’s friendship with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Grateful Dead frontman Garcia said, “Hearing those guys sing and how nice they sounded together, we thought, ‘We can try that.’” WK He also said, “We weren’t feeling like an experimental music group, but were feeling more like a good old band.” 500Drummer Mickey Hart further explained that “Stills lived with me for three months…and he and David Crosby really turned Jerry and Bobby onto the voice as the holy instrument…That turned us away from pure improvisation and more toward songs.” WK The TitleThe album’s title came from a comment Garcia made to lyricist Robert Hunter (who is featured on the album cover as the band’s seventh member) that “this album was turning into the Workingman’s Dead version of the band.” WKThe SongsGarcia and Hunter “proved themselves one of rock’s sharpest songwriting teams, with the acoustic hymn Uncle John’s Band, “a nod to the three-part harmonizing” of CSN. TB Hunter said, ‘It was my feeling about what the Dead was and could be. It was very much a song for us and about us, in the most hopeful sense.’” 500 It “opens the record and perfectly summarizes its subtle, spare beauty; complete with a new focus on more concise songs and tighter arrangements, the approach works brilliantly.” AMThat song as well as “the countrified” TB “High Time and Cumberland Blues were brought to life with soaring harmonies and layered vocal textures that had not been a part of the band’s sound” WK previously. There’s also the “slow blues” TB of Black Peter. The album features “Garcia’s best singing ever” on Casey Jones and the “amazing Dire Wolf,” JSH which Harrington calls “purely American expression…as good as Hank Williams or the Everly Brothers.” JSH New Speedway Boogie “is the Dead’s ode to Altamont, and it’s one of their best rockers.” JSH Notes:An expanded edition was released in 2003 which included an alternate mix of “New Speedway Boogie” as well as live versions of “Dire Wolf,” “Black Peter,” “Easy Wind,” “Cumberland Blues,” “Mason’s Children,” and “Uncle John’s Band.” |
Reviews:
Related DMDB Links:
First posted 8/1/2011; last updated 11/4/2025. |
No comments:
Post a Comment