Published on Apr 1, 2001
1970 brought about one of the biggest changes for The Grateful
Dead, partially spurred by the chilling events at Altamont.
Workingman’s Dead was the first of two albums which placed
Jerry Garcia in a whole new scene. Gone (but not forgotten) were
the drawn-out, spacey jams which the band had become known for on
record. Also cast aside – at least for a while, anyway – was the
dependence on the electric guitar.
Workingman’s Dead presented The Grateful Dead in a
country-rock, semi-acoustic atmosphere, but it did not diminish
their power. If anything, this shift in direction won the band more
fans than they could have ever imagined, spurred on in no small
part by “Casey Jones” and “Uncle John’s Band”. While this disc
showed the Dead were still getting comfortable in this new musical
suit, there were moments of sheer brilliance.
Let’s stick with the two best-known songs for a minute. “Uncle
John’s Band” remains one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever
heard the Dead perform. The band was still working out the smooth
edges of true harmony vocalization, but this was a damned
impressive effort sealed by the acoustic guitar work from Garcia.
“Casey Jones” proved the band hadn’t abandoned their electric
roots, turning in a powerful performance that, while overplayed
these days, still remains a high point in the band’s career.
Yet there are other songs on
Workingman’s Dead which seemed to define the Dead better at
this stage in their career. “New Speedway Boogie,” another one of
the electric numbers, was a direct response to the violence the
band witnessed at Altamont, and was a wake-up call to the Age of
Aquarius. “One way or another, the darkness got to give,” Garcia
sings on this song – and he couldn’t have been more correct,
especially seeing that the times in early ’70s America would get
only more turbulent.
“Dire Wolf” is one of the underrated classics in the Dead’s
catalog, and is a fun country-fied track to listen to at top
volume. Likewise, “Black Peter” is highly underrated, despite being
a very popular number among the Deadheads in the early ’70s. The
gentle performance of this track, combined with Garcia’s quiet yet
pleading vocal style, instantly marks this track as a classic. And
if you don’t get the urge to dance around to “Cumberland Blues,”
get your pulse checked. (Admittedly, I do like the drawn-out
version on
Europe ’72 a bit more.)
All of this said, there are a couple of moments on
Workingman’s Dead where things just don’t work out as the
band might have planned them. “High Time” has never been one of my
favorite songs by the Dead, just because it feels like it’s a
funeral march tempo-wise. “Easy Wind,” featuring Ron “Pigpen”
McKernan on vocals, doesn’t feel like it belongs with this
collection of tunes, and might have been a better fit on
American Beauty. It’s not that I didn’t like or appreciate
Pigpen’s contributions to the Dead, but this one doesn’t have the
same kind of vibe that the rest of the album shares.
Workingman’s Dead marked a major change for the Dead,
something they would become known for over the next 25 years of
their career. Even with the occasional weak moment, this album
still holds up well, and remains one of the few “must-own” albums
in the Dead’s catalog for the non-Deadheads.