The Grateful Dead’s 50th-anniversary reissue series continues with a Deluxe Edition of their fourth album, Workingman’s Dead. The three-disc set will be released on July 10. The three-CD set will include the original album, which has been newly remastered. It will also be including a previously unreleased concert: Feb. 21, 1971 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y. The Dead have already shared an unreleased live version of the Workingman’s Dead classic “Casey Jones”; listen to that here.
From Workingman’s Dead through Europe ’72, the Dead’s sound was Americana,” said Lemieux. “And the live show included here is a workingman’s band playing authentically honest music.” Lemieux hits on an important point here. For various reasons – chiefly their association with LSD, San Francisco hippie culture, and cult-like fanbase – the Grateful Dead are one of rock’s most commonly misunderstood bands.
The songwriting on Workingman’s Dead and it’s the follow-up, American Beauty, is rootsy, lyrical, and tightly crafted. These releases sound more akin to The Band than psych-rock acts like 13th Floor Elevators and Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd.
The band has also released a live version of “Casey Jones” from that concert.
Grateful Dead, ‘Workingman’s Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition’ Track Listing
Disc One: Original Album Remastered
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”
Disc Two: Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY (2/21/71)
1. “Cold Rain and Snow”
2. “Me and Bobby McGee”
3. “Loser”
4. “Easy Wind”
5. “Playing in the Band”
6. “Bertha”
7. “Me and My Uncle”
8. “Ripple” (False Start)
9. “Ripple”
10. “Next Time You See Me”
11. “Sugar Magnolia”
12. “Greatest Story Ever Told”
13. “Johnny B. Goode”
Disc Three: Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY (2/21/71)
1. “China Cat Sunflower”
2. “I Know You Rider”
3. “Bird Song”
4. “Cumberland Blues”
5. “I’m a King Bee”
6. “Beat It On Down the Line”
7. “Wharf Rat”
8. “Truckin’”
9. “Casey Jones”
10. “Good Lovin’”
11. “Uncle John’s Band
