Rhinofy-Workingman's Dead

This is what it's all about.

You see prior to "Workingman's Dead", not only had almost no one east of San Francisco heard the band, they thought their music sounded like their moniker. Heavy and dark, somewhere between Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, whose eponymous debut would come out shortly thereafter. The previous albums were just for fans. And there weren't many of those.

But the Dead started to make inroads in New York. At the Fillmore East. Where they ended up starting at midnight and playing until dawn. They could have no restrictions. It was a special event. Which I learned about from the back cover of the program. Yes, when you went to the Fillmore you got a program, can you imagine that today? No promoter would spend the money. Then again, no act would authorize it either! Greed put the Fillmore out of business, but seventies greed is nothing compared to twenty first century greed. And on the back cover of that program was a picture of a sold out audience, standing, and a caption that said "2600 Happy People During The Grateful Dead". Maybe that's not exactly right. But I remember it saying "Happy", and I remember them standing, and I remember the thought of asking my parents to go to an all night show in New York City was completely taboo, because back then, after midnight, the train to Connecticut didn't run.

But I wanted to go.

Which is maybe why I was primed when I heard "Uncle John's Band" on WNEW.

Yes, I'd settled there. First it was WOR-FM, then WABC-FM, and then WNEW-FM, with Alison Steele and Zacherley and Scott Muni. Hell, I remembered Muni from AM! WABC! "#1 in the nation, the Scott Muni show!" He came before Cousin Brucie, talked just as fast, to hear his slowed down speech on FM made my jaw drop.

And I believe it was in my parents' living room, on the big rig, that I first heard "Uncle John's Band". This was before FM was ubiquitous in cars. Hell, we had it, but reception was awful.

"Uncle John's Band' sounded like a Crosby, Stills & Nash cut.

And at this point in time, Crosby, Stills & Nash (and at this point Young), were the biggest band in the land.

We know now that the Dead could never perfect these harmonies live. Then again, neither could CSN&Y! But the music was so sweet, acoustic guitars ruled, and the a cappella breakdown sounded like a church choir, assuming your church was Haight Street and tie-dye and love beads and nudity and sex and...

I bought the album.

The cover had a sandpaper feel. Abandoned after the album became successful. But that took a long time. Most everybody didn't sign on until the follow-up, "American Beauty", which I purchased upon release but never thought was as good. I loved "Box Of Rain", but it was no "Uncle John's Band". But I had to endure "Ripple" all through college, it drives me insane, to this day. "American Beauty" was a bit lighter, "Workingman's Dead" was dark.

And speaking of dark, my second favorite cut on "Workingman's Dead" is "New Speedway Boogie", the first side closer, the Dead's take on Altamont, which is just as good, if not better, than the Stones' film about the fiasco, "Gimme Shelter". With a hypnotic groove and a plaintive Jerry Garcia vocal before we could tell the vocalists apart, "New Speedway Boogie" is the essence of seventies music. Not made for the radio, but for the listener, who purchased and spun these albums ad infinitum.

"Please don't dominate the rap Jack, if you've got nothing new to say"

Yup, that's how we spoke back then. We RAPPED to each other!

And, of course, the second side closer, "Casey Jones", went on to be the most famous cut on the album, one of the biggest Dead songs ever, maybe only equaled by "Truckin'". You can hear the snort of cocaine right at the beginning, before the music starts. "Casey Jones" is the essence of the Dead, a drug-fueled trip of one's own, society be damned.

And be sure to listen to "Easy Wind", for the Pigpen vocal if nothing else. Pigpen was the soul/R&B aspect of the band, if he had survived, the legacy would be just a bit different, a bit less mellow.

As for the rest of the record, it sounded closer to Nashville, to country, than anybody other than the Flying Burrito Brothers at this point. One of the reasons "American Beauty" was so successful, in addition to "Workingman's Dead" laying the groundwork, was the step back from the hard core country sound. "Workingman's Dead" is spare, at times depressed, despite the ultimate ubiquity of "Uncle John's Band" and "Casey Jones" it wasn't for everybody, just the band's audience, which proceeded to grow and grow. You see the Dead weren't owned by the man, but their fans.

And "Workingman's Dead" is the foundation. Without it, you don't have the Dead of today. The venerated band that was far ahead of its game, who let people tape and trade when that was considered anathema, who realized road receipts trumped record sales every day of the week.

Start here.

Or if you know it already, think back, revel in the pleasure of its discovery.

Yes, the Dead are not quite like anything else. It's a road, a commitment, it's definitely worth the journey.


Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8

Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz


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