Credit: © Herb Greene Photography

As the sun dawned a new day and birthed June 14, 1970, the Grateful Dead were preparing to embark on the next phase of their career. With five years in the bank and a history that leaned more psychedelic and explorative than anything else, change was afoot by way of Workingman’s Dead: a direct lean into the folk-rock ether that subsequently evoked a twang in their capacity to muster humble Americana-focused tales from the timbers of Fennario to the Cumberland mine, while introducing characters like Black Peter, Casey Jones, and Uncle John.

Rhino High Fidelity presents the album’s latest chapter: new audiophile editions on reel-to-reel and vinyl. 

The Dead’s music for the everyday, working-class man on Rhino High Fidelity comes from Kevin Gray’s original master tapes. And was pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Optimal in Germany. Limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies, the collection features glossy gatefold packaging with newly written liner notes by author and Grateful Dead historian David Gans, who called this era of the band’s music, “concise, countrified, and catchy as hell.” 

Day-one bassist Phil Lesh recalled this phase of the band’s music in his memoir, Searching for the Sound, writing of the shift and how it moved the Dead “from the mind-munching frenzy of a seven-headed fire-breathing dragon to the warmth and serenity of a choir of chanting cherubim.”

According to the official press release, “Workingman’s Dead (Rhino High Fidelity R2R) was duplicated in real time from a 1:1 copy of the original flat analog master tape. The result is a master-quality listening experience that captures the full dynamics of the recording. The 15 i.p.s. half-track 1/4″ tape is produced to the IEC equalization standard on premium RTM LPR90 tape stock and housed on a 10.5″ metal reel.” This addition of the set is limited to 300 copies. 

As an added feature of the collection, Mickey Hart has come up with a new Dolby Atmos mix of the band’s fourth studio LP, drawing on intricate instrumental separation and the nuance in harmonies and differing arrangements. Hart’s mix widens the sonic depth of the original recording while maintaining the distinct character that made it a cult classic for Deadheads.

Workingman’s Dead grants listeners access to Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart’s 10-day diligence at Pacific High Recording Studio in San Francisco with the band’s live-sound engineers Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor. The culmination of their collective efforts yielded the Dead’s most commercially successful LP at the time, reaching the Top 30 and featuring the single “Uncle John’s Band,” which peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Workingman’s Dead (Rhino High Fidelity) is exclusively available via Rhino.com. 

Hart’s 2023 Atmos Remix will make its Blu-ray debut on Dead.net and Rhino.com.

Workingman’s Dead (Rhino High Fidelity)

LP Track Listing

Side One

1. “Uncle John’s Band”

2. “High Time”

3. “Dire Wolf”

4. “New Speedway Boogie”

Side Two

1. “Cumberland Blues”

2. “Black Peter”

3. “Easy Wind”

4. “Casey Jones”