Grateful Dead- Workingman’s Dead

“Americana” is kind of a nebulous concept. According to wikipedia, apple pie and the concept of Liberty count as Americana in that they are culturally significant. That’s a little broad, and its not really how I see the term used. I think of Americana as the bits and pieces of American history that could only happen here. To cut right to a controversial example, the music of the slaves in the south that became the blues and rock and roll, or the Irish and English that became bluegrass and early country, I count as quintessential Americana.

I love that kind of music. Not just early blues, but the songs that would go on and become the blues. The kind of music that was passed on orally for generations, but now is mostly forgotten. And these are bits and pieces, some maybe captured in field recordings. Others though, go on to have other lives as Old Standards, songs that came from who knows where, but people in certain circles know them by heart. What once might have been a song only sung by a few miners in Pennsylvania becomes a tune anyone with a banjo can play. You might say that that is democratization of music.

Now we come to Workingman’s Dead, which sounds like they took these old songs and rewrote them for a modern audience. I say “sounds like” because all the songs are original despite how they sound. I’m not sure how hard that is to do, I imagine it’s a complicated task, but at the same time it grew out of the band’s sound. That almost makes it more impressive. It’s like they were able to channel their sound to create this timeless blend of genres. Seems like a very American thing to do.

The lyrics on this album are really impressive. There’s not a single song that doesn’t have at least one good line.

5/5 Even if you don’t like the Grateful Dead, this goes down easy enough that everyone should check it out. Besides “Uncle John’s Band," and “Casey Jones,” “Dire Wolf” is a fun tune. Who could hate a song whose chorus goes “Don’t murder me”?