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The ongoing Grateful Dead anniversary reissue series is marching on with the July 10 celebration of the 50th anniversary of Workingman’s Dead featuring two new releases from the band and Rhino Records.

Often hailed as one of the Dead’s most accessible albums along with its follow-up, American Beauty, Workingman’s Dead placed its focus on tighter songcraft in a country/folk-oriented vein that would later be described as “Americana.” It introduced the group’s first chart hit, the timeless “Uncle John’s Band,” as well as the favorite “Casey Jones” which has received substantial airplay over the years as well. Solidifying the band’s reach to a wider audience, Workingman’s Dead (originally released on June 14, 1970) reached the top 30 of the Billboard 200.

Workingman’s Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will arrive as a 3-CD set. The original album has been newly remastered on the first disc. The second and third CDs present a previously unreleased concert from February 21, 1971 at Port Chester, New York’s Capitol Theatre. This show, which features material from both Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, has been mixed from the 16-track analog master tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Bob Weir’s Marin County TRI Studios and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer, David Glasser. Among the other material performed that evening are covers of “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Johnny B. Goode,” and “Good Lovin’.” The live performance of “Casey Jones” is available now for download and streaming. On the same day, the Dead will release a vinyl picture disc of the original album’s remaster. It is limited to 10,000 units.

Jerry Garcia (responsible, with lyricist Robert Hunter, for the lion’s share of the album’s songwriting), Bob Weir, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart recorded the album in roughly 10 days at Pacific High Recording Studio in San Francisco with Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor – the band’s live engineers – as producers. David Lemieux, the band’s archivist and the producer of this reissue, states in the press release, “Since we embarked on the series of Grateful Dead 50th anniversary releases, we’ve had a blast re-mastering the original albums and finding previously unreleased live material from the era for each. In 2020, we’re blessed to have two albums celebrating their 50th anniversaries, and we’re thrilled with how Workingman’s Dead has turned out. For an album as important and great as Workingman’s Dead, it seemed appropriate to double the amount of bonus material. The show we’ve selected gives a definitive overview of what the band were up to six months after the release of the album and shows the Dead sound that would largely define the next couple of years. From Workingman’s Dead through Europe ’72, the Dead’s sound was Americana, and the live show included here is a workingman’s band playing authentically honest music.”

David Fricke provides the liner notes for the new reissue. You’ll find pre-order links and the complete track listing below – and don’t forget to watch this space for news of the 50th anniversary reissue of American Beauty, likely arriving later in the year.

Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Warner Bros. WS 1869, 1970 – reissued Grateful Dead/Rhino, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: 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”

CD 2: 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”

CD 3: 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”

Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead: 50th Anniversary Picture Disc (Warner Bros. WS 1869, 1970 – reissued Grateful Dead/Rhino, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

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”