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33⅓ Main #112
Workingman's Dead
Released in 1970, Workingman's Dead was the breakthrough album for the Grateful Dead, a cold-water-shock departure from the Acid Test madness of the late '60s. It was the band's most commercially and critically successful release to date. More importantly, these songs established the blueprint for how the Dead would maintain and build upon a community held together by the core motivation of rejecting the status quo – the “straight life” – in order to live and work on their own terms.
As a unified whole, the album's eight songs serve as points of entry into a fully-rendered portrait of the Grateful Dead within the context of late twentieth-century American history. These songs speak to the attendant cultural and political anxieties that resulted from the idealism of the '60s giving way to the uncomfortable realities of the '70s, and the band's evolving perspective on these changes. Based on research, interviews, and personal experience, this book probes the paradox at the heart of the band's the Grateful Dead were about much more than music, though they were really just about the music.
As a unified whole, the album's eight songs serve as points of entry into a fully-rendered portrait of the Grateful Dead within the context of late twentieth-century American history. These songs speak to the attendant cultural and political anxieties that resulted from the idealism of the '60s giving way to the uncomfortable realities of the '70s, and the band's evolving perspective on these changes. Based on research, interviews, and personal experience, this book probes the paradox at the heart of the band's the Grateful Dead were about much more than music, though they were really just about the music.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 28, 2016
The author uses the classic album as a jumping off point to talk about the Dead, motifs that run throughout their music, and the nonconformist ethos in everything they did.
February 11, 2022
I appreciated Poole's lyrical analysis, knowledge of the band's history and cultural impact, and American Studies approach to the album and its era. Having just read the much deeper and more ambitious 33 1/3 book Bee Thousand, however, this was a bit of a letdown. Poole's writing occasionally irked me, too - his fragmentary sentences, abrupt transitions, and odd lack of commas (which caused me to reread numerous sentences two or more times) disrupted the flow. And when the Dead were at their best, in the studio and especially live, it was all about the flow. Anyway, like every book in this series I've read, it returned me to the album with a fresh appreciation for it.
February 11, 2018
This volume is a 33 1/3 book in the classic sense; there's a brief history of the band and then an in depth analysis of the tracks. Sure there's some interesting insights of acid tests and the culture surrounding The Grateful Dead but, since I'm not a fan of the band this particular entry in the series was ok but nothing amazing.
October 13, 2016
This was a good, thoughtful read on a one of the Dead's peak studio efforts. It was also interesting to read after a book about Altamont, considering the ties and reaction to that event contained on this record. I'd honestly be interested in reading more form Poole on the Dead's work.
April 27, 2016
A concise introduction for the casual fan or a baby Deadhead.
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http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2016/0...
October 30, 2017
A good read - I otherwise probably never would have listened to a Dead album all the way through.
December 29, 2018
This book left me at a crossroads...on one hand, I enjoyed the approach to the book...I enjoy minor forays into the surroundings of each song...on the other hand, I really don't enjoy this band, nor their whole "expand your mind via LSD" mentality...so the book is good, but I still can't get behind this band...though this album is by far their most accessible.
July 14, 2018
Was hoping it would be about how the album was made, taking the reader inside the studio sessions. Instead the author discusses this record in terms of the band's philosophy and how it marked a change in their career trajectory. Still interesting and informative.
December 27, 2016
A nice, simple, concise history of a band told as a track-by-track trip through one of its seminal albums.
October 23, 2020
The 33 1/3 series can be hit or miss, and sometimes, as in this case, it's somewhere between. Poole makes some interesting observations about the band, its history, and its association to and contrast with the culture of the late sixties and early seventies. On that level, it's good. On the level of focusing specifically on "Workingman's Dead," not so much. Granted, he breaks down the album into chapters for each track, but there isn't a lot of concentration on the process of recording or the meat and bones of the songs. It's a big-picture take.
I'm not a deadhead, but rather a casual fan. So take that into account when evaluating this review. Worth a read, but far from essential.
I'm not a deadhead, but rather a casual fan. So take that into account when evaluating this review. Worth a read, but far from essential.
July 4, 2024
33 1/3 books are often hit or miss for me, but usually even the bad ones get me thinking about art in new ways, so I love the series. This one was pretty good all around though. I think Poole does a good job at analyzing what makes the songs of Workingman's Dead so effective individually as well as a unified whole. It's arguably the Dead's best album don't ya know. Not so much heavy on info about recording sessions (these are rarely as interesting as you think they are anyway) but some solid details, plus it contextualizes everything within the history of the band. It also serves as solid primer on Live/Dead (call it a 45).
February 18, 2023
This book has a chapter relating to each song on the Grateful Dead's "Workingman's Dead" album. The chapters are a blend of reflections on the songs themselves and reflections on the culture of the time and what was going on in the Dead's own world. I found the book enjoyable, and an interesting perspective of that period in American culture.
September 5, 2023
An enjoyable read but not quite the deep dive I was expecting. The stories and information are interesting but some of it is repetitive for anyone with more than passing knowledge of the band. I did enjoy the track by track examination of the album. And it was fun to listen to the songs as I read the analysis. Looking forward to more 33 1/3 books.
July 9, 2019
Interesting insight into an album where I know just a few of the songs specifically in the studio recordings but have listened to out of context in live recordings.
April 24, 2021
Provides good context for the making of this album
June 20, 2024
"Darkness got to give"
"Two good eyes but still don't see"
"Talk this through with me"
"Two good eyes but still don't see"
"Talk this through with me"
November 28, 2016
Nice look at a great record. Interesting structure.
Currently reading
July 31, 2018Loving it so far, but there's alot to digest so I've been reading a chapter/song at a time and coming back to it. I've been a Deadhead since '80 and wasn't sure there was much left for me to learn. I was wrong.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews