Grateful Dead's Workingman's Dead vs. American Beauty

I kinda like the studio take. It has this weird Stones-via-Buffalo Springfield thing going. But it's almost as if they tried to tame the song a bit, to make it conform to the Workingman's Dead sound. Doesn't quite work, and it ends up this hybrid, which probably wouldn't have fit on either of the two 1970 albums.

 

Although I agree it works better acoustically, I actually rather like that version. It's also an example of them saving that song for special occasions. The audience reaction is kind of cool.

 

I'm not even much of a Dead fan, but I couldn't be without these two albums.

That said, I went with WD.

thedudeabidz said it much better than I could have.

WD is more rough-n-tumble, and was firstest with the mostest. To its credit, AB does have Box Of Rain but it also has Casey Jones

Cover art? No contest. As drop-jaw beautiful as the rose is, AB's back cover is wasted space. On the back of WD, we are treated to those marvelous band portraits by Stanley Mouse.

I did see them smack-dab in between release dates for these two, but it had no bearing on my thoughts. These just happen to be a pair of lightning-in-a-bottle moments for this band, and stand tall by themselves. I'm not a collector, but I've not heard a live rendition of any of these songs that better the studio version.

 

I voted for Workingman's Dead.

Looking at the track listings I see more fan favorites on American Beauty; Box of Rain, Friend of the Devil, Sugar Magnolia, Ripple and Brokedown Palace. I can see how American Beauty gets the votes.

For me, however, the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. The run from the opening of Uncle John's Band through Easy Wind is just so solid, and so much more cohesive that the sequencing on American Beauty, it makes it an easy choice for me.
With Dire Wolf, New Speedway Boogie, Cumberland Blues, Black Peter and Easy Wind on this LP, the voting should be closer.


Workingman's Dead
1 Uncle John's Band 4:45
2 High Time 5:16
3 Dire Wolf 3:15
4 New Speedway Boogie 4:08
5 Cumberland Blues 3:18
6 Black Peter 5:46
7 Easy Wind 5:01
8 Casey Jones 4:29

American Beauty
1 Box of Rain 5:18
2 Friend of the Devil 3:24
3 Sugar Magnolia 3:19
4 Operator 2:25
5 Candyman 6:14
6 Ripple 4:09
7 Brokedown Palace 4:09
8 Till the Morning Comes 3:08
9 Attics of My Life 5:12
10 Truckin 5:03

I wonder if Workingman's Dead would have received more votes if they had cut Casey Jones and replaced it with Friend of the Devil?

 

Jeez, I meant Truckin. But the still stands. Not wild about CJ either, come to think of it.

 

Casey Jones is a song I could never hear again and not miss it. Truckin is on the same list, but not quite near the top.

 

Hope I'm not taking this thread off-topic, but there's something I've wondered about... What was Mickey Hart's role on these two albums? All of the songs only have one kit drummer, right, and it seems to be Kreutzmann throughout, no? And that's natural, of course, since he seems to have better feel for this type of material. So, what was Mickey doing? There doesn't seem to be much in the way of percussion flourishes either; after all, the songs are not that "rhythmic" (with the possible exception of "Easy Wind").

It occurred to me: could Mickey's departure have been motivated by musical as well as personal factors? With the new rootsy direction, maybe he felt as if he couldn't contribute as much?

 

I don 't think Mickey was in the band then. He certainly wasn't at all the Live shows I saw around that time. I never understood why he left for that period.

 

Well, he is credited on both albums, and he does appear on the cover with the rest of them on Workingman's Dead. He didn't officially leave until early 1971. The reason usually given for this is his bad feelings towards his father's embezzlement of the band's funds.

 

Mickey was not gone at the point of these recordings. He is probably doing the percussion parts. He left in 1971 due to his father stealing all of the band's money. He felt guilty for having vouched for his father and decided he needed some time away from the band.

 

I love them both, but . . . . American Beauty wins hands down for me. I think the songs are wholly stronger, particularly the lyrics - Robert Hunter was really coming into his own here. There are great performances from all four lead vocalists (Phil's best song is here, and "Operator" is PigPen's best song IMO) - Jerry's vocals are consistently more assured ("High Times" from WD is a pretty rough performance - they had to multi-track the vocals at one point to distract from how off-key he is . . . "Come in when it's rainin -- ingngngngngng" on the 5.1 mix of the DVD-A this is clearly evident) and the playing is tight. That being said, these are indispensible albums and I consider them twins.

Funny, Cumberland Blues, Black Peter and Easy Wind (all great songs) in sequential order is why WD seems to drag a bit for me and probably why I would give the edge to AB. Different Strokes.

 

Workingman's Dead for me. While American Beauty is a great album with great songs, Workingman's Dead holds together better as whole - as an album and as a statement.

 

American Beauty for me.
Not a dull moment on it.

 

some news: both released it 45rpm MFSL
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-140482...dition-45rpm-180g-2lp.aspx?source=igodigital&
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-140479...-numbered-limited-edition-45rpm-180g-2lp.aspx

as we know American was released by MFSL in the 70s.

the HDtracks transfers sounds great, so mmm buy this on vinyl AGAIN... mmm

I dont like 45rpm's 4sides, is just me?
the new MM jazz 33 rpm proves that 45rpm are not necesary...

 

Two gems of the Hunter/Garcia golden era - I'll take Workingman's "old-west-cowboy-meets-20th Century-paranoid-suburban-outsider" aesthetic over AB's sublime reflection & introspection if forced to choose.

 

But "Mason's" sounds more AB- like to me. Kind of Sugar Magnolia-ey.

 

the thing that makes Workingman's Dead work for me is that there is no Bob Weir...this is when he was temporarily
kicked out of the band because he couldn't play for s***, of course he then practiced his a** off and became of of the greatest rhythm guitarists of all time, I'd
rate him even better than Garcia as a guitarist...it's really easy to sound like Garcia, not easy to fill up the sound like Weir... there's a really cool Henry Kaiser Band mini CD where he does a cover of Mason's Children, I saw some mindblowing shows by them in SF, checkout the CD "Those Who Don't Know History are Doomed To Repeat It"...

 

that being said, how can you choose between the two, American Beauty has Box of Rain, which basically kept me alive in drug rehab as a teenager
in 1984, I remember sitting in the bathroom with my smuggled in walkman listening to this on my headphones over and over and crying, one of the most
vivid moments of my life...when I saw them break this out at Hampton in '86 after 13 years of not playing it, another lifetime memory...

 

Ummm, I don't think so. The Weir-less (& Pigpen-less) Dead was a very brief period in 1968. Bob is on Workingman's Dead.

No.

 

Went with American Beauty, even though I do agree with the comments about side 2 dragging a bit.

 

Put this in the "Unpopular Music Opinions" file or whatever, but I really, really like "Til the Morning Comes". Lyrically it's just a lightweight love song, but as a unique and fun little country-rock groover it really is quite nice. The chorus is a little odd, but very interesting and memorable. The problem is that it is stuck on an album where nearly every other song (except perhaps "Operator") is an undeniable classic. That's tough competition.

 

+1

 

I went with Beauty, but these are two of my favorites records of all time....they are the product of a brief window when the Dead actually got it together in the studio! And, taking both albums together, what an amazing collection of interesting, diverse, challenging songs (I've tried to play some of them, and many are surprisingly difficult, with very quirky arrangements.)

 

To me, they make the perfect two-fer. Hard to pick one over the other.

 

Ripple Ripple Ripple

That is all.