On June 14, 1970, the Grateful Dead released WORKINGMANS DEAD, an album that was unlike anything theyd ever done, one that showed the world a new side of the Dead. It was clearly the same band as before, but now with a distinctly different sound and approach to the music, pivoting from psychedelic improvisation to folk-rock storytelling for the everyman, as the albums title suggests. While the Deads first three studio albums appealed to many, the group didnt yet have the mass breakthrough that would make the entire world take notice of this band of misfits from the Bay Area.

WORKINGMANS DEAD changed all that. With eight perfect songs like Casey Jones and High Time the album solidified the Jerry Garcia-Robert Hunter songwriting tandem as one of the best and most important songwriting collaborations in music history. The album reached the Top Thirty and included the single Uncle Johns Band, which climbed to #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles c