Official Grateful Dead Podcast Examines Creation of ‘Workingman’s Dead’

The Grateful Dead have launched an official podcast that will first examine the creation of the band’s 1970 LP Workingman’s Dead.

The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast, available on all podcast platforms, is hosted by musician Rich Mahan and rock journalist Jesse Jarnow. Each episode of the first season will focus entirely on the story behind each Workingman’s Dead song; Episode 1, which premieres Thursday, centers on “Uncle John’s Band,” and features guests like producer Bob Matthews and Dead tour manager Jim Cutler.

Across the first season, the Deadcast will welcome guests like Jerry Garcia’s daughter Trixie Garcia, Dead archivist David Lemieux, the band’s former publicist Dennis McNally and NBA legend and Deadhead Bill Walton.

“Many of the unsolved mysteries of the Dead world will also be explained, including: which obscure Macedonian folk song Jerry Garcia borrowed the ‘Uncle John’s Band’ melody from; dating the exact writing of ‘Dire Wolf’; and locating the secret trail between Garcia and Janis Joplin’s houses,” the band said of the podcast.

The podcast also explores the recent unearthing of the complete “Angel’s Share” studio outtakes from the Workingman’s Dead sessions. “The conversations about the album on The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast will provide a great companion to these newly uncovered recordings,” the Dead added.

New episodes of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast will premiere each Thursday. The band also recently released a 50th-anniversary reissue of Workingman’s Dead.