Buzz Poole has written about music, design, and culture for numerous outlets, including The Village Voice, The Believer, Print, and San Francisco Chronicle.

In 1969 the Grateful Dead executed an extraordinary pivot. While playing brilliant, deeply improvisational psychedelic music, they simultaneously began to create a series of traditionally-styled new American folk songs that would be collected in Workingman's Dead. It is perhaps the key moment in their storied history, and Buzz Poole explores this evolution with insight and a profound understanding of how these songs fit into American cultural history.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Background, Historical and PersonalChapter 2: “Uncle John's Band”Chapter 3: “High Time”Chapter 4: “Dire Wolf”Chapter 5: “New Speedway Boogie”Chapter 6: “Cumberland Blues”Chapter 7: “Black Peter”Chapter 8: “Easy Wind”Chapter 9: “Casey Jones”Notes

Buzz Poole has written about music, design, and culture for numerous outlets, including The Village Voice, The Believer, Print, and San Francisco Chronicle.

In 1969 the Grateful Dead executed an extraordinary pivot. While playing brilliant, deeply improvisational psychedelic music, they simultaneously began to create a series of traditionally-styled new American folk songs that would be collected in Workingman's Dead. It is perhaps the key moment in their storied history, and Buzz Poole explores this evolution with insight and a profound understanding of how these songs fit into American cultural history.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Background, Historical and PersonalChapter 2: “Uncle John's Band”Chapter 3: “High Time”Chapter 4: “Dire Wolf”Chapter 5: “New Speedway Boogie”Chapter 6: “Cumberland Blues”Chapter 7: “Black Peter”Chapter 8: “Easy Wind”Chapter 9: “Casey Jones”Notes