In our packed season finale, we explore how “Casey Jones” combined folk traditions and became an underground hit too risque for pop radio, hear a break down of the multi-track, discuss the infamous sniff and other Workingman’s Dead’s finishing touches with co-producer Bob Matthews, figure out the location and date of the cover photo, and more.
Casey Jones supplementary notes
By Jesse Jarnow
Casey Jones was a very real train engineer who died in a workplace accident late in the night of April 30, 1900, early May 1st. He was not high on cocaine. The first of many songs about him was written almost instantly, by one of his co-workers, though none would be recorded for another two decades. It was a true folk song.
A detailed history of the real-life Casey Jones and subsequent songs about him. David Dodd’s Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics site (and book) looks at Robert Hunter’s adaptation. Casey Jones’s house in Jackson, Tennessee--just off I-40 between Memphis and Nashville--is now a museum.
Bob Egan and his team of collaborators at the incredible site PopSpotsNYC figured out the exact location of the Workingman’s Dead cover photo, taken in Hunter’s Point, in South San Francisco. Several of Mouse’s original drafts for the cover can be seen online. The Workingmole’s Dead version, featuring a giant star-nosed mole looming in the background, is viewable on PopSpotsNYC. Perhaps the earliest conception was auctioned by Bonhams in 2015, from when the album was still called The Workingman’s Dead--sourced from what Mouse labeled the maquette--was either abandoned midway through or features an intentional trompe l’oeil effect.
Comment
Good Ol' Grateful Dead Podcast
Just listened to the Casey Jones podcast. Loved hearing about the hair/beard chronology, Jerry's cure for his throat, and the search for the cover photo. Every second is a delight.
Don't play this song on the radio!
My copy of Workingman's on vinyl is a copy that was issued by the Warner Bros. Radio Station Service that has a sticker that says Not For Resale. On Uncle John's and Casey Jones there is a clearly pen written message of "No!" on those tracks. Luckily, there is no nail scratches on either of these tracks and they sound beautiful. Thank you for the podcast and the histories of these tunes!
My copy of Workingman's on vinyl is a copy that was issued by the Warner Bros. Radio Station Service that has a sticker that says Not For Resale. On Uncle John's and Casey Jones there is a clearly pen written message of "No!" on those tracks. Luckily, there is no nail scratches on either of these tracks and they sound beautiful. Thank you for the podcast and the histories of these tunes!
Just listened to the Casey Jones podcast. Loved hearing about the hair/beard chronology, Jerry's cure for his throat, and the search for the cover photo. Every second is a delight.