Grateful Dead Family Discography: Workin' Man Blues

Workin' Man Blues

Composer: Merle Haggard

Workin' Man Blues was played once by the Grateful Dead at a soundcheck on December 1, 1973. It was also played by Jerry Garcia with the New Riders Of The Purple Sage.

Workin' Man Blues was played by Phil Lesh & Friends in 2013, by Billy & The Kids with Bob Weir in 2016, by the John Kadlecik Band with Bob Weir in 2016, and by Bob Weir with Dwight Yoakam in 2020.

The song was written by Haggard in an attempt to produce a song that would have the same impact as Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, a song that the "ordinary working man could relate to." According to Haggard it took 30 minutes to write whilst on the tour bus near Tucson.

The original Merle Haggard release topped the country charts in August 1969.

Merle Haggard

Portrait Of, Merle Haggard, 1969
no info Single (Workin' Man Blues / Silver Wings), Merle Haggard, 1969
Okie from Muskogee, Merle Haggard, 1969
no info The Best of Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard, 1969
no info Country Fair, Various Artists, 1970
The Best Of The Best, Merle Haggard, 1972
Songs I'll Always Sing, Merle Haggard, 1976
no info Epic Collection (Live) , Merle Haggard, 1983
no info Country U.S.A. 1969, Merle Haggard, 1989
Capitol Collectors Series, Merle Haggard, 1990
no info The Best of Country Blues, Merle Haggard, 1990
Country Pride, Merle Haggard, 1992
no info Working Man's Country, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 1993
no info Merle Haggard: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, Merle Haggard, 1994
no info Sing Me Back Home: Hits, Merle Haggard, 1994
The Lonesome Fugitive: The Merle Haggard Anthology (1963-1977), Merle Haggard, 1995
no info 20 Hits, Merle Haggard, 1995
no info 24 Greatest Hits, Merle Haggard, 1995
no info Legendary Country Singers, Merle Haggard, 1995
no info Country Classics, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 1995
no info The Country You Keep, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 1995
20 Hits Special Collection, Vol. 1, Merle Haggard, 1995
no info Country Classics, Vol. 2, Merle Haggard, 1996
no info Golden Classics: 23 Classic Tracks, Merle Haggard, 1996
Down Every Road, Merle Haggard, 1996
no info Silver Wings, Merle Haggard, 1996
no info Working Man's Blues, Merle Haggard, 1997
no info Legendary Songwriters, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 1997
Working Man's Blues, Various Artists, 1997
no info 16 Biggest Hits, Merle Haggard, 1998
no info This Is Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard, 1998
no info Patriotic Super Hits: American Made, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 1998
For the Record: 43 Legendary Hits, Merle Haggard, 1999
no info Live at Billy Bob's Texas, Merle Haggard, 1999
no info Back to Back Hits, Merle Haggard, 1999
no info Album Title Back to Back Date of Release Jun 1, 1999
no info 20 Number One Hits, Merle Haggard, 2000
no info Greatest Hits, Merle Haggard, 2000
no info Good Old Country, Merle Haggard, 2000
no info Country Gold: Workin' Man, Merle Haggard, 2000
no info Branded Man, Merle Haggard, 2000
no info Oh Boy Classics Presents: Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard, 2000
no info The Best of Country Gold, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 2000
no info In Concert, Merle Haggard & The Strangers, 2001
no info Country Legends, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 2001
no info Now That's Country, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 2001
20 Greatest Hits, Merle Haggard, 2002
20 Country Number Ones, Merle Haggard, 2002
no info 21 Years Of Number 1 Hits, Merle Haggard, 2002
no info The Number 1 Country Collection, Various Artists (Merle Haggard), 2002
40 #1 Hits, Merle Haggard, 2004
no info Original Country Album, Various Artists, 2004
Portrait Of / Keep Movin' On, Merle Haggard, 2005
no info 11 #1 Hits, Merle Haggard, 2005
no info Legends, Merle Haggard, 2005
no info Greatest Hits Collection, Merle Haggard, 2005
Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard, 2006
no info Tough Country Heroes, Merle Haggard, 2006
no info Workin' Man Blues, Merle Haggard, 2006
Definitive Collection, Merle Haggard, 2007
Hag: The Studio Recordings 1969-1976, Merle Haggard, 2007
no info Legends of American Music: The Original Outlaw, Merle Haggard, 2007
no info Very Best of Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard, 2007
no info Country Roads, Merle Haggard, 2007
no info 20 Hits, Merle Haggard, 2007
no info Country's Bad Boys, Various Artists, 2007
Hag: The Capitol Recordings 1968-1976: Concepts, Live & the Strangers, Merle Haggard, 2008
no info Number One Songs, Merle Haggard, 2008
no info Collector's Edition, Merle Haggard, 2008
no info Country Store Collection, Merle Haggard, 2008
no info Live from Austin TX: 1978, Merle Haggard, 2008
no info Legendary Performances, Merle Haggard, 2008
no info The Best of, Merle Haggard, 2009
no info 10 Great Songs, Merle Haggard, 2012
no info Poet of the Working Man, Merle Haggard, 2012

Other recordings

no info Here's a Toast to Mama, Charlie Louvin, 1969
She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1969
no info I'll Still Be Missing You, Warner Mack, 1969
no info Jesus Is a Soul Man, Lawrence Reynolds, 1969
no info Introducing My Friends, The Strangers, 1970
no info Country Hitparade, Cal Smith, 1970
no info Here I Am, Macon's Mayor Ronnie Thompson, 1970
no info Charlotte Fever, Kenny Price, 1971
no info Cash Country, Tommy cash, 1971
no info Harpin' the Blues, Charlie McCoy, 1975
no info Booga Billy, Gary Hill, 1976
no info Honeysuckle Rose, Willie Nelson, 1980
no info Wild Eyed Dream, Ricky Van Shelton, 1987
Pigus Drunkus Maximus, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs, 1987
no info Killer: The Mercury Years, Vol. 2 (1969-1972), Jerry Lee Lewis, 1989
no info Country Store Collection, Johnny Russell, 1989
no info Hillbilly Fever, Osborne Brothers, 1991
no info Texas Funeral, Jon Wayne, 1994
The Locust Years...And the Return to the Promised Land, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1994
Mama's Hungry Eyes: Tribute To Merle Haggard, Various Artists (Jed Zeppelin), 1994
New Country: December 1994, Various Artists (Jed Zeppelin), 1994
no info Killer Country, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1995
no info Wild-Eyed Dream/Loving Proof/RVS III, Ricky Van Shelton, 1995
no info Working the Hits, Ricky Van Shelton, 1996
This World Is Not My Home, Lone Justice, 1999
no info Dust, Damon Johnson, 2000
no info Lonesome Blues, Countdown Country, 2001
no info Real Blues, Various Artists (Tommy Emmanuel), 2001
no info Cup of Joe, Clear Creek Band, 2002
All-Time Greatest Hits, Johnny Russell, 2002
Another Place Another Time/She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye, Jerry Lee Lewis, 2002
no info The Collection: Stardust/One for the Road/Honeysuckle Rose, Willie Nelson, 2002
This Is Americana, Vol. 1: A View From Sugar Hill, Various Artists (Doc Watson), 2002
no info Pony Express Messenger, Buddy Ashmore & Pony Express, 2003
no info Live at Billy Bob's Texas, Willie Nelson, 2004
no info Truck Stop Jukebox, Various Artists (Jed Zeppelin), 2004
no info Maxed Out, The Ariels, 2005
no info Nashville Star 2005 Finalists, Various Artists (Jason Meadows), 2005
no info Jerry Rocks, Jerry Lee Lewis, 2006
no info Many Sides of, Jerry Lee Lewis, 2006
no info A Half Century of Hits, Jerry Lee Lewis, 2006
no info Working Man, Albert Cummings, 2006
no info Crossharp Country, Live!, Dennis M. Cooper, 2006
no info Empty house, Acoustic Blue, 2006
no info Gold, Jerry Lee Lewis, 2008
no info Picture Me, Sonny Martin, 2008
no info The Bad Daddys, The Bad Daddys, 2008
no info Timeless Treasures, Sonny Martin, 2009
no info Hickory Wind: Live at the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull Waycross GA, Charlie Louvin, 2010
no info Different roads, Gypsy Wind, 2010
no info Playing Merle Haggard , David Hartley / Mark Dunn, 2010
no info Pretend It's the End of the World, Bryan and the Haggards, 2010
no info Original Album Classics, Willie Nelson, 2011
no info A Whole Lotta, Jerry Lee Lewis, 2012
Wood & Wire, Ian Cal Ford And His Acoustic Preachers, 2018