headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+47945


Submissions

9
Brown Eyed Women
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Dec. '72 turns out to be a nice little peak for BEW. Perfect shuffle, air-play tightness, great soloing, just enough country. Bobby nicely audible.
4
Deal
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

A super-fun frolicing romp. They just seem to have loved playing this tune.
3
Brown Eyed Women
Dec. 15, 1972
Long Beach Arena

Pristine, air-play quality in a deep pocket with note-for-note perfection all 'round. Surprised not to see it here already.
3
Mexicali Blues
Dec. 15, 1972
Long Beach Arena

Smokin' desperado polka here with superbly tight playing at a faster-than normal pace. A galloping riot and heaps of fun.
2
Deal
Dec. 11, 1972
Winterland Arena

Shredding goodness, coming late in the set after a killer Star>Stella. Great show all around.

Comments

Cryptical Envelopment
Jan. 24, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Intro is weirdly truncated, but the outro is a musical explosion that just blazes hot and burns down before disintegrating into a hot New Potato.
The Other One
Jan. 24, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

For the era I wouldn't say this TOO is that short. Haven't checked alternate sources, but the C. Miller on the archive has what sounds like tape damage or even a cut Cryptical intro before 8 minutes or so of blazing hot scary-ride TOO that actually goes into further thematic jamming than others of the era before re-entering the atmosphere for a ballistic Cryptical reprise that just melts rock it's so hot.
Turn On Your Love Light
Jan. 17, 1969
Civic Auditorium

This version starts rough but you can hear them searching for the pocket and coming together. By the end its a stomping colossus. I think this is the show where they struggled with the venue and were unhappy enough to consider giving money back to the audience. I can't hear that here, but it might be part of the city's bad reputation with Heads. When I was touring it hadn't hosted a show in forever, and was a still somewhat hostile to hippies and bikers and all kinds of freaks. I imagine back in '69 it was a pretty square town.
The Eleven
Jan. 17, 1969
Civic Auditorium

This is a hot version, no doubt, but everything about this era runs hot. The electric high-tension and crackling energy is something like no other era. Leave it to the gear-heads to explain why, but I think this was just at the end of the first era - before he went to jail - with Bear and his audio effect on the sound was palpable. Musically this has a few rough spots of everyone playing on top of each other, like just before transitioning into the first solo, but they always come back in and overall it's a rollicking good time more than a blow-your-face off steal, IMHO.
Eyes Of The World
Feb. 22, 1973
Assembly Hall, University of Illinois

Jerry's first two solos are radio-play perfect, and the ensemble singing on each chorus is a joyous yowp for life. To my ears it drifts out of sync a bit in the outro, but the transition to China Doll is just sublime.