headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49712


Submissions

3
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
Oct. 30, 1972
Ford Auditorium

A solid, sweet rocker. Seems like MHUT had matured in '72 by this point to the stand-alone anchor that it remained until the end.
2
Candyman
Oct. 30, 1972
Ford Auditorium

The total package, with everything this song was meant to have: Sadness, menace, self-consciousness, braggadocio, regret. A beautiful performance.
3
Truckin'
Oct. 30, 1972
Ford Auditorium

Hot steam. Starting around 5:30 Jerry blisters the world with fire.
3
Box of Rain
Oct. 30, 1972
Ford Auditorium

Levels all a bit off, AUD a bit murky, but damned if this isn't the most glorious ensemble yowp this song can be. Joyous and loving: It's all there.
5
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Oct. 30, 1972
Ford Auditorium

Brilliant, crisp ideas and tight ensemble playing on a warm Bear AUD. Just exactly perfect.

Comments

Black Throated Wind
March 26, 1972
Academy of Music

Damn right. Sounds like they mastered it long before. Charlie Miller cleanup on this show is all that, too.
Estimated Prophet
May 25, 1977
The Mosque

Donnie's right here. I can't say this one touches the madness that makes this song so special. While my personal opinion is that the Dead were generally more musically interesting in '77 than they were in '91, I also think that the best Estimated Prophets convey jagged, off-kilter, schizophrenia, and could tip you over the edge given the right/wrong mental state. This one sounds like a work in progress - and I think this is one of, if not the best shows in all of '77.
How Sweet It Is
March 25, 1972
Academy of Music

This is one of the most brilliant versions of this song I've ever heard, whether or not I'm also a deadhead. (I am.) Donna never sounded better either.
Smokestack Lightnin'
March 25, 1972
Academy of Music

Pigpen comes out after an hour+ of, shall we say, a not-too-convincing Bo Diddley featuring the Grateful Dead set, and pours it on thick and luscious. Do you think he wanted to step up to Bo D. and say, "now that's how it's done", one bluesman to the next? It seems like the 'lil red rooster wanted to strut in his own backyard here. One of the best, and a painful reminder of how amazing Pigpen's sound could have blended with the emerging seventies Dead. It also sounds like half the band wanted to go into Truckin' for the last five minutes of vamping. Cool how it hovers around but never fully coalesces.
Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad
March 23, 1972
Academy of Music

Cucamonga's right here. This one has no business with only two votes. Were they completely on fire? Did they leave anyone alive? Did they have to replace all their equipment afterwards? Jeez, this one's a scorcher, and needs to be much higher up.