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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49712


Submissions

4
He's Gone
Aug. 12, 1972
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium

Sweet outro on this one. Donna's got the sweet harmony and Phil with the bass vox makes it pretty kind.
3
Me and My Uncle
Aug. 12, 1972
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium

MAMU is so often overlooked, but this one is hiding in plain sight. Hard jumpin' rocker here with a savage pulse, and great banter after.
4
Sugar Magnolia
July 26, 1972
Paramount Theater

After the ultra-outre Dark Star, this pure rock and roll distillate is just perfect goodness. A burner with Billy hard charging in 4-wheel drive.
5
You Win Again
July 26, 1972
Paramount Theater

Note for note perfect. The only reason it isn't here yet is that the shows between Europe and Berkeley/Veneta are too often overlooked.
1
Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad
July 25, 1972
Paramount Theater

Possibly the highest energy piece in the whole show. An excellent jam that left the crowd smiling, for certain.

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.