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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49652


Submissions

4
Sugar Magnolia
May 24, 1972
Strand Lyceum

Man, they're having a blast. Totally firing on all cylinders, and clipping along at 90mph. Great stuff.
2
Tennessee Jed
June 17, 1972
Hollywood Bowl

Solid rockin' version with a cruisin' pulse and tight ensemble playing at high energy.
4
Black Throated Wind
June 17, 1972
Hollywood Bowl

Back from Europe with all the polish and power of a masterpiece: They've perfected the arc and emotional nuance. Miller cleanup is best (duh).
6
Sugar Magnolia
May 23, 1972
Strand Lyceum

Gets pretty hard rock in places. This whole show, actually, has a high voltage rock vibe unlike all others on the tour. Underrated show all round.
10
Big Railroad Blues
May 23, 1972
Strand Lyceum

Utterly gobsmacked that this ain't here yet: It's a furious barnburner. Full of get up and go.

Comments

Cassidy
April 26, 1977
Capitol Theater

Wharf Rat
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Hey I just listened to this suite again and think the WR>Jam idea might be wrongly labeled. At 10:48 or so Jerry changes key back into Playin' and the band follows immediately. Their meter changes too and it sounds more like 10/4 (Playin') than 6/8 (WR) to my ears. This doesn't change a damned thing or detract from what's been said, but I think this is a Playin'>WR>Playin'>Meltdown>Playin' suite. Thoughts?
Wharf Rat
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Gets my vote for best of the year, but I also think it hard to say just where comes back into the Playin' space during the deep jam... They're so far out of the WR structure and into the wild outer spheres before coming back into the recognisable reprise. Not too often that Wharf Rat dips into Dark Star territory, but this is something special.
Playin' In The Band
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Brings the expansive length and transitive madness of the most epic pre-hiatus versions if you take it as part of the whole suite. I don't say 'under-rated' often, but it fits here.
Deep Elem Blues
May 7, 1981
Tomorrow Coast To Coast with Tom Synder

Here it is with great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chADQBmosEQ. It's quite cool to see this era with a decent/professional camerawork: Nice in-focus closeups of the band, Jerry singing beautifully and his fretwork. A beaut of a version any way you look at it.