Rock-solid China with Jerry twisting and pulling its melodic basis throughout a great solo + great Feeling Groovy trans. into Rider.

By far the most snarlingly bad-assed version of 1973. Jer's lines it up and shoots it down, soloing intesely throughout the whole song.

25 minutes of nirvana. Absolutely everything a Playin' fan could look for - with that strange summer '73 blissed-out "intense mellow".

Mellow jam leading to a slow simmert, then boils and finally melts down brilliantly into a pristine Eyes. Why isn't this here yet?

Cowboy Bob and the Mexican Maiden at high speed rip-roaring tempos. Great bursting energy.

Love how they go in and out of TOO. Sounds like Phil really wanted to play it, introducing it a the beginning and again about 7 minutes in. Very nice, very '74 out-there space jazz.

Etmlbristol, you are now officially my favorite deadhead. All love for that, and tutti fratelli!

Who doesn't love 69 anyway, even if it does smell like a turd now and then, heh, heh heh.

Troll alert here, but anyone who would describe this world-class masterpiece as a "smoldering turd" is quite special indeed. Now I'm a pretty tolerant guy, and love how folks appreciate certain years over others (here's a totally non-sequitur shout out to the under-appreciated '76!), and of course we can all stand to leave the comfort zone and learn something new about a different part of the Dead's vast oeuvre, but really man, I'd make that trade you're offering if it even made a little bit of sense to conceive of trading one year for another. Life's long and there's plenty of time to get into '69 if you're not so into it yet. I'm sure I'll get around to listening to all the '94s some day. In the meantime de gustibus non est disputandum, y'knows?

Blissful shredding and a continuous fountain of spontaneous group-mind. Jerry just soars. A perfect example of that magical '73 energy.