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Carrion_Crow
Stealth Head
+49707
Submissions
3
Born Cross Eyed
Feb. 3, 1968
Crystal Ballroom
Wild and scrambled with lots of hooting and yelping. Lots of scary fun on this rare gem folks, with a Spanishy jam at the end.
5
China Cat Sunflower
Feb. 3, 1968
Crystal Ballroom
Killer power bridging Dark Star into an atomic The Eleven. Not kidding, but all the early ones belong up here to spread more heads into '68 Dead.
8
Not Fade Away
Feb. 11, 1970
Fillmore East
High-energy and very tight. Opens (?) an immortal show with a big bang. Great clear sound quality, too.
5
The Other One
Feb. 11, 1970
Fillmore East
Super-charged, but unfortunately incomplete. From the era when TOO took over from Cryptical, but this reprise has surprising power: PHIL.
3
Cold Rain and Snow
Dec. 28, 1969
International Speedway
Explosive and uptempo with a high-pressure energy that blows the tubes.
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Comments
Cosmic Charlie
Jan. 25, 1969
Avalon Ballroom
One of the best I know: They're having a blast. The growling grinding combination of Jerry and the keys (Pigpen? TC? both?) gives it an energetic tight swinging sound during the verses, and an unexpected almost punk-rock blown-amp sounding bridge to the "calling you" section. Cosmic Charlie is so legendary and mythic: People held banners at shows with the number of days past since it was last performed and annual set-lists would say Cosmic Charlie: 0 with a sad-face next to it. Hear it here in a uniquely tight and fun version.
Dark Star
Jan. 25, 1969
Avalon Ballroom
TC is too high in the mix, but so what? In most recordings of the era it's almost impossible to hear any indication of what he brought, so this is an interesting document if nothing else. It's also musically a whirligig of fun, even if a bit scattered in places. Deduct points for the mix if you must.
Turn On Your Love Light
Jan. 24, 1969
Avalon Ballroom
The stoned moron arhythmically yelling 'whoo whoooo' at the beginning and "Grateful Dead!!! Grateful Dead!!!" towards the end bring me right back to my tour days. ;-)
Dark Star
Jan. 24, 1969
Avalon Ballroom
Fans of the Live Dead-era should really know this one. Sonically it shares a lot with the more famous ones of the era, but its flow is just as perfect and the ideas and clear telepathy between Jerry and Bobby throughout is gorgeous. There may be a bit of a tuning or tape-speed wobble in places, but the C.Miller cleanup is pristine.
New Potato Caboose
Aug. 24, 1968
Shrine Auditorium
Jerry's solo can ignite paper at 1000 yards too. I mean Phil gets a lot of deserving love here, but I just gotta add that bit about the guitarist.
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hot songs
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new submissions
Wharf Rat, Winterland Arena, Dec. 31, 1977
Sugaree, Alexandra Palace, Sept. 11, 1974
Friend of the Devil, Oakland Auditorium, Dec. 27, 1981
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recent comments
Eat your heart out ...
A live Dead masterpiece, ...
Too many great versions ...
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