headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49707


Submissions

13
Brown Eyed Women
Oct. 2, 1977
Paramount Theatre

Perfection firing on all cylinders: Tight band, muscular beats, beautiful vocals (Donna's on!) and that applied greatness that is the '77 Dead.
13
Doin' That Rag
March 2, 1969
Fillmore West

Blissful '69 chaos: Jer says, "Help! Help! Hey, we need some organized minds up here" and then they launch. Great fun and a wild ride.
13
Comes A Time
Oct. 22, 1971
Auditorium Theatre

Pure. One of the first performances with beautiful, meaning-soaked delivery.
9
Wharf Rat
Nov. 1, 1973
McGaw Memorial Hall - Northwestern University

Suffers a cutout in the middle, but reaches transcendant beauty and interplay. They end on a harmonics/tuning just delightfully right out of the song.
7
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
Nov. 1, 1973
McGaw Memorial Hall - Northwestern University

Sweet and subtle, part of a mega-massive 2nd set jam. A beauty.
show more submissions

Comments

Playin' In The Band
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

Agreed that this is a beaut. This one goes through several phases, with the noted jam at around 10:00 and then another transition into a more biting/buzzsaw tone around 15:00. It holds at a simmer rather than a boil, however so if you're looking for mad freaky weirdness then this won't necessarily scratch every itch.
They Love Each Other
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

This signals exactly where they've been and where they're going. The transition year behind them, '77 coming on strong... a great and historically relevant version. Could be much higher, but probably sits between the '73 and the '77 fans' choices.
Bertha
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

Best one of the year: Deliberate, tight and right. Compare this to the weirdly accidental previous one they played on 15 October (the only clunker in that otherwise world-shatteringly brilliant show) and this makes me think they'd been thinking about bringing Bertha back into rotation, rehearsed it, nailed it, and brought it back in with diesel.
Comes A Time
Oct. 15, 1976
Shrine Auditorium

The transition out of this is so good it transforms the Franklin's that comes after it into an almost entirely different song. Strong performance and great show. Check out around 08:00: They go into a 12/8 meter riff that may be unique in the oeuvre. In any case this may be my top choice Comes A Time of all time.
The Other One
Oct. 15, 1976
Shrine Auditorium

Both a musically tight, breakneck roller-coaster and a psychedelicore madhouse filled with twists and turns a jump-out-at you moments of mind melting gooeyness. Around 08:35 they sound like they're going into a totally new jam, but it gets whisked away like so many hallucinations. Brilliant suite and one of the best of the few TOO of the year.
show more comments
headyversion loves the dead but is in no way affiliated with The Grateful Dead or affiliated enterprises. find out more >:) >:)