headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49742


Submissions

20
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
July 1, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre

Rock-solid China with Jerry twisting and pulling its melodic basis throughout a great solo + great Feeling Groovy trans. into Rider.
16
Me and My Uncle
July 1, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre

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.
24
Playin' In The Band
July 1, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre

25 minutes of nirvana. Absolutely everything a Playin' fan could look for - with that strange summer '73 blissed-out "intense mellow".
13
Dark Star
June 30, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre

Mellow jam leading to a slow simmert, then boils and finally melts down brilliantly into a pristine Eyes. Why isn't this here yet?
3
El Paso
June 30, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre

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

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.