headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49742


Submissions

9
The Race Is On
June 24, 1973
Memorial Coliseum

Lovely mid-tempo ensemble singing with Bobby, Donna, and Jerry audible (Keith too?). Great driving bass and piano.
12
Big Railroad Blues
June 24, 1973
Memorial Coliseum

Fun, fast and loose in the joints.
24
They Love Each Other
June 24, 1973
Memorial Coliseum

Clear melodic jamming, fun and uptempo.
33
New Potato Caboose
Oct. 12, 1968
Avalon Ballroom

Starts with gongs and cymbals in the cosmic dust of an outrageous TOO>Cryptical, then gears up and goes supernova for over 20 minutes.
14
Me and Bobby McGee
April 29, 1971
Fillmore East

My new favourite version, and I never choose "favourites". Passionate perfect Bobby, the band so tight, Jer's perfect harmony, Phil driving it all.
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 >:) >:)