headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49712


Submissions

8
He Was A Friend of Mine
June 14, 1969
Monterey Performing Arts Center

So blissful you might just find yourself floating out of time. A beautiful mellow island in a sea of blazing psychedelia. China Cat tease at the end.
3
Dark Star
Oct. 30, 1968
The Matrix

Rarity w/o Pig or Bobby, but TWO glorious Dark Star jams on this "goof" of a night. Strictly speaking not the Dead, but it's here and its glorious.
2
Turn On Your Love Light
Oct. 30, 1968
The Matrix

A rarity: No Pig or Bobby & no vocals. Still, beautifully inventive soloing shows why they kept it in rotation for so long. This "goof" is worth it.
6
Hard to Handle
April 5, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Hot sex.
23
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Nov. 2, 1969
Family Dog at the Great Highway

So much feeling coming off an interstellar DS>StS>11 and then they just put this show to bed with brilliance and feeling.

Comments

They Love Each Other
June 10, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Seems like the first one where they made slowness the musical objective. While I personally prefer the uptempo versions, this one highlights some of the subtlety and innuendo that sometimes got lost in the uptempo ones.
Sugaree
June 10, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Just what they said above: Here starts the great Sugaree surge. Keith's work here is tremendous, and signals where the thinking was on this song for the future.
Brown Eyed Women
June 9, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Beautiful ensemble singing and a pristine jam here.
St. Stephen
June 9, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Before the '76 Stephen slowed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down, you have this brilliancy. Expanding to 11 minutes of thematic bell-ringing, followed by a tight re-entry. No secret that St. Stephen was a point of contention in the band's history, but I listen to this one and wonder why didn't they take this style further?
Ship of Fools
June 9, 1976
Boston Music Hall

The orchestration of this version brings out emotional arcs that were sometimes lost in later version that didn't have the crescendo-decrescendo of intensity characterized by this one. I know some folks found this song a snooze, but when I listen to this one I can hear a complicated, introspective piece that does it for me. Nice version.