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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49722


Submissions

45
Playin' In The Band
Dec. 19, 1973
Curtis Hixon Convention Hall

Really Heads? Not here yet? 21 minutes of super fine hotandheady jam. Blazing hot, capping off a year of just outrageous Playin' playing.
14
Candyman
April 15, 1970
Winterland Arena

Don't know the '70s versions enough to say "unique", but check this one out for beeeautiful vocals over light-as-light sweet acoustic playing.
21
Cold Rain and Snow
April 15, 1970
Winterland Arena

The boys start the show with all guns blazing. Seems like they'd open with this when they were most massive. Ahhhh, Winterland.
7
Jack Straw
Dec. 18, 1973
Curtis Hixon Convention Hall

The band has come together, the vocals are warm, the solos are sharp, so strap on boys and girls 'cause this show just ignites from here on out....
9
Caution
Sept. 20, 1970
Fillmore East

Great Caution, but absofreakinglutely outrageous feedback into the deep deep space and back. Face stolen, body floating -> Bid You Goodnight. Damn.

Comments

Scarlet Begonias
June 3, 1976
Paramount Theatre

Revisiting after a long spell, and this is as pure as they come. No FoTM, but natch, it wasn't written yet. What a beauty.
Cassidy
June 3, 1976
Paramount Theatre

Years later and back for another dose of this historic show. Sure, there's some rough patches, but can you imagine being there as a head, waiting out the hiatus and they bust out with new repertoire including Cassidy? This is some of Barlow's greatest writing for the band, and I've always considered this one of the most philosophical songs in their oeuvre deceptively simple, but "scattered like lost words" speaks beauty, and "I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream" is mysterious dark poetry of the highest order. This might not be the tightest version ever, but it's definitely one of the most satisfying - at least for me.
Sugar Magnolia
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Totally bonkers. Really, like zonkers bonkers: It's more uptempo - maybe our boys took their vitamins during the break - and Crosby's addition gives it an almost orchestral quality. Really a beauty.
The Other One
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Goes deep weird. (I love that.) But it also has a floaty ethereal passage before heading into Morning Dew that is just sublime. Phil and Billy's Drum and Bass solo is brilliant. Did they freakin' invent the genre? They did a similar solo on the 12th of the same month which is worth a listen, too.
Truckin'
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Scorching hot jam, with a great radio broadcast version on the Archive with a perfectly balanced soundboard. Everyone is audible, and they're deep in the pocket, plus Jerry is just inspiration on wheels. Truckin' when it's hot is unbeatable, and this one kicks off over an hour-long sweet sweet suite.