headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49667


Submissions

3
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Oct. 17, 1970
Cleveland Music Hall

Multigen sound quality, but unmistakenly tight jam with a sweet transition.
3
Doin' That Rag
Jan. 24, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Song was brand new and they're searching for the sound, almost goes into a Violaesque jam. Transitional, hot stuff.
5
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Jan. 17, 1969
Civic Auditorium

Deep and mournful, with great organ fills and group soloing. Very solid.
6
St. Stephen
June 7, 1969
Fillmore West

Massively crunching Stephen with Jer's tone like a machinegunbuzzsaw. Out of a killer DS too. Why no love yet?
1
Sugar Magnolia
Sept. 17, 1970
Fillmore East

Something happened to the song between August and September, and this is the "first" Sugar Mag that resembles the song we know, now it's tight.

Comments

The Other One
Dec. 10, 1972
Winterland Arena

This has so much more jazz in the first 11 minutes than most other Others from the era, and accordingly this is the first show in '72 where I really hear where the new year is going to take them. (Same for the China-Rider). This has a bit of an acid freakout and meltdown, but isn't as hard rocking as some. It is, in any case a perfectly executed and exciting version all the same. Edit: On second listen, I'm thinking the tape speed might be a bit high. Any thoughts? The OO and Truckin' both seem a bit accelerated. Also, I may be crazy, but around 20:30 they play with a theme that sounds to my mind like a proto-Slipknot. Someone tell me if I'm off my rocker, but it hangs in the air for about two or three minutes. This fits with my earlier comment that they were already exploring new sounds for '73 and beyond by this point.
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Dec. 10, 1972
Winterland Arena

The transition jam out of CC is smooth sailing and a nice vision of how'd they'd sound by Summer '73 with that perfect combination of hot yet mellow.
Playin' In The Band
Dec. 10, 1972
Winterland Arena

Compare any December '71 (the one on Dec. 10th, for ex.) to this one and marvel at how far and deep they'd dug into it in just one year. I am constantly amazed at how rich PiTB is as a vehicle for exploration, and Q4 '72 is one of the most consistent fascinating periods for the growth of this song. This one is way too far down the list, heads, and y'all should check it out stat.
Dark Star
Nov. 26, 1972
San Antonio Civic Auditorium

So much music packed in here. From the very start you know it's going to be adventurous. There are a few seconds at the beginning where Jerry plays with his tone that you'd usually associate with the whale song segment of a big big Star. Then a big, colorful and coherent jam with a unique (?) melodic 16th note section that flutters and buzzes around the 8 minute mark. The vocals are pristine, and then Phil hits the hyperspace warp overdrive and even the meltdown is precise and purposeful. A great great Dark Star.
Playin' In The Band
Nov. 26, 1972
San Antonio Civic Auditorium

Terribly underrated. This is a continuous flood of muscular musicality. At 'only' 19 minutes it's a bit shorter than some of the other titanic PiTBs of the era, but it's a hardened gem of condensed dark-matter within which there are whole worlds to explore.