headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49667


Submissions

1
Big Railroad Blues
Dec. 31, 1970
Winterland Arena

Not on the list, but hidden in an unfortunately cut Easy Wind. Tinny recording but killer, fast, and furious jamming.
7
Smokestack Lightnin'
Dec. 28, 1970
Legion Stadium

Soulful pure blues. This is an intimate, informal show. It ain't slick, and that's just fine.
1
Playin' In The Band
April 15, 1971
Allegheny College

Only 2 months old, and 22nd time: They were working hard on it, and you can hear the explosive potential. Manic warbler mode, Main 10 at the surface.
1
Truckin'
Dec. 28, 1970
Legion Stadium

Tight simmering burner here, with nice Bobby/Jerry mix levels. Pig on organ is a little lost, so try headphones for some fun.
1
Me and Bobby McGee
Dec. 27, 1970
Legion Stadium

Starts simple and grows into a triumph. Can't help but think these meant a lot to the boys right after JJ's passing. Beautiful.
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Comments

Playin' In The Band
Sept. 21, 1972
The Spectrum

A version I could just put on repeat and listen to all day. Keith is exquisite, and the jam is hot and intense, then gentle and subtle, then hot again, all in 17 minutes, which feels short considering how much they cover. I love the re-entry around 11:50, when Jerry emits swirling borealis sound-beams around the magnetic poles.
Cumberland Blues
Sept. 21, 1972
The Spectrum

Has a loose sparks-flying feel like a coal car with no breaks speeding down the tracks deep into the mine, like the best ones do, but with a biting hard electric feel that is just exactly perfect.
Ramble On Rose
Sept. 21, 1972
The Spectrum

This song always works better for me when it has that bite-down-hard electricity to it. This one does, driving up the hot-wire tension throughout, and never dragging (as some lesser versions do, "this song, it ain't never goina' end" indeed...). This whole show is peak dead in any case. No toss-aways anywhere.
Loser
Sept. 21, 1972
The Spectrum

This show gets a lot of deserving love, but to me this Loser stands out as a particularly strong part of the first set.
Greatest Story Ever Told
Sept. 19, 1972
Roosevelt Stadium

Probably the worst AUD without an alternative source in the whole of 1972. Pity, because they're just absolutely blazing right out of the gate with Bertha, GSET and then that massive Bird Song. With August-September '72 is up there with the most consistent highest quality shredding Dead of any two-month period in their whole history we should hope hope hope for a cleaner set of reels out there - even if supposedly incomplete. (Please and thank you.) I'm no AUD-phobe, but this one will test the patience of even the most hardcore completists.
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