Most rockin' version I know. The boys sound big and tight throughout this wonderful show.

Really tight and uptempo. Jerry sings through a cold, but energetic and inspired guitar work. Perfect transition into Rider.

Complex and experimental around a Stephen>Wheel sandwich. Starts and ends in wild exhuberance, but has lots of spacebugs and dinosaurs in between.

Was this the first Wheel ever? It rolls just so sweetly - not very long, but quite perfect

Very tight, uptempo and deeply grooving. Check out Seamons' matrix for right tape speed. Even Donna's contributino is solid on this one.

Geez, I just can't get into this at all. It feels like soft-rock and smooth jazz with that dated keyboard sound and limp sax playing (I dig the midi flute believe it or not) - and I like a lot of Branford's straight ahead work and the cool stuff he did with Buckshot lefonque around this time. Sure Phil is - as always - a genius, but the solos themselves, including Branford's are just so many noodles. Does it showcase one of the last great creative eras for the band? Perhaps, but I can't compare it favorably to the coherent, driven, musically purposefully soloing of sooooo many of the great '74s and 73s, and the great '77s, and the great 80s versions with their (frankly) superior transitions into Estimated. Finally, I just think it's loose to the point of sounding unrehearsed at times. Jer's vocals come in right when Branford is stepping up to solo, twice, and the band is a bit sprawling when, once more, you compare it to almost any of the '73 and '74s. (Plus without the outro or at least a real transition to Estimated, it just isn't as good....) Hate to be an iconoclast, but them's my 00.02.

I don't think you can top the emotional power and personal strength behind the Sept. 17, 1970 acoustic version. Sure, it sounds like it was recorded from the bottom of a swimming pool, but even that adds to the intimacy and sadness at the heart of the song. As for other studio versions rivaling live performances, I'd nominate the 1972 Jerry Garcia studio version of "The Wheel", which is pretty goddamned amazing, and totally different than the GD's live versions. That said, I also loved seeing it live too, so maybe there's no comparison.

Starts off just a bit standard, but gets heady and heavy, then transitions into a monster OO. Fun stuff.

Nice mid-tempo version, neither the shit-kickin' bluegrass tempo nor the narcotic ballad of later years. If you squint your ears a bit, it almost sounds like a Mexican paso double, which works just fine. Plus it has that "let's do it differently and see if it works" feel that showcases everyone going a bit bananas all at once. Cool find.

Long, interesting transition jam. Sleuth gets it right again. In the ocean of China>Riders, this is one of the sweet spots.