headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49712


Submissions

13
Brown Eyed Women
Oct. 2, 1977
Paramount Theatre

Perfection firing on all cylinders: Tight band, muscular beats, beautiful vocals (Donna's on!) and that applied greatness that is the '77 Dead.
13
Doin' That Rag
March 2, 1969
Fillmore West

Blissful '69 chaos: Jer says, "Help! Help! Hey, we need some organized minds up here" and then they launch. Great fun and a wild ride.
13
Comes A Time
Oct. 22, 1971
Auditorium Theatre

Pure. One of the first performances with beautiful, meaning-soaked delivery.
9
Wharf Rat
Nov. 1, 1973
McGaw Memorial Hall - Northwestern University

Suffers a cutout in the middle, but reaches transcendant beauty and interplay. They end on a harmonics/tuning just delightfully right out of the song.
7
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
Nov. 1, 1973
McGaw Memorial Hall - Northwestern University

Sweet and subtle, part of a mega-massive 2nd set jam. A beauty.

Comments

Dupree's Diamond Blues
Feb. 11, 1969
Fillmore East

The banter alone is worth an upvote, with Bill Graham is gifted a cowbell and inducted into the band.... Then the late show starts with this sweet, simple version. That's presumably TC on the steam calliope and who but the Dead would even try such a thing?!?
Dark Star
April 24, 1972
Rheinhalle

Back here for more. It's really that good. After nearly 40 minutes of creating whole cosmos out of the air it almost sounds like they might land back into Playin' then maybe back into Dark Star melody for the second chorus, then into that beautiful Wharf Rat. Like a spinning twenty-sided die it could have landed anywhere, perfectly. G'damn, but this one deserves its spot on the front page.
Truckin'
April 24, 1972
Rheinhalle

When they open a show like this you just know you're in for something special. They are so tight from the jump, everyone in perfect sync, Jerry and Phil in perfect co-soloing mind-meld with Keith a bright comet overhead. Even the vocals are beautiful. Honest here, we chronically overlook Truckin' as heads, but I think it's ALWAYS (1970-1995) the best measure of how on they were for any given show. This one is just exactly perfect.
Dark Star
Sept. 27, 1972
Stanley Theatre

A long twisting story filled with beautiful forking paths. Jerry is an inspired lyricist, fluttering just out of reach like a thousand moths in moonlight.
Playin' In The Band
Sept. 27, 1972
Stanley Theatre

Agreed that this is pretty mellow next to the sustained firepower of the colossal August - November Playin' marathon after Europe. It's honestly an embarrassment of riches, (shout out to the August Berkeley shows for being chronically under appreciated), but I find something special in this one because it has elements that almost sound more like the electric Miles Davis-infused 1974 sound.