headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49712


Submissions

2
Playin' In The Band
Oct. 24, 1972
Performing Arts Center

hard to believe this big beast hasn't been tagged yet: Experimental, interesting, and at 23min, a nice long ride.
2
Box of Rain
Oct. 24, 1972
Performing Arts Center

Only the 2nd one they played after it went into circulation, and it conveys all the emotion and poetry of this wonderful song. Sing something Phil!
1
Brokedown Palace
Oct. 23, 1972
Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

For a song notoriously difficult to pull off live, this one is just beautiful. Succinct, harmonious, deliberate: All good, in spite of AUD quality.
2
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Oct. 23, 1972
Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

Great transition into Rider here. Really strong '72 ensemble playing. Sound quality is only about a B though.
1
Black Throated Wind
Oct. 23, 1972
Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

Solid heady version with a great build-up. Sound is only B quality though.

Comments

Black Throated Wind
March 26, 1972
Academy of Music

Damn right. Sounds like they mastered it long before. Charlie Miller cleanup on this show is all that, too.
Estimated Prophet
May 25, 1977
The Mosque

Donnie's right here. I can't say this one touches the madness that makes this song so special. While my personal opinion is that the Dead were generally more musically interesting in '77 than they were in '91, I also think that the best Estimated Prophets convey jagged, off-kilter, schizophrenia, and could tip you over the edge given the right/wrong mental state. This one sounds like a work in progress - and I think this is one of, if not the best shows in all of '77.
How Sweet It Is
March 25, 1972
Academy of Music

This is one of the most brilliant versions of this song I've ever heard, whether or not I'm also a deadhead. (I am.) Donna never sounded better either.
Smokestack Lightnin'
March 25, 1972
Academy of Music

Pigpen comes out after an hour+ of, shall we say, a not-too-convincing Bo Diddley featuring the Grateful Dead set, and pours it on thick and luscious. Do you think he wanted to step up to Bo D. and say, "now that's how it's done", one bluesman to the next? It seems like the 'lil red rooster wanted to strut in his own backyard here. One of the best, and a painful reminder of how amazing Pigpen's sound could have blended with the emerging seventies Dead. It also sounds like half the band wanted to go into Truckin' for the last five minutes of vamping. Cool how it hovers around but never fully coalesces.
Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad
March 23, 1972
Academy of Music

Cucamonga's right here. This one has no business with only two votes. Were they completely on fire? Did they leave anyone alive? Did they have to replace all their equipment afterwards? Jeez, this one's a scorcher, and needs to be much higher up.