headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49687


Submissions

3
Born Cross Eyed
Feb. 3, 1968
Crystal Ballroom

Wild and scrambled with lots of hooting and yelping. Lots of scary fun on this rare gem folks, with a Spanishy jam at the end.
5
China Cat Sunflower
Feb. 3, 1968
Crystal Ballroom

Killer power bridging Dark Star into an atomic The Eleven. Not kidding, but all the early ones belong up here to spread more heads into '68 Dead.
8
Not Fade Away
Feb. 11, 1970
Fillmore East

High-energy and very tight. Opens (?) an immortal show with a big bang. Great clear sound quality, too.
5
The Other One
Feb. 11, 1970
Fillmore East

Super-charged, but unfortunately incomplete. From the era when TOO took over from Cryptical, but this reprise has surprising power: PHIL.
3
Cold Rain and Snow
Dec. 28, 1969
International Speedway

Explosive and uptempo with a high-pressure energy that blows the tubes.
show more submissions

Comments

Cassidy
April 26, 1977
Capitol Theater

Wharf Rat
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Hey I just listened to this suite again and think the WR>Jam idea might be wrongly labeled. At 10:48 or so Jerry changes key back into Playin' and the band follows immediately. Their meter changes too and it sounds more like 10/4 (Playin') than 6/8 (WR) to my ears. This doesn't change a damned thing or detract from what's been said, but I think this is a Playin'>WR>Playin'>Meltdown>Playin' suite. Thoughts?
Wharf Rat
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Gets my vote for best of the year, but I also think it hard to say just where comes back into the Playin' space during the deep jam... They're so far out of the WR structure and into the wild outer spheres before coming back into the recognisable reprise. Not too often that Wharf Rat dips into Dark Star territory, but this is something special.
Playin' In The Band
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Brings the expansive length and transitive madness of the most epic pre-hiatus versions if you take it as part of the whole suite. I don't say 'under-rated' often, but it fits here.
Deep Elem Blues
May 7, 1981
Tomorrow Coast To Coast with Tom Synder

Here it is with great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chADQBmosEQ. It's quite cool to see this era with a decent/professional camerawork: Nice in-focus closeups of the band, Jerry singing beautifully and his fretwork. A beaut of a version any way you look at it.
show more comments
headyversion loves the dead but is in no way affiliated with The Grateful Dead or affiliated enterprises. find out more >:) >:)