headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49667


Submissions

10
King Bee
Jan. 24, 1970
Honolulu Civic Auditorium

Overlooked. Fine fine Pigpen here. Warm voice, swagger and just enough whisky-soak on the sound.
8
Cold Rain and Snow
Jan. 24, 1970
Honolulu Civic Auditorium

Firing on all cylinders. Hot ensemble singing. Great sound.
10
Cumberland Blues
Jan. 24, 1970
Honolulu Civic Auditorium

Beautiful, tight show opener. Incomplete recording of this show on the archive. TC's last show, too.
8
Hard to Handle
Jan. 23, 1970
Honolulu Civic Auditorium

Classic "single" version, meaning shorter and more compact than the '71 hyperspace megas.
4
Dire Wolf
Jan. 17, 1970
Oregon State University

Cuts in, but otherwise sublime. This and the night before's are almost studio-quality perfect.

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.