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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49777


Submissions

9
Jack Straw
June 26, 1973
Seattle Center Coliseum

Purrs along like a smooth stretch of highway. The whole first set has understated beauty. A gem.
15
Hard to Handle
Feb. 18, 1971
Capitol Theater

Pigpen's voice is deep, SC-soaked and clear. The jam is ballsy and pushing out against the seams.
10
St. Stephen
Oct. 13, 1968
Avalon Ballroom

Blasting '68 psyhedelia - A bit wilder than the legendary night before's version. Goes into one of the all-time great 11s after, too.
10
Scarlet Begonias
May 25, 1974
Campus Stadium, UCSB

Great early version, Donna and Jer are on. Sorry my version sounds like they played in a tin can, though.
28
Eyes Of The World
June 24, 1973
Memorial Coliseum

Builds and builds from subtle spaceyness to a burning jam. Whole show seems overlooked but well worth it.

Comments

Friend of the Devil
May 7, 1977
Boston Garden

Love it when the dead play fast over slow tempos. This song slowed down in the 80s so far that it became a big buzz kill (for me: subjective opinion only). This one's different. The drummers keep it "in front of the beat" and the result is a nice mid-point between the shitkickers of the early 70s and the nodding off, one foot in the gravers towards the end.
The Music Never Stopped
May 7, 1977
Boston Garden

What a monster!
Big River
May 7, 1977
Boston Garden

Unlike any other version ever. Just a rootin' tootin' horseback gambol.
Pretty Peggy O
June 17, 1975
Winterland Arena

the solos are bursting at the seams of the slower tempo, making for interesting musical tension. Nice version.
Crazy Fingers
June 17, 1975
Winterland Arena

First live performance, and they catch every mysterious and beautiful element in this song. Check out 28 Feb 1975 rehearsal jams at Bob's studio for an earlier, primordial Crazy Fingers.