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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49767


Submissions

46
Ripple
April 29, 1971
Fillmore East

Also just about pretty damn perfect too. Follows a super-macho Hard to Handle and the combination shows so much of the emotional breadth of the Dead.
7
Tomorrow Is Forever
Dec. 11, 1972
Winterland Arena

A sweet and rare country torch ballad showing off just what they were thinking bringing the Godchaux on board the bus.
48
The Other One
Aug. 6, 1971
Hollywood Palladium

Heavy and Heady. Starts with super-charged explosions then melts into ballsy MAMU in under 8 minutes. Love the '71s.
28
Truckin'
Aug. 6, 1971
Hollywood Palladium

Absolutely smokin' hard rocking swagger. Builds from a cool shuffle to a blisteringly hot rocker setting up Drums/TOO. Great show all around.
15
Me and Bobby McGee
Aug. 6, 1971
Hollywood Palladium

The band plays/signs together so well on this sweet one. The whole concert is brilliant.
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Comments

Playin' In The Band
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

Agreed that this is a beaut. This one goes through several phases, with the noted jam at around 10:00 and then another transition into a more biting/buzzsaw tone around 15:00. It holds at a simmer rather than a boil, however so if you're looking for mad freaky weirdness then this won't necessarily scratch every itch.
They Love Each Other
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

This signals exactly where they've been and where they're going. The transition year behind them, '77 coming on strong... a great and historically relevant version. Could be much higher, but probably sits between the '73 and the '77 fans' choices.
Bertha
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

Best one of the year: Deliberate, tight and right. Compare this to the weirdly accidental previous one they played on 15 October (the only clunker in that otherwise world-shatteringly brilliant show) and this makes me think they'd been thinking about bringing Bertha back into rotation, rehearsed it, nailed it, and brought it back in with diesel.
Comes A Time
Oct. 15, 1976
Shrine Auditorium

The transition out of this is so good it transforms the Franklin's that comes after it into an almost entirely different song. Strong performance and great show. Check out around 08:00: They go into a 12/8 meter riff that may be unique in the oeuvre. In any case this may be my top choice Comes A Time of all time.
The Other One
Oct. 15, 1976
Shrine Auditorium

Both a musically tight, breakneck roller-coaster and a psychedelicore madhouse filled with twists and turns a jump-out-at you moments of mind melting gooeyness. Around 08:35 they sound like they're going into a totally new jam, but it gets whisked away like so many hallucinations. Brilliant suite and one of the best of the few TOO of the year.
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