headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49687


Submissions

17
Scarlet Begonias
July 29, 1974
Capitol Center

Everything's perfect and beautiful in this one. Can we just say "All Scarlets from Summer '74 are epically heady", cause I don't know a bad one.
16
Playin' In The Band
July 27, 1974
Civic Center

As brilliant an example of Billy K's genius as I know on the Archive. Great meltdown, too. Put it in the same category as 02.12.73. It's that good.
8
Me and Bobby McGee
July 27, 1974
Civic Center

Starts simply enough, then around the four-minute mark just explodes into a beautiful carnival funride of musical unity and sweet sweet soul.
4
It Must Have Been The Roses
July 27, 1974
Civic Center

Very sweet and right out of a grooving MHUT. Summer '74 is chock-full of goodness, and this Roses doesn't disappoint one little bit.
15
Row Jimmy
Feb. 15, 1973
Dane County Coliseum

2nd ever, very interesting. Sounds like they're working out the feel, quite uptempo almost rocksteady (not reggae, yo) beat.
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Comments

Scarlet Begonias
June 3, 1976
Paramount Theatre

Revisiting after a long spell, and this is as pure as they come. No FoTM, but natch, it wasn't written yet. What a beauty.
Cassidy
June 3, 1976
Paramount Theatre

Years later and back for another dose of this historic show. Sure, there's some rough patches, but can you imagine being there as a head, waiting out the hiatus and they bust out with new repertoire including Cassidy? This is some of Barlow's greatest writing for the band, and I've always considered this one of the most philosophical songs in their oeuvre deceptively simple, but "scattered like lost words" speaks beauty, and "I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream" is mysterious dark poetry of the highest order. This might not be the tightest version ever, but it's definitely one of the most satisfying - at least for me.
Sugar Magnolia
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Totally bonkers. Really, like zonkers bonkers: It's more uptempo - maybe our boys took their vitamins during the break - and Crosby's addition gives it an almost orchestral quality. Really a beauty.
The Other One
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Goes deep weird. (I love that.) But it also has a floaty ethereal passage before heading into Morning Dew that is just sublime. Phil and Billy's Drum and Bass solo is brilliant. Did they freakin' invent the genre? They did a similar solo on the 12th of the same month which is worth a listen, too.
Truckin'
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Scorching hot jam, with a great radio broadcast version on the Archive with a perfectly balanced soundboard. Everyone is audible, and they're deep in the pocket, plus Jerry is just inspiration on wheels. Truckin' when it's hot is unbeatable, and this one kicks off over an hour-long sweet sweet suite.
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