headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

grendel

Books and Music

+24586


Submissions

2
Drums
March 2, 1992
The Omni

Heavy calypso rhythms & monstrous punctuation via The Beast make for an epic Drums out of Terrapin. 5 star stuff.
1
Estimated Prophet
Aug. 30, 1978
Red Rocks Ampitheatre

In combo with the equally stunning "Eyes" to follow this is an unheralded, wah-wah Jerry-heavy, Bobby/Donna vocal gem.
4
Beat it on Down The Line
July 3, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

Flying Pig.
8
Althea
Nov. 4, 1979
Civic Center

Sily smooth Althea from Providence. Rich Jerry vocals & of course, chunks o'Phil. This deserves a listen & some votes!
1
Space
June 20, 1980
West High Auditorium

Short but oh so sweet fuzzfest of Brent-centric gooyness seamlessly into a typically funkified 1980 NFA

Comments

Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
May 9, 1977
War Memorial

Outstanding Help>Slipknot...quite possibly the best ever performed, but I agree that the Franklin's is the weak link in the chain here. I also find it a real drag that Jerry blows lyrics at critical junctures and he doesn't really make up for it in the jamming as he does in the 6/9/77 exactly a month later. It's hard for me to upvote this because the 3 songs really need to be taken as a whole. The first two sections are really that damn good, though, so I'm going to, but this complete version taken all together doesn't deserve a "best of" designation. As a whole, even a version like 10/1/94 is better.
Uncle John's Band
May 9, 1977
War Memorial

"Cruelly overlooked" for sure. Maybe with release of Get Shown the Light box set this version will climb higher but for now it's undeservedly low of the ladder. Superior vocals and harmonies all delivered beautifully. If Donna had sung this way all the time there'd never have been a single snarky comment made about her. The outro jam before the reprise vocal coda is simply top shelf, all-time territory. +1 automatic.
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Feb. 24, 1974
Winterland Arena

^^^^ Love the Elvin Jones comparison. Spot-on!
Althea
March 14, 1981
Hartford Civic Center

^^^^Brilliant! And what a crispy SBD to boot. I'm going to further comment on this one under its appropriate listing a bit later. Suffice it to say here that this one has a sweet bop-a-long bounce that's hard to resist. Great rec, Cuca! !
Althea
March 14, 1981
Hartford Civic Center

Just for clarity, when I was talking about the muddy available sources for an otherwise fine Althea I was referring to DarkStar's recommendation of 3-23-87, not this excellent sounding 3-14-81.