headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

28
Playin' In The Band
May 11, 1972
Rotterdam Civic Hall

Sometimes shorter is better. At around 10 mins. this beauty from E'72 packs the jazz, jam, passion. Like a more intense version of the one on ACE!
26
Scarlet Begonias
Oct. 3, 1976
Cobo Arena

No clean SBD on archive but at official Dead site a pristine version was on 30 days of Dead for DL. 2d best stand-alone I've heard next to 3-20-77
66
Pretty Peggy O
May 19, 1977
Fox Theatre

DP Vol. 29...Each time I think I've heard the best (i.e. 12/27/77) I hear one better. This is it. Flowing, gorgeous Jerry bridge jam. Perfection.
4
Don't Ease Me In
June 20, 1980
West High Auditorium

Proves the boys could really swing when they wanted to. Hear Jerry on "The Girl I Love" line; like 'Gator Alley--1980 a good year for this tune
32
Not Fade Away
May 26, 1977
Baltimore Civic Center

Insane. Ridiculous. Drummers locked in, Garcia in take-no-prisoners mode. 16+ minutes of full-bore Rock to the G-D Roll.
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Comments

Pretty Peggy O
Sept. 18, 1974
Parc des Expositions

Astonishing that they could take a song so long in the rotation and have one stand out as beautifully as this. Almost like a completely different tune compared with the more aggressive versions that (deservedly) get a ton of attention--i.e. 12/27/77. 9/3/77, and 4/16/78 which all feature "heavier" Garcia solos but for pure beauty and full band engagement (more to love for Phil and Keith fans here) this one deserves its place in the pantheon of the greatest ever. Another runner up (if you're craving a five star mellow version) can be found at 6/30/74.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 4, 1977
The Palladium

Re-listening after the DaPicks vol 50 release and my oh my even with its relatively high vote total on the board this one is still grossly underrated. Listen to how Phil subtly elongates the bass notes before they drop into the Fire theme after the lovely transition. Donna sparkles here, too. The whole band does. When you consider the versions played from here right thru Barton and the also vastly underappreciated 5/11 version in MN. this is a master class stretch of the finest '77 versions around. This one still gets somewhat lost in the shuffle, tho', and it could use some more ears and votes methinks.
Cassidy
April 16, 1978
Huntington Civic Center

Contrarian opinion here--nice version for most of the tune but it ultimately falls short because they flub the landing at the end. Awkward re-entry at best to "flight of the seabirds". Can't upvote it when there are so many better performed versions from the same year (5/14, 4/24 just to name a couple)
Mind Left Body Jam
March 10, 1993
Rosemont Horizon

Everything said plus extra points for the relative rarity of getting to hear this gem in this particular era. Really tender, almost nostalgic, pulled off beautifully.
Wang Dang Doodle
June 22, 1991
Soldier Field

Heck, I'm upvoting this too despite the MIDI which really is actually pretty cool in this version--plus, Bobby's all in vocally. Snuff juice everywhere.
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