Can't believe what short shrift this show gets. They pull off the combo like gangbusters here.

Glorious Jerry vocals, not one, but TWO "sweet Susie's", excellent gritty solo. Best early version ever!

Submitting this on Fat Tuesday 2017. Great Mardi Gras version with really nice piano (!) fills by Brent that oughta be heard!

Get on this one, folks. It's a ripper.

Absolute best of 1974. Not kidding. Jerry's leads are ripping & confident. The band plays flawlessly.Can stand w/some of the best of '77. Must hear.

^^^^ That's the best description I've heard of this and explains even more than the MIDI why I don't care much for it. You're right, this version never pauses for air, everything's packed in like sausage meat and it while it has plenty of propulsion it definitely lacks in flow, subtlety and nuance. To each his own, of course. I understand the high ratings to a certain extent, but it's all too technical-sounding to me.

Revisiting this old classic recently brought a new level of appreciation. Quick side detour that back in the day I had this show on a 3-LP bootleg album that I THINK (memory not being my strong suit) was called "For Dead Heads Only" and I wore it out. (If anyone else had this LP and can corroborate this as the title please let me know). There were no liner notes or any explanation as to why Jerry's voice was so raspy and damn near full blown laryngitis on "fire", but I realized a few things hearing this again: 1) The band nails this stand-alone (coming out of Olin Arageed); 2) the relaxed tempo was letter perfect, and 3) Jerry commits heartily to this version in spite of his voice, which could have had him dropping out entirely. Instead you can hear him trying valiantly to push through his weakened vocal chord issues and his effort makes it a more poignant, heartfelt version than many others. This is also around the time they had just added the middle verse to the tune ("almost ablaze still you don't feel the heat"), none of the '77 versions having that extra lyric to contend with, and Jer nails it, again, pushing aside as best he can a serious bronchial condition that would eventually cancel at least one later date on the tour. This "Fire" will always have a soft spot in my heart as a result, but it deserves more than just pity points...it's actually quite worthy even with Jerry's vocal disadvantages.

OK, but I am calling 9-18-74 better than this one. Although this one is very very good.

This is almost a grunge-funk version. Slinky. Slow, but funkified. Nasty. Brent just lets loose on this, too. Check out what he does on intro. '79 has some the coolest NFA's ever...and maybe the last truly great year for the tune before it became a throw-away clap-clap-Bop-Bop-fest in the 80's. This is a short version, btw, but that shouldn't be held against it. They pack a ton of fun into that short space.

No comments yet? OK, allow me ;-) This is a spacey/jazzy vintage '76 with a lot going on inside, including a seeds-of-what-will-become "Fire on the Mountain" thrown in for good measure...often referred to in its infancy as a "Happiness Is Drumming", jam, hearing this "baby fire" in the middle of a Playin' that stretches past the 20 minute mark is pretty special. Donna sounds nice here, too. (Take half a point off for Bobby getting confused by the opening lyrics, but it's not a "Truckin' "style train wreck, and this is really all about the lengthy jam anyway. Give it a spin. p.s. I'd actually seek out the Miller SBD. Much easier listening!