headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

grendel

Books and Music

+24611


Submissions

10
Lazy Lightnin' -> Supplication
Oct. 30, 1977
Assembly Hall - Indiana University

Can't believe what short shrift this show gets. They pull off the combo like gangbusters here.
5
Loser
Dec. 6, 1971
Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden

Glorious Jerry vocals, not one, but TWO "sweet Susie's", excellent gritty solo. Best early version ever!
4
Aiko Aiko
March 30, 1987
The Spectrum

Submitting this on Fat Tuesday 2017. Great Mardi Gras version with really nice piano (!) fills by Brent that oughta be heard!
5
Lazy Lightnin' -> Supplication
May 12, 1980
Boston Garden

Get on this one, folks. It's a ripper.
13
Let It Grow
July 29, 1974
Capitol Center

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.

Comments

Gimme Some Lovin'
June 15, 1985
Greek Theater

J_B is right on. I don't think they ever performed this song perfectly, but the transition from Wheel>Gimme Some is absolutely sublime, perhaps even the most underrated transition the band ever performed. Brilliant. Take a half point off for Bobby's out of tune falsetto screeching at the end (which is very much on purpose and not meant to be taken seriously), but even so this one is deserving of a far higher ranking than it has right now.
It's All Over Now Baby Blue
Oct. 13, 1994
Madison Square Garden

I was a doubter too, but no longer, Best/most surprising thing about this version is that Jerry's voice doesn't sound like a frog getting pureed in a blender, as most anything post 1991 does. It's not quite the level of 10/10/82 (my all time favorite) but an upper echelon version for certain.
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
Dec. 11, 1972
Winterland Arena

Really impressed with this. Most early versions have me saying "meh" but this one has some extra Jerry guitar work and a lovely rolling gait to it. Nice recommend.
Might As Well
Sept. 24, 1976
William and Mary College Hall

Real under the radar version here & what really oughta drive you to check it out is Keith's super-great fills. Best version of '76 right here w/ great Jerry vocals.
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
Nov. 5, 1977
Community War Memorial Auditorium

One more comment on the interesting point Catalonia and Darkstar67 were making about first version bias for sources/tapes you may have had early on and coveted...I probably....OK, definitely have to admit I suffer somewhat from that. One of my earliest tapes (and no great source existed then OR now) was Lehigh 9/25/81 and for years I thought that was the greatest Scarlet>Fire, Sugar Mag & Black Peter versions ever. I realized only later that while those versions do hold up (and I'll always defend them as excellent) they're not really best-evers and I can see how others would maybe even shrug (not the Peter, though, that's just killer). Anyway, it is interesting how an old tape carries some extra sentimental value that likely adds a subjective extra star to your review that otherwise might not have been there if you didn't have the attachment.