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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+24543


Submissions

7
Big River
April 19, 1978
Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Segues perfectly out of MAMU and rolls along beautifully til Jerry goes ballistic on the last solo. Must hear.
5
China Cat Sunflower
April 5, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Nice early stand alone with a long intro. You can hear the transition from the old intro to the more familiar pickings of later versions.
5
Darkness Jam
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

Not really a darkness jam but more of a dark star jam than what it's listed as (PITB) leads into Wharf Rat & is beyond beautiful.
8
Wang Dang Doodle
Oct. 22, 1983
Carrier Dome, Syracuse U

The boys really "throw a mess" on this one, making the carrier dome sound like a down and dirty old time saloon. Slinky sick stuff
2
Row Jimmy
April 18, 1987
Irvine Meadows

Check out Jerry's "giddy-up" riffs in the final "Row" choruses!

Comments

Eyes Of The World
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

^So glad you noticed and commented on the cut in first jam bc even on the official release it’s a gross disservice. I used some software editing to restore the lost section (about 40 seconds worth) but even with the AUD patch it’s totally worth it
Jack Straw
Oct. 15, 1984
Civic Center

^^^^Dang you ain’t kidding! Garcia doing some serious lightning picking in the big jam section & the drumming is just insane. May be even better than Syracuse. Source provided is ok but could be better....haven’t searched yet but if you know of a better sounding board do let me know. Excellent rec, I may have to dig into second set as well, as I’m not familiar with this show.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 16, 1978
Huntington Civic Center

Should have upped this long ago. Such a vibrant, tight, bouncy Scarlet & a mellow, beautiful bridge to a confident Fire with Jerry in fine vocal form. One of the all time great Betty Boards taboot. Always happy to come back to this classic & really when you look at the list, this one should be sitting higher.
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
May 26, 1973
Kezar Stadium

May have to go back & upvote almost every track from this A+ show that now sounds more amazing than ever: https://archive.org/details/gd1973-05-26.150710.SBD.BettyBoard.Anon.Noel.fixed.t-flac16/gd73-05-26.s3t07.flac seriously, this is no ordinary upgrade. Run, don't walk.
Estimated Prophet
March 30, 1980
Capitol Theatre

Put another way: best version you've never heard