headyversion

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grendel

Books and Music

+24560


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

Dark Star
April 5, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

I should stop being amazed, stunned even, when I stumble upon a version of a song I thought I had covered in every era it appeared, but here I am so glad to have checked out this Dark Star based on all the great recs from above. Don't know how this had escaped my purview til now but so what, because hearing the Jerry break-out right after the first verse & hearing him carry it seamlessly into a mellower rhythm jam and some light lovely space, then back into the swirling corkscrew notes section that mark so many of the best '69 Dark Stars- for the first time -is a crazy good trip.
Wang Dang Doodle
April 7, 1991
Orlando Arena

No way this version should be languishing. C'mon & give it a listen, it brings the goods.
Playin' In The Band
April 19, 1986
Berkeley Community Theater

Made a believer out of me. Amazing they could pull off a PITB this good in such a tough year
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
March 26, 1983
Aladdin Theater

Run, don't walk, to hear this version in an upgraded Miller copy of the show just uploaded here: https://archive.org/details/gd1983-03-26.140315.sbd.eaton.miller.clugston.flac1648/Gd83-03-2612FireOnTheMountain.flac Long, windy 1983 with lots of grin-making moments.
Estimated Prophet
Sept. 4, 1991
Richfield Coliseum

I'll never share (or understand) Donnie's disdain for '77 but he does have a good ear for unheralded 90s versions of tunes (we both agree that the 9-18-90 Promised Land is by far better than any of the 70s versions that came before it) & this Estimated has some rich texture indeed, lots of interesting Jerry jamming & Bobby doing his aforementioned vocal gymnastics. But what also has to be acknowledged is how terribly weak the backing vocals are (Jerry can barely muster an audible "Californiaaaa" & the other folks are MIA) & while it may seem a small point it's actually a fairly big knock against the overall effectiveness of this version and its headiness. Any 1977 will give you better vocals all around, but in the end I did upvote this for its slower cadence and Vince's attempts to add some horn-like sounds that sound fairly annoying at first but ultimately contribute to this version's quirkiness--in a good way. Jer does some nice shredding in the outro too. Upvoted yes, but no, I wouldn't say any version from '77 has anything to worry about in competing with this one.