Outstanding late-late-era Dead.

NFA as a Jerry tune? Yup, here it is! "But you drive me back -- huh!" Hell yes!

Overlooked GEM! Swift yet deeply felt. Jerry CRUSHES it.

The best version, for my money. The big solo from 3/20/77 is better, but here the solo is good and (more importantly, I think) the overall groove is superior. Much more off-beat, more raggae-ish. Bill & Mickey lay down some serious hits.

People look for differently things in music, they respond to different things. Beyond competency and strong execution, what I look for when judging Dead tunes is (a) improvisational energy and (b) raw emotion. Together, these two things are, I think, the 'X' factor for the Dead. Usually, our immediate experience of this energy and emotion is to register that the version we're listening to has something about it that we've never heard before. That is certainly the case here. I've simply never heard a CR&S that soars so high, that has this kind of passion behind it. To me, THIS is exactly what I'm looking for. The real deal. I think it should be #1.

I wish the mix were better on the source we have. Specifically, I wish Garcia was more upfront. But it seems to me that if you listen *through* the sound to what they're actually playing, this one beats out 10/10/82 handily. And it smokes 8/3/82. In short: THIS should be considered the standard-bearer of early '80s versions of Cassidy. Personally, I'd go further and call it definitive. There's no question that Buffalo '77 is beautiful in every way -- but without the changes they add later, which became so integral to the song, it just can't be "definitive" in my book. UPDATE: And now it's been released as part of the "In and Out of the Garden" box set. I haven't done a direct comparison, but it seems to me that they may have done some work trying to tame the keys and bring out the guitars. Garcia is still too quiet, but it's not as "difficult" a listen as I remember. Highly recommended!

^^^ I've never heard that version. I'll check it out! Thanks for the rec.

Definitive.