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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

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Submissions

2
Pretty Peggy O
Jan. 18, 1978
Stockton Civic Auditorium

Jer sings thrôugh a cold, but the beauty and sweetness shines through. Sounds like he would 10 years later, but with the '78 sound. Full of love.
3
Tennessee Jed
Sept. 19, 1972
Roosevelt Stadium

If you can get past the migraine-inducing AUD, this is one rowdy shitkicker that riles up the fun-loving crowd.
1
One More Saturday Night
Sept. 17, 1972
Baltimore Civic Center

Smokin' hot encore to finish off one brilliant mother of a show. OMSN isn't many folk's fave tune, but this one just rocks hard.
8
Uncle John's Band
Sept. 17, 1972
Baltimore Civic Center

This show has biting hardness throughout, then this seems a bit la-la until the 7/4 parts, and that grit returns with crunching nastiness. Excellent!
10
Me and My Uncle
Sept. 17, 1972
Baltimore Civic Center

Total badassery. This one bites down hard and has a little menace to it, as befits a song about murder.
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Comments

Good Lovin'
April 6, 1971
Manhattan Center

Pig breaks it down for everyone, telling the crowd to just "take your clothes off" after building up to it. Apart from that generous and fine instruction, the different stages of the jam here really stand out. You can find the link between the Dead and Funkadelic's work of the era. Sounds in places like they were channeling Buddy Miles' work after the Band of Gypsies. The Dead were dialed way in to all of it and this one shows it.
Hard to Handle
March 24, 1971
Winterland Arena

Shows off the link between blues and acid rock like only the Dead of this era could do.
Good Lovin'
March 14, 1971
Camp Randall Field House

Brilliant barn burner of a jam out of the drum solo. It hangs back just enough to stay on the rails, Pigpen raps some, then it snakes its way back into the chorus in a uniquely sideways manner. Good stuff and an under-appreciated show all round.
Wharf Rat
Feb. 19, 1971
Capitol Theater

More interesting and self-confident than the first one, to my ears. I rate the melodicism and the overall arc of this jam above the 18th up top on this page. Still, I can't compare these early ones to the Spring-Summer '74 versions which top my list.
Wharf Rat
Feb. 18, 1971
Capitol Theater

First and best? I love this version, don't get me wrong. It being both the first one ever and sandwiched into a top-shelf Dark Star and Beautiful Jam help it by association, but I can't think of it as the best one out there. For my ears, May and June '74 is the apotheosis era, where Wharf Rat peaks on its own for power, emotion and musicality. My faves are 19.05.74 and 22.06.74, but anything from this time really stands out for the energy they were putting into it. I think the Rat played the next night and the one on the 21st from the same run are more cohesive and stronger performances.
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