headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+48135


Submissions

7
Mama Tried
Aug. 7, 1971
Golden Hall

Sweet country Dead. Great mix if you want to feel Phil's thunder.
14
Mister Charlie
Aug. 7, 1971
Golden Hall

Jerry leans into it with a jaw-tighteningly crisp and high-voltage tone for a killer solo, though the group is a bit loose. Pigpen sounds amazing.
6
Rosalie McFall
Sept. 26, 1980
Warfield Theater

Absolute goodness. These shows are all so beautiful, the playing is all virtuoso, and the feeling is so positive. Brent here is especially perfect.
2
Dark Hollow
Sept. 26, 1980
Warfield Theater

Perfect. Bobby's silky voice, Gerry's understated but perfect picking, and Brent's barrelhouse honkytonk all on proud display.
1
The Other One
Sept. 23, 1976
Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke U

Poor sound quality midway through, but its the first '76 set since the hiatus that goes off-the-rails weird, evoking the Wall of Sound era. Hot stuff.

Comments

Cream Puff War
July 17, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

There's some debate about the dates and tapes in the different Archive and Setlists.net listings. Some claim that this is actually the set from 16th, but this is undoubtedly a different version than the one played on the 16th... for starters it's a full minute and a half shorter. Of the two the 16th is better in my opinion: tighter and more expansive, showing off the how they could be wild, muscular, dangerous, and virtuoso. Great to have this record of them both today. Enjoy!
Dancin' in the Streets
July 16, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

The tension between their melody-solo-melody format on the psychedelic pop songs and their need to stretch-out the forms into longer jams is present throughout this show. The Viola Lee, the Cream Puff War, and especially this Dancin' are already going way further out.
Cold Rain and Snow
July 16, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

S p e e d y indeed. The whole show has a benzedrine feeling to it.
Cream Puff War
July 16, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

Maybe the best one so far. They nail the changes in meter and syncopated transitions better than any time before it in rehearsal or live, and the jam just kicks ass, closing out a set that must have blistered the unsuspecting's eyeballs. I think they shelved parts of it, but mined it for juicy bits that you can pick up in the Anthem of the Sun era: It sounds to my rusty old ears that there are pieces of Cream Puff War that then informed Caution, and also parts of the CE>TOO suite.
Beat it on Down The Line
July 16, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

Bobby's just a baby and he sounds like a demented carny. "Surf punk" doesn't even begin to describe it. I love this so much.