headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Ernie5

No cholesterol.

+3568


Submissions

4
Beat it on Down The Line
Nov. 14, 1971
Texas Christian University

Searing version - groovy false start, then Garcia soars like an acrobat. Plug in!
2
The Other One
Feb. 6, 1969
Kiel Auditorium

CRUSH. Hard to believe they brought this intensity and dynamic precision all the time then, but they did! Ace!
6
Bertha
March 31, 1973
War Memorial

Unknown Genre - iTunes. Kreutzmann drives this hovercraft - as he seems to in all of the great Berthas of this time. Look out for the guitars.
1
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Sept. 29, 1971
Practice Studio

Have always loved the San Venetia tapes - almost like an x-ray of the GD. You can so hear the guitar architecture. So tempted to make that one word.
8
Mexicali Blues
March 24, 1973
The Spectrum

'73 Mexicali? Smokesville, USA.
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Comments

Playin' In The Band
April 29, 1972
Musikhalle

One of my favorite Playins - and I still love that it's an opener. What an orientation! Did they at least have a Powerpoint deck running in the background? Contact initiated!
Loser
April 29, 1972
Musikhalle

An overlooked show and an easy-to-overlook Loser. Which would be an unforced error. Weir and Lesh sorta star.
St. Stephen
Jan. 17, 1969
Civic Auditorium

Rough + ready version, but you can clearly hear Hart's severe limitations (as a drummer, not a percussionist). He just doesn't have the rhythm on snare or kick. And I'm not a drummer! Make no mistake, this version is worthy of your time (as is the whole show), but the Love of the Single Drummer perhaps starts here for me. Then again, when they kick it, they whomp the shit out of it,
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Nov. 15, 1972
Oklahoma City Music Hall

Pretty hard to go wrong with a China>Rider from this time. Gets off to a slowish start - Garcia's hi E is out of tune. Perhaps more. And it seems to throw him just a pinch. Of course he fixes by/in the second guitar break. A snap! Weir and Lesh push things about as hard & swingin' as possible throughout. When Garcia takes the Captain's Chair, his playing is pastoral and gorgeous. In charge.
Bird Song
June 10, 1973
RFK Stadium

The new release reveals even more dynamic detail in this conversational Bird Song than I heard before (when I voted for this version). Lovely. Hand-made.
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