headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

Ernie5

No cholesterol.

+3673


Submissions

4
The Other One
July 14, 1970
Euphoria Ballroom

ATOMIC! Garcia's subversive wah work only makes the area less safe for the public.
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!
7
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.

Comments

Dark Star
April 27, 1969
Labor Temple

Great revisit - hallucinogenic from the start/falls immediately into a downey soft groove and gently (but firmly) pushes outward.
Scarlet Begonias
June 9, 1976
Boston Music Hall

Full mastery right here. How do you handle dynamics in a complex, up-tempo song? Listen & learn. Garcia with the spirited vocals (at least when the words come to mind). In the coda, he forgets nothing. Crackin'.
Samson and Delilah
Oct. 9, 1976
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Stadium

I, for many a moon, believed that the best of this song was from May 1977. Now, given Garcia’s silky smooth clean runs and the precision of the group overall, I must reconsider. Pretty fucking perfect.
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
March 24, 1973
The Spectrum

Chill verging on bravado. Kreutzmann's transition into the second verse is the stuff of legend. Swingin' legend. Such a beautiful, dynamic rendition of a fave (around these parts).
Scarlet Begonias
July 19, 1974
Selland Arena

This Scarlet jumps out of its skin from the very beginning. Lesh's playing is just out of this world - all over the place but totally coherent and coordinating. Cruising into the 4 minute mark, it's a sweet, smooth, tight-as-a-drum Scarlet with plenty of mustard. Then Garcia takes over like even he doesn't often do. Top sleeve material you got here. And a gorgeous Dave's 17.