headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Ernie5

No cholesterol.

+3668


Submissions

10
Jack Straw
June 10, 1973
RFK Stadium

Relaxed and joyous space-age electric guitar semi-ballad.
9
Bertha
Feb. 21, 1971
Capitol Theater

Warp speed, precise, slightly unhinged, and driving into the greenish-blue evening.
1
Jack Straw
Oct. 30, 1971
Taft Auditorium

Godchaux leads a version that seethes with the excitement of a new song.
3
Brown Eyed Women
May 20, 1973
U.C.

A giggly, slangy Garcia masterpiece (in sweet show sauce). Goes down EZ.
8
Mexicali Blues
Feb. 28, 1973
Salt Palace

So good you can practically see the border town.
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Comments

China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Sept. 26, 1973
War Memorial

Kreutzmann alone moves this up the list - the snare is whistling. Garcia responds patiently to the puzzle - at some point he stretches the guitar to somewhere beyond and yr reminded of the Absolute Master Garcia was by this point. Even the Feelin' Groovy part of the transition - which I don't totally love - is treated a little differently; it emerges from controlled chaos. Gives it a different and more interesting role.
Sugaree
Sept. 23, 1972
Palace Theater

Totally - the clarity really brings out Weir's arpeggiating. Every guy steps up to the fucking plate. These two shows are goldmines.
Bird Song
Sept. 24, 1972
Palace Theatre

It's so difficult to choose just one Bird Song from this crazy fertile time, but you can do far worse than this bouquet. Intense, perfectly paced, and, at one point, sideways [in a really good way] and the group steers the craft right back into the into the jet stream. Yahz-ee!
Shakedown Street
Dec. 11, 1979
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall

A lovely lift-off into Set 2. Lesh is so rock solid and weird - great electric bass playing! The group is in Cruise Control [tm] all the way - crackin'! Garcia picks lightly to smear out the envelope and then digs in. BWAP! Genius shit. Note: volume on Brent is, as often, too high in the mix. Healy was a hack sometimes.
The Other One
Oct. 26, 1971
The Palestra, U. of Rochester

Typically great Fall '71 Other One - graceful, fiery, and potent! Garcia's work is, of course, scorching and drives the whole attack. That said, the entire group had so mastered the dynamics and space of this song, it's sorta difficult to single any performance out. Sorta difficult: Garcia's the boss.
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