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

Terrapin Station
May 19, 1977
Fox Theatre

People talk about 5/7, 5/8, and 5/17 all the time - and for good reason: amazing Terrapins. This one, oddly, gets a little overlooked. I think it's a classic w/Weir attacking in the coda and the whole song a beautiful tension-and-release exercise. I put this one in the pantheon. And not just because the word "pant" is in there.
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Jan. 24, 1971
Seattle Center Arena

This sort of fills a gap - just before they move over from the two drummers, so it sounds like '70 except there's a warmth that presages a very toasty '71. Kinda has its own thing - and I dig it.
Brown Eyed Women
April 25, 1977
Capitol Theater

Some of my favorite 6:30 in sports - Spring 77 Brown-Eyed Women. This is liquid perfection. All the players are dancing and Garcia sings it perfectly. Just the right vulnerability.
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
April 10, 1971
East Hall, Franklin & Marshall College

Fine-tuned little monster. And, again, the bass never sounded better. Ever. I don't know if Garcia's using a frying pan or what, but it sounds big & kick-ass. A bounty. A Mountie. No joke there - just a momentary ... nothing. The guitar transition, btw, is a battle to the death! Or at least Nichols & May.
Not Fade Away
May 14, 1970
Merramec Community College

Mighty & organic. Powers through effortlessly. Or so it seems. Who doesn't dig May 1970? Don't tell me. I don't want to know. I CAN'T know. Jeezo fuck this is ferocious primal rock music w/an insane lead guitar player.
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