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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Ernie5

No cholesterol.

+3673


Submissions

4
Loser
July 31, 1971
Yale Bowl, Yale University

Garcia crushes the guitar break and everything else.
2
Candyman
April 1, 1980
Capitol Theatre

Warm, gooey, and dynamic.
2
Jack Straw
July 22, 1972
Paramount Northwest Theatre

Casually Regal - An Eatery
16
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Feb. 21, 1971
Capitol Theater

Crackling with energy. Tight as a single drummer.
5
Estimated Prophet
Sept. 28, 1977
Paramount Theatre

Garcia skipping to the lou in warm stereo ooze

Comments

Candyman
Aug. 2, 1976
Colt Park

True enough - and good call. An underrated show b/c there’s no board, but chock full o’ personality, this one. ‘76 Candymans (Candymen?) are extra groovy.
Ramble On Rose
May 7, 1972
Bickershaw Festival

Garcia’s ecstatic vocal carries the day here. Really, pretty damn near perfect version. I dare you not to sing along in the chorus!
Ramble On Rose
July 22, 1972
Paramount Northwest Theatre

Picture perfect Ramble On Rose. I've never had any clue what this song is about, but it's possibly the closest the group ever came to a musical theater number. And its gift is that someone could listen to it for a lifetime and just hear a subversive, cool rock song. It's a song with a double life. And Weir's guitar is just the perfect frame. He rises to the occasion. What occasion? I think 7/22 is my sister-in-law's birfday. I wasn't there.
Caution
Feb. 7, 1969
Stanley Theater

Mind-numbing stuff at times. Lesh is out of his mind pretty much throughout. And then the wheels fall off in a really great way (because they don't fall all the way off).
The Eleven
Oct. 25, 1969
Winterland Arena

Hurtling at top speed and yet fully in control. The magic of top sleeve '69 Dead. Lesh and Garcia are Judah Ben Hur and Messala. Except they're working together. And they're friends. And no one gets trampled by a pack of horses. That I'm aware.