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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Ernie5

No cholesterol.

+3673


Submissions

2
Bertha
March 14, 1971
Camp Randall Field House

At :30 Pig switches from tambourine to organ and we're off! These early '71 performances showcase Kreutzmann reveling in sweet space. Driving.
6
Loser
Feb. 19, 1971
Capitol Theater

A delicate, tight, searching super early version of a staple. Kruetzmann plays it light and springy and that 1971 Lesh caramel bass guitar!
3
Tennessee Jed
June 11, 1976
Boston Music Hall

If you know this smooth customer of a show, you know how drynamic [yes, I typed that] and user friendly this TJ is. An always welcome visitor.
3
Sugaree
June 26, 1976
Auditorium Theatre

Few things better than a June '76 Sugaree. Garcia with the first Travis Bean just sketches with the lightest, barest of precious metal filaments.
3
Tennessee Jed
July 22, 1972
Paramount Northwest Theatre

Summer '72 Jed: Sweet dynamics & precision engineering. Weir & Kreutzmann stir it up during Garcia's guitar break.

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.