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.

Comments

Estimated Prophet
March 31, 1987
The Spectrum

Nice tip, DS67! Digging in - sounds zesty! Thanks for digging into some '87 gold. Odd, I don't think I was at this show -- but I might have been.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 8, 1977
Barton Hall - Cornell University

To me, this is still definitive. I like 78 S>Fs, but Garcia forgets the 4th verse too often for my taste. And I don't think the post-single drummer Dead was ever quite the machine they were in 5/77. On this version, Garcia, as singer, sounds almost overwhelmed by the power of the band around him. It's a thing of perfect beauty. And Weir's China>Rider lick in Fire is just too cheeky.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 5, 1977
New Haven Coliseum

Great energy. Listened to this one running yesterday and it definitely propelled me through the toughest parts like I was on a moving sidewalk. Garcia's vocal in Scarlet rivals 5/8 - he sounds like a man trying to keep a hat from blowing off. That's how cookin' the band is.
Estimated Prophet
May 5, 1977
New Haven Coliseum

I've always been a fan of this 2nd Set and the Estimated surely sets the tone nicely. Big, warm, murky estimated with that May '77 clarity and definition. One could up vote pretty much any Estimated from this time - and I just might.
Samson and Delilah
May 19, 1977
Fox Theatre

S&D is usually a song over which I don't ruminate, but this one is so strong. Clean lines, passionate playing. Great Set 2 opener.