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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Ernie5

No cholesterol.

+3668


Submissions

4
The Other One
Feb. 28, 1970
Family Dog at the Great Highway

Oversight Alert! Conversational then a violent row ensues. A total taste treat. 1970.
7
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
March 21, 1985
Hampton Coliseum

Voice shot, Garcia hums through his spidery 13 lb. guitar. With a lovely China Cat peak @4:30.
13
Tennessee Jed
March 19, 1977
Winterland Arena

(a) Garcia with aluminum pipe, (b) Purdie Shuffle '77 Pace, (c) Perfect Dynamic Control
7
Sugaree
Dec. 8, 1973
Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke U

As a queen sits down, knowing that a chair will be there,/ Or a general raises his hand and is given the field-glasses
3
Big River
Dec. 4, 1973
Cincinnati Gardens

Dictionary entry: 1973 Big River - effortless & downstream. Exhibit A.

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.