headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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OrangeTangoJam

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Submissions

1
Ship of Fools
Sept. 21, 1974
Palais Des Sports

1974 and Ship of Fools go together like peanut butter and jelly. Full of emotion. They're really giving their all in this.
1
Big River
Sept. 21, 1974
Palais Des Sports

Like the breaking of a dam, this just flows at a truly ferocious pace. Jerry is relentless in his playing, the second solo will knock your socks off.
1
It Must Have Been The Roses
May 12, 1974
University of Nevada

Any '74 version of this tune is a treat. Incredibly lovely with great Keith lines. Billy sways.
1
Jack Straw
Feb. 15, 1973
Dane County Coliseum

Definitive for its time. The soundcheck gave us a preview, here's the full thing. Solid version.
1
Mexicali Blues
Feb. 15, 1973
Dane County Coliseum

Just a damn near perfect performance. Shocked not to see this one submitted. One of MANY highlights from this show.
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Comments

Big River
Aug. 13, 1975
Great American Music Hall

If I had a dollar for every time I played this song, I wouldn’t have a worry for the rest of my waking days. This to me is the definitive Big River, a version that melts you into a puddle while shooting you into oblivion. Jerry tears a new one into this with his clever and incredible playing. Roaring and soaring blues wailing, Jerry taught the weeping willow how to cry. Keith’s electric piano sound also goes really well with the acid cowboy exploration they got going on. Will always have a special place in my heart.
Johnny B. Goode
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

Needs more votes, genuinely swinging and the purest Rock and Roll you can get around these parts.
Drums
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

Nice to hear Billy and Mickey back on drums, on this one you can hear that they're not fighting each other at all. Billy throws in an idea, Mickey interprets it and responds back, classic primal drums from a later era show. Sick transition back into King Solomon's Marbles.
King Solomon's Marbles
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

Holy shit. Carrion right again with the Miles influence on this one. This is one of the best jams they have ever put to tape. It's intense, full of life, a new species of animal could be born from this music it's that full of life. Total annihilation of the psyche that zaps you right in the brain and sends you down a whirlpool of magic through sound. Oh how I wish that The Dead continued to explore this side of their music. Drums/Space could be so limiting compared to the Avant Garde heights they reached in the 60s-75. I love 76 onwards but to me this is the Dead at their purest. Continuously inventive that transports you to different multiverses. This is it.
Blues For Allah
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

A deep atonal space that showcases how far the band was able to take this kind of music. True students of freeform jazz in which those abilities are put on full display. Hints of Sun Ra, Lonnie Liston Smith, incredible combination of sound and imagination. Personal favorite version.
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