headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Gay for Bill

+164


Submissions

2
Me and My Uncle
March 19, 1973
Nassau Coliseum

Bill lays down possibly the tightest groove i've ever heard on this song, doesn't even need a flashy high energy solo to be a top tier version
7
Looks Like Rain
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

Beautiful version of a song that normally doesn't really captivate me, especially great because Keith is high in the mix like he deserves to be
5
Promised Land
March 23, 1974
Cow Palace

Super underrated version, as the song comes to a close Jerry is having none of it and does another insane solo
5
Bertha
Aug. 25, 1972
Berkeley Community Theatre

A few flubs at the start, but they make up for it by playing for their life afterwards, crazy intensity

Comments

Promised Land
Feb. 23, 1974
Winterland Arena

It just simply does not get better than this, Jerry is clearly enjoying himself and after the first solo he decides it is time for liftoff (pay attention to the maniacal laugh around 1:15) and the 2 solo sections that follow might be my favorite sections of Grateful Dead music ever, this version is just pure musicians having fun and feeding off each-other to achieve something magical even though its a 3 minute song
Eyes Of The World
Feb. 24, 1974
Winterland Arena

Even though this is listed under the wrong show I'll upvote anyways since 2/23/1974 deserves all the praise it can get. The outro jam section of He's Gone gives me goosebumps every time with the way it goes from 0 to 100 seemingly out of nothing and the energy never goes down again until the show ends, but aside from the jam chunk the show also has an exceptional first set (especially the Promised Land). These last few pre-wall of sound shows are easily my favorites from 1974, and I'll even call 2/23/1974 my favorite show in general on some days
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
March 26, 1973
Baltimore Civic Center

Really interesting China > Rider, smoking start with the drums in the forefront and it never loses energy until the Feeling Groovy jam where they take it down and play the jam through multiple octaves to change it up with each repetition. Probably my favorite China > Rider from 1973, which although being my favorite year never really impressed me with renditions of this song compared to the year prior
Row Jimmy
March 26, 1973
Baltimore Civic Center

These early halftime Row Jimmy versions are easily as good as it gets with this song for me, pristine vocal harmonies and soaring drumming by Bill, using the ride cymbal almost as a tonal instrument to play melodic counterpoints to the rest of the band
Me and My Uncle
May 30, 1971
Winterland Arena

Now this is a good fucking Me & My Uncle that can easily hang with the best of them. It starts out held back to get into the groove, and just when you think it is about to explode into the solo Bill drops the first beat and crashes on the second beat instead, making it sound like its going into halftime for a second which gives the solo an interesting progression in building intensity. The only possible explanation for this one having 1 vote is that nobody has heard it
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