This is a pretty intense early 80s-style Caution jam. I was surprised to find this just now.

A unique beginning with nice peaks to both the mid jam and the outro.

The final Keith and Donna Half Step stands up well, even though there's one lonely AUD.

An early Brent Mydland Half Step with electric piano pre rio grandeo and a joyful Garcia solo afterwards.

No fanning or soaring peaks, but solo 3 (7:45-12:45 on CM's SBD) is a new favorite - sublime, mellow, laid back.

This has been my go-to Bird Song for years. It's good, but it can't be the best. I'm going to have a look around here - I see that this one has not really caught fire heady version style.

I hadn't heard this before. Of course this should be here. The previous two are top 5s (11/5 & 11/6). This is top 10. For real.

Stellar outro.

I just read Grendel's comment here. I could have said the same thing. 89-90 is not the time when Deal reached full maturation. To me the date is 5/1/81 (though I can see a case for the Fox on 11/30/80). The 5/1 AUD from Hampton is A+ and the LIG just before the Deal is also torched. I'm not saying Deal wasn't something the old guy didn't tear up (w/ or w/o the jgb). But they add the 2nd solo in late September 1980, it becomes a better song and it takes a bit of time before Jerry figures out what to with the new solo. If anything - and this may sound like blasphemy to some - the later versions are derivative of all the original creativity in the fox and Hampton versions.

This is quite strong, closely related to the top 5 deal two days later at the fox. Cornell and the Field Trip (which round out the top 5 after 11/30) are, as is their habit with other songs, unjustifiably out in front of this deal, though I'd say this one is more like top 20.