headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Submissions

2
Brown Eyed Women
Oct. 28, 1977
Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Hall

Every bit the equal of Cornell. 8/24/80 still has a better solo, but this is 1977 y'all.
5
Tennessee Jed
Oct. 28, 1977
Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Hall

Perfect, with some filthy guitar in the outro.
2
Scarlet Begonias
June 12, 1984
Red Rocks Ampitheatre

1984 audience only standalone Scarlet (touch) at Red Rocks. Great solo, excellent transition.
6
Ship of Fools
March 22, 1985
Hampton Coliseum

10 minutes, on YouTube and worth a peek in b/w scarlet>bucket and terrapin.
5
Hell in a Bucket
March 22, 1985
Hampton Coliseum

Out of Scarlet Begonias to open the second set, with some teases of the song in the transition.
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Comments

Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad
Oct. 28, 1977
Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Hall

This is fast bluegrass rock and roll, the first of a big trio to finish the show after Stella Blue. The band was great at this time and, like hvd said earlier, there are high quality sound options available. Turn this up loud. You'll be soaring around the five minute mark. It's a weird weather Christmas Day here. I imagine that this version would be awesome driving around on a summer day with the windows down.
I Need A Miracle
Jan. 15, 1979
Springfield Civic Center

This one isn't just great because of how it crashes into Shakedown. The outro that leads into the transition - or whatever you want to call the part between the lyrics of the song up to the first strains of Shakedown - that makes this version the anomaly and the one that deserves the votes. The vamp into Shakedown sounds programmed - awesome, but programmed. But Garcia's playing before the planned section is confident and articulate and it totally smokes.
Jack Straw
May 8, 1977
Barton Hall - Cornell University

Versions like this help to give Cornell its reputation. It's not that this version breaks through any aesthetic ceiling, it's that it shows how high the floor was at this time.
Jack Straw
Oct. 10, 1980
Warfield Theater

This is great. Not anomalous like 1/11/79 or 10/20/84, but I'm also not wondering why it's here like I do when I see some other stuff.
The Music Never Stopped
April 24, 1978
Horton Field House - Illinois State University

There are better midsections in 78: 5/7; 7/3; 10/18; 11/18; 12/7; and the best of them all, 12/27. This one must get all of its votes from the gasoline Jerry pours on at the end of the outro - he's on fire near the end. But I don't see this as best ever.
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