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.

I guess we know now what Ann Coulter goes by on headyversion.

Jerry is going to steal your wife. I believe it. I like some other versions of this song, but I show this YouTube video to the aliens when they visit and I'll tell them that it's the best. They don't have any points of reference against which to evaluate the claim. (As it turns out, 10/21/78 is really the best.)

The third time's a charm. This is a big story in grateful dead history. For the next part, see the song called truckin'.

I listened to this on the strength of the last recommendation. I felt like the Stranger list is dominated right now by official releases and shows with popular sbds and I was hoping that this one would be something special. The runs that Jerry plays right before the wheels get smoking round midnight are pretty cool. The outro is good, but I listened to 3/14/81 right afterwards and I felt like I heard a version just as good - if not better. Everyone's got their go to versions for particular songs. I have my share of biases (the DP3 Eyes of 5/22/77 comes immediately to mind) that I developed when I first fell in love with particular songs. I voted for this one all the same.

This song has never really made a dent in my ear the way that it did this afternoon. I will now be listening to the others, but, to be honest, this one is good enough for me. And I will second the notion that the sequence from here through Stella is required listening for people who know what good music smells like. Maybe top 1%.