headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

28
Playin' In The Band
May 11, 1972
Rotterdam Civic Hall

Sometimes shorter is better. At around 10 mins. this beauty from E'72 packs the jazz, jam, passion. Like a more intense version of the one on ACE!
26
Scarlet Begonias
Oct. 3, 1976
Cobo Arena

No clean SBD on archive but at official Dead site a pristine version was on 30 days of Dead for DL. 2d best stand-alone I've heard next to 3-20-77
66
Pretty Peggy O
May 19, 1977
Fox Theatre

DP Vol. 29...Each time I think I've heard the best (i.e. 12/27/77) I hear one better. This is it. Flowing, gorgeous Jerry bridge jam. Perfection.
4
Don't Ease Me In
June 20, 1980
West High Auditorium

Proves the boys could really swing when they wanted to. Hear Jerry on "The Girl I Love" line; like 'Gator Alley--1980 a good year for this tune
32
Not Fade Away
May 26, 1977
Baltimore Civic Center

Insane. Ridiculous. Drummers locked in, Garcia in take-no-prisoners mode. 16+ minutes of full-bore Rock to the G-D Roll.
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Comments

Shakedown Street
Jan. 10, 1979
Nassau Coliseum

^^^^ "You know it well!" -Phil
Eyes Of The World
Oct. 30, 1973
Kiel Auditorium

There isn't any earthly reasn this should be so low on the board, other than it occurs in a year with so many incredible versions it can get lost in the shuffle. But this one needs more ears on it, especially for the outro section, which is mellower then most but hits every transition in the jam segments like a smooth sliding gear change, then empties out into a free floating gentle space before settling into the opening notes of Weather Report. Astonishingly excelllent EYES hiding in plain sight at single digit votes.
Sugaree
March 18, 1977
Winterland Arena

As good as advertised
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 11, 1978
Fox Theatre

Might sound crazy to upvote an entire combo of songs just for the coda that ends one of them, but the final jam of Fire back into the main Scarlet theme is worth it. Just a Garcia pinpoint perfect clinic of roaring crescendos and all-in rocking. It's not that the preceding stuff is bad in any way, but 3/4 of the way thru you could be forgiven for thinking this isn't a stand out version in any real way. Then that final flurry hits ya, and wowza, that's a keeper.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Sept. 5, 1979
Madison Square Garden

^^^^yeah, I gotta agree, this is far to good to have less than a handful of votes. Great expeditions take place in the transition jam and this is early in Brent's tenure before he resorted to the Fischer Price keyboard tinkling that marred some later versions. The Fire is pretty incendiary, too. Nice Miller SBD available. Check it out.
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