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!

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

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.

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

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

can't say Keith is doing anything cheesy here but the Supplication Jam in this one is just plain nasty. Nothing will ever top 5/22/77 for the best in jamming AND precision--it is the gold standard for this combo IMO--but this one is right on its heels and deserves way more than the 2 measly votes it has now. (This show is also a Betty Board which should have you running to it for a listen. You won't be disappointed.)

Gets my upvote for the transition/intro to Shakedown, which is as good as advertised, and it's a good version b/c they didn't really do any bad ones in '79, but compared to some of the truly excellent ones. it doesn't hold up as well throughout the whole tune. Jer botches the opening lyrics and the "just gotta poke around" round robin sections are kind of uninspired. The jam after the lyrics is good, no quarrels, but it won't blow you away like New Haven or Halloween Nassau of this year, and for a truly under appreciated and absolutely note-perfect killer Shake, I urge y'all to try just 5 days previous to this 1/10/79 from Nassau. This is a gritty, grimy-funkfest of Jerry at his best and the whole of the crew crushing it as well. Phil after says "Shakedown Street...you know it well!"

This whole show is great-- except, whoops, I was thinking of a different one from '82 ...my bad

Yep, as merryjerry noted this is technically the first Eyes of 1977, coming just after SugarMag kicked off the New Year and strangely enough this version shares many of the same attributes as one at the tail end of the year in 11/4/77 marked by incredibly fast, yet in control Garcia jams. The band is all in tow as well and it serves as a great place-setter for what I fully believe was the best year overall for this song that was always in rotation every year since its debut in 1973. The intro is jazzy, the middle jams are raucous and beautiful at the same time and the jam after the final verse--while seeming a bit lackluster and meandering at first--actually serves its purpose for flowing lovingly into a sweet Wharf Rat. No question this gets my upvote.

Some very cool early DS magic right here. Flowing psychedelic ooze that nevertheless maintains the main theme structure throughout...classic '69 Dead w/a fine recording taboot. Deserves a listen and some upvotage.