headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

7
Big River
April 19, 1978
Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Segues perfectly out of MAMU and rolls along beautifully til Jerry goes ballistic on the last solo. Must hear.
5
China Cat Sunflower
April 5, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Nice early stand alone with a long intro. You can hear the transition from the old intro to the more familiar pickings of later versions.
5
Darkness Jam
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

Not really a darkness jam but more of a dark star jam than what it's listed as (PITB) leads into Wharf Rat & is beyond beautiful.
8
Wang Dang Doodle
Oct. 22, 1983
Carrier Dome, Syracuse U

The boys really "throw a mess" on this one, making the carrier dome sound like a down and dirty old time saloon. Slinky sick stuff
2
Row Jimmy
April 18, 1987
Irvine Meadows

Check out Jerry's "giddy-up" riffs in the final "Row" choruses!
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Comments

Franklin's Tower
Aug. 3, 1982
Starlight Theatre

Extra Zip and Pep to this really outstanding early 80's version, with Jer nailing the lyrics and a hard charging flurry of great rollicking thunder...extra point for the smack-you-in-the-face-outta-nowhere transition from Half-Step. Deserves some serious up-votage, and as many early 80's fans will attest, this whole show is one of the greats of that era.
Althea
May 7, 1980
Barton Hall - Cornell University

This is a spectacular version flawlessly delivered vocally by Jerry and with just a rumbling, ascending flurry of jamming post-lyrics that needs to be listened to w/more ears and hoisted up the rankings here. Crystal clear sound quality via Road Trips release, more than worth the investment. *I mis-reviewed this version under 5/6/80 thinking it was from the same release but the Penn State show, but I think this is the version I meant to review.
Stella Blue
Dec. 6, 1973
Public Hall

Mellow and delicate version and Donna absent, which is a very good thing for this tune. Not trying to hate on Donna at all, and I appreciate her presence on tunes like TMNS, but this song is much better without her going off key on the "shine" chorus. In fact, here, there's no call-back to it at all, just Jerry's guitar, and it works beautifully.
Here Comes Sunshine
Dec. 6, 1973
Public Hall

Update: there's a newly uploaded CM version of this show and this tune with the buzz kill tape patch at the end FIXED! Making this stellar version just exactly perfect, Worth heading over to the archive to find. Still have 2/23/74 as my #1 title holder but this is hard on its heels at #2.
Candyman
Feb. 24, 1974
Winterland Arena

Sounds better than ever on DaP 13. Outstanding version that has the aforementioned crazy good Jerry solo, a much longer one than we usually get from this era, and it's note perfect. All around winner version.
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