headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

15
It Must Have Been The Roses
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

Almost every song from this show could be nominated for a "best ever." This heartfelt "Roses" is no exception.
11
Aiko Aiko
Dec. 31, 1987
Oakland Coliseum Arena

With the Neville Bros. Jerry gets his Big Easy on.
17
Promised Land
May 25, 1977
The Mosque

Perfection to end the first set of one of the truly great shows ever. Keith, Bobby, Jerry--the whole crew is in the pocket and rocking it hard.
15
Promised Land
April 1, 1980
Capitol Theatre

Both the best and worst version ever. Why? April Fool's gag: Bobby - keys, Brent & Jerry -drums, Billy - bass - Mickey -guitar Phil-vocals
75
Big River
May 9, 1977
War Memorial

They just could do no wrong at this show, Hidden among all the other gems is this monster River. Big solo work by Jerry; nice fills by Keith.
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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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