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

Eyes Of The World
May 17, 1974
P.N.E. Coliseum

What is this doing in the single digits of vote counting? Look, I get that 1974 is filled with oodles of awesome EYES. I get it. But even by '74 standards this one deserves to be up there with the best of them, at the very least in terms of flow and glide and ease of the jamming. Just listen to the intro alone on this one. It's a stream on consciousness river of ideas, but smooth like silk all at once. The whole version just glides along on wings and when it shifts to the outro material it's laser sharp on all the turns, stops and starts. They played 2 pretty amazing shows at this venue--this one and 6/22/73. This EYES is one of the highlights of the former.
Eyes Of The World
Oct. 19, 1974
Winterland Arena

Upvoted for all the reasons listed already but also for the superior vocals. Everyone's in tune, and it's sung with gusto by Jerry. Crystal clear, and of course the jamming is spectacular.
Box of Rain
Nov. 19, 1972
Hofheinz Pavilion

One of the better live versions done. Phil doesn't try to over-sing and neither does Donna. They nail all the verses and it's a tight little ditty that still retains the loveliness of the tune.
Spanish Jam
Aug. 28, 1981
Long Beach Arena

Gritty dig-deep fuzz-guitar Garcia magic.
Bertha
May 3, 1977
The Palladium

Underrated for sure. There's a Glassberg MOTB recording on the archive that's pretty great for an AUD and there's no reason for a May '77 Bertha to be as overlooked as this one has. Mellow but with flowing Jerry-led jams. Excellent version.
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