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

Brokedown Palace
Oct. 14, 1977
Hofheinz Pavilion

Fine version from a generally overlooked show.
Dark Star
Oct. 12, 1968
Avalon Ballroom

All jam, no junk. Great flowing Jerry leads. This one surprised and delighted me. Upvote worthy for sure.
Darkness Jam
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

To be clear, I had no other category to list this under. Its closest to being just called a "jam" but it reads as PITB on the Denver road trips release, which isn't really accurate, even though it's technically part of the Playing sandwich in that great set. It's about 5 mins. of a mellow, in the pocket, perfectly rendered groove with hints of Dark Star....that comes out of El Paso and then just melts like butter into Wharf Rat. Needs to be recognized in the same way the '71 "Beautiful Jam" has been. A classic.
El Paso
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

Amazingly fluid Mexicalli-flavored lines by Jerry throughout this version. Does emerge seamlessly from PITB.
Brown Eyed Women
May 4, 1977
The Palladium

All true. Excellent Scarlet-Fire from this show, and one of the great 2d sets of the year. This BEW stands with many of the other greats from '77 including 11/4/77 and Barton.
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