headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

24
Franklin's Tower
May 1, 1981
Hampton Coliseum

One of the best played versions from one of the best played shows in the Brent era---ever.
16
Shakedown Street
March 24, 1981
Rainbow Theater

15+ minutes of funk w/extended overlapping vocal rounds of "just gotta poke around", etc. before jam Brent adds cool "fuzzy" SFX
1
Big Railroad Blues
Oct. 30, 1971
Taft Auditorium

Check out Keith on this one! He's never been so up front before & right outta the gate!!
21
Cream Puff War
July 3, 1966
Fillmore Auditorium

Peppy early version w/Jer belting out lyrics & Pig doin' some nice work on organ. No archive copy exists; got this off 30 Days of Dead-worth the DL!
9
Passenger
May 7, 1979
Allan Kirby Field House

Super-charged EARLY Brent version rips and tears and shreds. Final jam before the coda is the best they ever did in this tune. Goes to 11.
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Comments

I Need A Miracle
Oct. 21, 1978
Winterland Arena

Make it 2. Gritty gutsy version. (Overlooked song in general. Also make sure to check out 1-10-79 at Nassau)
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 13, 1983
Patrick Gymnasium, U of Vermont

Sensational version in bad need of a clean SBD.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
June 18, 1983
Saratoga Performing Arts Center

@cgarces Yes, I know the feeling. We are all lucky to have so many great recordings of shows available but it only makes the ones we don't have (and that are great performances) that much more desirable. Another good (maybe even better, actually) example of this can be found further down the list with 4-13-83 at UVM. It's an absolutely phenomenal Scarlet-Fire but you gotta deal with the AUDS available and some of it sadly gets lost in the translation.
Playin' In The Band
Nov. 18, 1972
Hofheinz Pavilion

Regarding "cleaner" copies of this amazing version, I think there is a fairly recent Charlie miller pitch-corrected version on the archive. It's not as pristine a recording as we may like but it's pretty damn good and may be the best-sounding recording available. So worth it. As everyone here has said, this version is legendary and does rival Veneta, if not perhaps surpassing it in some ways.
Bird Song
Dec. 9, 1981
Activity Center - University of Colorado

Doesn't reach some of the epic jam crescendos as other 80's versions but it is quite beautiful and lovingly sung by jerry and gets my up vote also b/c 1981 is often overlooked. Also make sure to check out the china-rider from this show which could very well be the best of the decade.
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