headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

9
One More Saturday Night
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

Like every other song from this, my favorite all-time show, it's a best-of candidate. Just rocks hard.
2
Alabama Getaway
Dec. 5, 1979
Uptown Theater

Come for the 'Bama but stay for the rest of the show. This rocker 'Bama is Jerry and Brent at their very best. This entire show, tho', is a monster.
13
Stagger Lee
June 27, 1985
SPAC

Right after Phil tells a guy to get off the blacony cuz 50,000 people are waiting for him to, and Bob does the dog nose joke, Jer rips into a fine SL!
8
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Oct. 18, 1989
The Spectrum

Pretty good China followed by the best 80's OR 90's RIDER I've ever heard. Check Jer's run going into "sun gonna shine" verse. 5 stars fo RIDER alone.
2
Brown Eyed Women
Aug. 4, 1982
Kiel Auditorium

Fast-picking goodness. Jerry's bridge solo is long and lightning quick and awesome. 1 point off for lyric flub on re-entry, but the rest is gold.
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Comments

Brokedown Palace
June 25, 1995
RFK Stadium

I haven’t even listened to this version yet (I will) but I came here the night I learned of Robert Hunter leaving this realm & am just upvoting every version of Brokedown Palace, symbolically via this one, & because there is no such thing as a “bad” Brokedown Palace, because it is one of the most soulful pieces of poetry ever written, & because, well, just.....Robert Hunter.
Keep On Growing
June 22, 1985
Alpine Valley Music Theater

Phil takes a nice vocal turn on this rarity. Surprised it doesn't have more ups.
Brown Eyed Women
June 30, 1985
Merriweather Post Pavilion

The whiskey costs $5 instead of 2 in this one, so you know it's worthy. Nice chops from Jerry, long bridge jam, plus the aforementioned mini feedback on 'ready to kill'. Take a quarter point away for Jerry's weak-ish vocals (although he does nail all the lyrics, which is nice), but it's '85 so that's to be expected. I've done a non scientific analysis & I think '85 has got to take the cake for being the worst-sounding Jerry voice year in the band's history.
Playin' In The Band
July 1, 1978
Arrowhead Stadium

^^^^Excellent point Merry on this version and frankly many other Playins circa ‘77-‘78 that also click in around 10 mins and get passed over for lengthier “monster” versions. Those are almost like different songs in their bookended self contained 25-30 min. madness and they’re great but don’t overlook these shorter “launch pad” versions that pack a lot of jazzy exploration into a shorter space. This is one of them.
Fire On The Mountain
June 28, 1976
Auditorium Theatre

It's the Marcel Marceau version (no vocal) & really, none needed. I've been digging this one a LOT lately b/c the groove is just so damn infectious and irresistible. Easily the best of the prototype "beta" versions & better than some fully developed ones in which Jerry mumbles through blown lyrics & the band sounds tired. This one suffers no energy drain whatsoever despite its emphasis on rhythm & mellow flow rather than Garcia-led shredding.
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