headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

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!!
20
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!
8
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.
30
Little Red Rooster
Nov. 30, 1980
Fox Theatre

All about Brent.
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Comments

Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Dec. 3, 1979
Uptown Theatre

yeah, the AUD patch is a real buzz kill & I get what you're saying about the somewhat sluggish approach, but there's an odd steadiness or balance maybe is the right way to describe it between the two tunes and I like the patient bridge to Fire. As I said in my comment previous I see this as more of a nice sleeper pick or a good version to hear for some interesting early Brent contributions.
Not Fade Away
Sept. 28, 1975
Lindley Meadows, Golden Gate Park

As unique an NFA--separate from any other identifiable era version--as you will ever hear. Jazz inflected...more like Buddy Rich than Buddy Holly...upvoted just for standing out so beautifully from the crowd.
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
April 8, 1978
Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Shame on me for not raving about this one & only now just upping it. Raging, yet laser precision performance, peaks, harmonies, the whole 9 yards. I'm always fixated on getting the word out about the S>F from this show so I overlooked this stone cold HalfStep for far too long. No more.
Playin' In The Band
Dec. 3, 1979
Uptown Theatre

The more I hear '79 Playin's the more I love 'em. Especially these early Brent-day numbers...there's a small club jazz feel to this jam, mellow but propulsive, patient, really rich & colorful...a spectacular version here that I hope will get a bump from the new DaP release but deserves it even without.
Althea
Dec. 3, 1979
Uptown Theatre

Garcia goes around twice, doubles up on "you know this space is getting hot" & then a nice gritty solo follows. If not as "in-tandem" as some early 80s versions, this is still a great one and a fine example of what was special about the early Altheas.
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