headyversion

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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

Shakedown Street
May 7, 1980
Barton Hall - Cornell University

Underrated greatness right here. Funkytown USA, population: This version.
Playin' In The Band
Feb. 3, 1978
Dane County Coliseum

Ha! Well you may not like what I have to say but basically this PITB is just too big and too hectic for my liking and (IMHO) 2/26/77 is far more elegant and beautiful in comparison. Especially now with the new DP release it sounds better than ever and I’ll always put Swing far ahead of this version. And I’m saying that as a huge fan of just about every other song in this otherwise amazing show!
Playin' In The Band
Feb. 26, 1977
Swing Auditorium

Spectacular & sounding crystal clear in the new DaP release, but can we talk about the reprise for a minute?, because it's about as majestic as they come. There's a sparkly, twinkly, swirly elegant kind of spirally thing Garcia does at the very end that gives me shivers. I'm sure I'm not expressing it right, but it's there & needs ears.
Candyman
Sept. 16, 1978
Sphinx Theatre

Yep, shoulda done this a while ago. Thanks for the reminder that the Egypt shows suffer from a weird word of mouth reputation for being not good. There are "off" performances within all the shows that stick out but what's good is extremely good...and this Candyman is in the latter.
The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)
Sept. 9, 1991
MSG

Bruce is the difference maker in this one. All Quinns have their appeal, fun as it is, but his keys really make this one stand out a tad more.
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