headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

52
Dark Star
Dec. 31, 1978
Winterland Arena

Farewell to Winterland; Not 40 mins. long ; no break down into feedback nonsense. Just sweet jazzy jamming; Just exactly perfect send off.
10
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Sept. 25, 1981
Stabler Arena

Transition jam weaves into spaces most fail to go; touch-down into Fire is GOLD. Jerry flubs first line in Fire-after that: 1 of the BEST ever!
19
He's Gone
Sept. 26, 1972
Stanley Theatre

Perfect, self-contained, blues-infused, stellar vocals, 14+ minutes of bliss. Extra fun: Check out the "Birdsong" riff about 10 secs. into the intro
36
Dark Star
Sept. 16, 1972
Boston Music Hall

Amazed this isn't here yet Gorgeous, melodic, jazz-infused, mellow, trippy, spacey into hard ripping Jerry riffs; melts into Brokedown Palace. Sublime
48
Cold Rain and Snow
Oct. 12, 1984
Augusta Civic Center

Kicks off with authority a 2d set every DeadHead needs to hear. Perfect bookend to Jerry's scorching Dew. They say it was cold&rainy that nite in ME.
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Comments

Truckin'
May 19, 1974
Portland Memorial Coliseum

I still like 6/20/74 a shade better but really the difference is negligible. This is a triumph at every level.
Althea
Aug. 13, 1979
McNichols Arena

Got to be the weirdest version I've heard....and it's very good. Jerry doesn't so much forget the lyrics as he forgets how they're sung in relation to the music. I'm not explaining it well. You'll just have to listen and you'll see what I mean. In any event the jams are top notch and it's got that thick, deep '79 sound. +1
Deal
May 29, 1971
Winterland Arena

Slow, slinky, and sensational. You won't hear a version with Jerry in better vocal form than this one. Of course there's no shredder ending like the song added in the 80s but with these eras it's almost like a totally different song anyway and there's a damn fine blues solo by Garcia in this one so there's something for everyone here. For a great fledgling rendition it's hard to beat this gem.
Brokedown Palace
Nov. 15, 1972
Oklahoma City Music Hall

Very few really truly good live versions of this tune, but this is certainly one of them. .
Cold Rain and Snow
Dec. 31, 1987
Oakland Coliseum Arena

I'll add that this whole show is underrated. Spectacular Terrapin and my favorite Iko of all time. This Cold Rain is a confident rocker and as stated above Jerry's raggedy vocals actually work really well to strengthen the overall presentation.
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