headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

12
Candyman
March 24, 1988
Omni Coliseum

Lucky enough to be at this show. Candyman blew everyone away--best song played that night. Awesome trippy guitar jam &Jer belts out vocals
42
Ramble On Rose
May 19, 1977
Fox Theatre

Gorgeous, incredible, up and down, carnival-like bridge jam by Jerry. Picture perfect version--no flaws
43
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 8, 1978
Veterans Memorial Coliseum

April '78 S>F's often mentioned are 4/16 and 4/24 (rightly so) but this one is every bit as good. Superior transition jam--, beautiful, & powerful
94
Eyes Of The World
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

Starts out Jazzy, explorative, takes its time, 3 minute intro, then blasts off into the stratosphere with intense Garcia-led jamming

Comments

Space
Jan. 22, 1978
McArthur Court, U of Oregon

Best part isn't even the Close Encounters theme, which is really very brief and not as exciting as hyped...instead it's the power chord entry on the aftermath of CE and into that opening salvo of Stephen that really makes this the show-stopper of the 2nd set.
Tennessee Jed
Jan. 22, 1978
McArthur Court, U of Oregon

Where's Jerry going with that bridge jam? How's he going to......oh. Oh, WOW.
Playin' In The Band
Oct. 10, 1982
Frost Amphitheatre

Possibly my favorite show of 1982 (Baltimore and The Scope VA. being the others) and yes, this Playin may not have the epic length of the early 70s but what is contained in less time is well jammed and very interesting especially with repeated listening
Truckin'
June 26, 1974
Providence Civic Center

This sounds more alive than ever if you check out the matrix as opposed to the official DP version. No faulting Dick but the energy of the performance is kind of droned out on the official recording. This is a great rendition w/Bobby confidently nailing all lyrics and an up temp charge through the main body & then the blues clinic Jerry puts on after is a thing of beauty. Ups.
Terrapin Station
May 17, 1977
Memorial Coliseum

^^^^ Heady_V... What you say here about Cornell is all true, and undoubtedly some Heads like to appear too cool for school by dissing it. In terms of introducing someone to the Dead for the first time there are some versions from Cornell I would not hesitate to use, starting with the Scarlet>Fire for an example of how very in the pocket they (and especially Phil) could be. That said, there are legitimate gripes to be made about Cornell in regards to "best ofs" (which this site is chiefly about) that should not be dismissed as Heads being purposefully contrarian. What drives me a little batty is, for example, the uber high rankings for a song like "Brown Eyed Women" from Cornell, which, objectively speaking, can ONLY be because the version has 5/8/77 in front of it and people are just clicking it to the front because of that date. I refuse to let that go unchallenged. As I said on that entry page, it's a fine version. There's nothing wrong with it. But there's nothing that stands out about it, either, and there ARE so many others that objectively have more punch, are better sung, contain better jamming by Jerry, and are simply put, better. And yet there it is as #1 just because it has the mythical Cornell attached to it. That's what I object to--I am happy to have the "best " Scar>Fire argument in relation to Cornell, best "Morning dew", etc., because ultimately even tho' I don't think the Cornell versions are THE best I would never denigrate anyone who thinks so because they are so undeniably good, so elite and upper echelon, that it makes perfect sense to have them in that discussion. But there are a lot of other versions that get the "Cornell bump" that do not deserve it, and it overshadows many other better versions that people may not seek out, thinking that because of the high ranking and votes for 5/8/77, those lower ladder versions couldn't possibly be better than Cornell. But many of them are.