headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

5
Wharf Rat
Sept. 27, 1976
Community War Memorial Auditorium

Keith shines on a long, flowing intro section that spills into space-mellow Rat-Goodness
14
Last Time
Dec. 8, 1993
Sports Arena

Emerges from Space with a very long intro & very distinct and sustained St. Stephen tease! My favorite version.
10
Dear Mr. Fantasy
July 18, 1989
Alpine Valley

Part of what made this Alpine run so legendary. Soulful and Brent-astic.
5
Big Railroad Blues
Aug. 14, 1971
Berkeley Community Theater

Maybe the best pure hard riving Rock&Roll version. Lean, mean, and Jerry supreme!
38
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Nov. 2, 1977
Field House - Seneca College

Rarely heard (left out of DP Bonus tracks for Vol. 34) but another sweet/smooth '77 winner.
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Comments

China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Dec. 29, 1977
Winterland Arena

Rock on, Dannydread...glad we're all enjoying the ride ;-)
Feelin' Groovy Jam
Oct. 2, 1972
Springfield Civic Center

Simply stunning portion of music that's only a little bit of Feelin Groovy but a whole lot of awesome coming out of the NFBM section. One of those just exactly perfect bridges of music that occurs spontaneously and could be done by no one but The Grateful Dead. Way under the radar stuff here that needs more ears.
Eyes Of The World
Nov. 17, 1973
Pauley Pavilion - University of California

Light and airy with a free flowing liquid jazz line throughout, but the bonus, as mentioned, of a really tight outro section. I'm more impressed with this section of the show, with this Eyes as the highlight, than I am with the more popular UJB>Playin section.
Eyes Of The World
Feb. 15, 1973
Dane County Coliseum

I have to agree with Summerraven that while the beginning segments of this version are lovely and flowing and as pretty as any the band has ever performed the outro material really drags and it's understandable, given that this song is barely on its feet live at this point. I'm OK with it being a top 15-20 version but not in the top 10 for that reason.
Wharf Rat
April 22, 1978
Nashville Municipal Auditorium

A few more spins via the DaP release has made me a believer. Well sung by Jerry but also the band as a whole is punctuating all the right benchmarks, hitting a heavy flourish after a particular line and dialing back when needed just so. There's also a run of notes Jerry plays in one of the big jam sections about 8 minutes in that's unique to any version I've heard. Definitely deserves its high ranking here. In other words, I've changed my tune on this version.
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