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

Lazy Lightnin' -> Supplication
May 12, 1980
Boston Garden

Yes, this whole show is amazing and underrated. The Caution Jam out of He's Gone is a monster! Agree with you that this LL>Supp combo tops Go To Nassau, which is hard to do.
Eyes Of The World
May 5, 1978
Thompson Arena - Dartmouth College

Did I forget to mention the beautiful, super-lengthy intro that has Jerry playing some of the jazziest Eyes notes ever? I did? The rest is pretty damn impressive, too. Hey, I can't vote for my own entry, but c'mon, folks....2 votes? It's May '78. Give it a listen.
Eyes Of The World
April 12, 1978
Cameron Indoor Stadium

On a quest to bump up every sadly underrated version of this song on the Big Board. Starting here.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 7, 1978
Field House - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Back to give this one some more love. The vocal coda in last verse of Fire may be the very best they ever did. Everyone's into it and singing in rounds and it's fantastic. Then Jerry shreds out the last instrumental bit before the Scarlet return. This whole version Scarlet to Fire is phenomenal. May be the best of '78 or at least right up there with the beasts of April.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 23, 1977
Springfield Civic Center

Another version I've listened to forever but took for granted in voting for, but recent re-listening has given me a new appreciation. Super energized "Scarlet" (check out Jerry growling out "aint nothin wrong with the way she moves" line) & the sweet transition features Donna gently cooing, not caterwauling, into a mind meld Fire segue and then Jerry really does some magic from intro on out. Take off half a point for flubbing the last verse, but it's not egregious and he does that more often than not anyway. Definitely could be higher on this list.
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