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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+24543


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.

Comments

Sugaree
Oct. 10, 1982
Frost Amphitheatre

From the best show of 1982. Worthy.
Row Jimmy
Dec. 30, 1977
Winterland Arena

Languishing down the end of the list, with not a single vote when I found it, is one of the best Row Jimmy's from the year in which it was never performed better. I'm guessing because the only clean version (and it's a great SBD) is from "leftovers" of this show. But you need to find this version, you need to listen to it, you need to check out Jerry's second solo, and then you need to get this thing into the upper deck with the big versions where it belongs.
Feelin' Groovy Jam
Oct. 25, 1969
Winterland Arena

From one of my all time favorite Dark Stars. The sweetness right here.
Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
Aug. 4, 1976
Roosevelt Stadium

If there's a slower-paced Help>Slip I've yet to hear it. It's a little disorienting at first...you keep waiting for it to pick up to a more familiar gait, but when you really let it settle in you start to realize they're smack dab in the pocket, and it's a great example of how this band never sat still, experimenting with different speeds and sounds all the time. As noted, Phil is driving this train, and no way is he high on cocaine. This is a patient, but funk-thick ride into Slipknot, which continues with a deliberate pace with elements of space, and then into maybe the best transition from Slip>Franklin's since 8/13/75. Check out how Billy and Mickey roll the fills in the Slipknot theme, and once they get into Franklin's the giddy-up is back and this version can run with any of the big boys of '77 and even passes a few of 'em. Points and upvote for originality and execution.
Cassidy
March 13, 1981
Utica Coliseum

You kidding me with this end jam? Can't let this sit so low on the ladder. Solid reading all the way thru, great Bobby vocals, and yeah, that end jam. This whole show seems to be given an undeserved short shrift.