headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+24543


Submissions

4
Estimated Prophet
Aug. 31, 1985
Manor Downs

Hot as the night in Texas on which it was played.
11
One More Saturday Night
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

Like every other song from this, my favorite all-time show, it's a best-of candidate. Just rocks hard.
2
Alabama Getaway
Dec. 5, 1979
Uptown Theater

Come for the 'Bama but stay for the rest of the show. This rocker 'Bama is Jerry and Brent at their very best. This entire show, tho', is a monster.
13
Stagger Lee
June 27, 1985
SPAC

Right after Phil tells a guy to get off the blacony cuz 50,000 people are waiting for him to, and Bob does the dog nose joke, Jer rips into a fine SL!
8
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
Oct. 18, 1989
The Spectrum

Pretty good China followed by the best 80's OR 90's RIDER I've ever heard. Check Jer's run going into "sun gonna shine" verse. 5 stars fo RIDER alone.

Comments

Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
June 14, 1991
RFK Stadium

Very well played Help>Slip, and a great intro to Franklin's. Jerry does some interesting work in the FRanklin's outro jam after the last verse. Not crazy about the rest of the Franklin's, however. Jerry blows a bunch of lyrics, doesn't really do much with his solos, and the rest of the band provides little color or adventure in the meat of the Franklin's either. On the fence about an up-vote here, but it's easily one of the better post-Brent versions, but there are so many other versions from other eras that excite more as a whole. Worth checking out at least for the first two sections.
Cold Rain and Snow
June 14, 1991
RFK Stadium

Really impressed with this. Great Bruce contributions on accordion and Vince is filling nicely too. Jer hits all the right vocal intonations and nails the lyrics. Best post-Brenr version by far. Has me ready to listen to the rest of the show.
Ramble On Rose
July 3, 1978
St. Paul Civic Center Arena

Totally agree with ^^^^ Great version here, lots of energy from Jerry and a real commitment to the vocals. Excellent box set and run of shows.
Eyes Of The World
April 8, 1978
Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Very worthy, at a loss as to why it wasn't already listed. Nice flowing version from one of the great shows of a brilliant month/year.
Standing On The Moon
Aug. 21, 1993
Autzen Stadium - University of Oregon

A+ for emotion, B- for actual playing/singing/execution. Given the glowing comments here I had to check this out & I guess this is my too-critical stance on judging any post '90 version, but I just can't get past 1) Jerry's sad croaky vocals, 2) the sour notes hit during many of the quieter passages before we get to that ripping ending and 3) the fact that I never really warmed to this song, which just seems a bit silly to my ears, with clunky lyrics like "I can see El Salvador", which, I don't know, seems to diminish the actual experience one would have actually "standing on the moon" and viewing the whole of the Earth. Am I overthinking it? Most probably, yes, and I recognize how "you kids get off my lawn!" I must sound in my nitpickery, but this is why latter day Dead leaves me cold. (I still maintain that Built To Last isn't just a shitty Dead album, it's a shitty album period.) However (if anyone is still reading this and hasn't tuned me out yet), I must admit also that the shredding Jerry does near the end of this is really spectacular and stands up to anything he's done in any era, and bringing back the 'be with you" vocal at the tail end of it is a masterful touch. It's all emotion at that juncture, real and pure and no one but Jerry could pull that off in just that way. It's what I suspect gives this version its #1 ranking and I suppose to argue otherwise would be foolish, given that other versions would contain exactly the same flaws that annoyed me in this one, and wouldn't have necessarily that emotional pay off. No upvote here, but an admission that I'm probably missing something that the rest of you are getting loud and clear.