headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+24543


Submissions

5
Ramble On Rose
Oct. 26, 1971
The Palestra, U. of Rochester

One of the earliest live versions ever and boy oh boy is Jerry into it. Belts out the lyrics. Quick tempo & a real joy to hear!
14
Hey Pocky Way
March 28, 1990
Nassau Coliseum

Weird how little folks seem to care at all about this tune. I love it & Brent does the Neville Bros. proud w/this version--as good as it gets.
5
Eyes Of The World
May 5, 1978
Thompson Arena - Dartmouth College

First there were only AUDs available, but now that a sweet CM SBD is up you oughta check out this sweet '78!
18
Bertha
Oct. 22, 1971
Auditorium Theatre

Rippingly good early version with Keith way out front. Jerry and the whole crew rock it hard!
3
Row Jimmy
Oct. 28, 1985
Fox Theater

Great cadence to this one and some cool reverb effects lend a trippy mesmerizing feel to this fine entry from the Fox. Get the CM SBD source.

Comments

Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Jan. 8, 1979
Madison Square Garden

Gets my vote for greatest ever Donna transition section. Some will feel this immediately disqualifies it as a heady version, but I implore you to see beyond your Donna bias and realize what she's doing in this particular version: to scat and vamp and experiment with her voice without going overboard into the screech-filled warblings of early 70s PITB and GSET territory. Instead, Donna gets into the groove of the transition and really rides some instrumental-like vocal waves and it adds a whole new element and flavor to the song that most previous versions lack. So I'm upvoting this primarily b/c of Donna, but also it should be said that if a great SBD copy of this show existed, the rest of the band would deserve an A+ too! The AUD's not bad (CM after all), but the version's good enough that it aches for a clean SBD.
Franklin's Tower
Oct. 27, 1979
Cape Cod Coliseum

No one's gonna like this post but after repeated listening and really trying to like this version (and the one from the other Cape Cod show), I gotta say--this is crazily overrated and really, just kind of flat out boring. The best thing about it is the transition from Dancin', which is what I suspect has it so highly ranked, but the performance of the song itself is just meandering with no real peaks and very little in the way of excitement. It also suffers from Brent's penchant for Fisher Price key sounds and just really kinda sits there doing nothing except going on for a long while. Compare to any of the best versions from '76-'77 (and even some '77 versions, it must be said, go on a little longer than they should), but there are even versions of the late 90's that blow this one out of the water (See 10/1/94) for focus, jamming, and tightness. There's some good stuff going on in both CC shows but the "Two Towers" aint it.
Lazy Lightnin' -> Supplication
July 5, 1978
Omaha Civic Auditorium

The best versions are still from the year previous (see 5/22/77, 11/2/77 and 5/18/77 for the Top 3), but this aint a whole lot farther behind. Confident Bobby reading of Lightning and Jerry doesn't skimp on the jams in Supplication. The lyrical rejoin isn't as tight as the great '77s just mentioned but it's still a rollicking good time and deserves a higher spot on this list. (Better than most any '76 I'd wager.)
Brown Eyed Women
May 22, 1977
The Sportatorium

Would be higher if there weren't so many dang good versions from May '77 alone, not to mention the year. Upvote worthy nonetheless.
Cassidy
July 7, 1978
Red Rocks Amphitheatre

More magic from the show that gets unfairly overlooked due to the night that followed. Jerry's lead into the final stanza is mesmerizing. Another truly great '78 that leaves out the "flight of the seabirds" lyric at the end and is somehow even better for it.