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!

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.

First there were only AUDs available, but now that a sweet CM SBD is up you oughta check out this sweet '78!

Rippingly good early version with Keith way out front. Jerry and the whole crew rock it hard!

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.

Fast & furious but spot-on with Jerry belting out vocals with an extra growl in his delivery towards the end..."Indian boy wanna go downtown..." verse included with the crowd giving it up for it right after. Short but blazing & party-down rendition worthy of upvote.

Best version post-callback, hands down, and really, perhaps the best ever. It's close to impossible to find another version in which Garcia doesn't mess up at least one lyric (no missteps here), and this versions just hits every note, rocks hard, has great back-up vox, and a middle jam that Jerry tears into and winds up just exactly perfect into the final two verses. Drop the mic stuff here.

Wish more folks would give this a listen and bump it WAY higher. As isles said this is an excellent sandwich version (the transition into Samson is sublime & I don't know how many times they even did this combo but I doubt there's a better one out there) but the Playin' itself--on both ends--is just spectacular: At times quiet, contemplative, at others jazzy and winding and never without focus. Keith in particular comes thru beautifully on this version and the lengthy reprise takes a sweet journey in and out of the main theme before coming back fully in a great conclusion. I believe '77 was the last truly great year for this song before it (mostly) became a lazy sort of vehicle to get into space or start a 2nd set with just a hint of exploration before heading perfunctorily into another tune, and frankly not all the versions in '77 gave it quite this level of respect and execution. Give this whole suite another try if you haven't in a while and see if you don't come away with renewed appreciation.

No longer. Too good a version to be kept under double digits, though there are better ones this same month (5/18 and 5/22, but that's a pretty high bar.)

WHAT is this doing so far down the list??? This version groooooves its way to a spectacular Jerry solo end flourish. Superior rendition deserving of far higher ranking.