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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+24543


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.

Comments

Dark Star
Feb. 24, 1974
Winterland Arena

Digging this much more with the excellent sound reproduction from Dap 13...as said above many different themes are explored and it retains a musicality throughout with no major digressions into feedback or aimless noodling, which is refreshingly welcomed in a year in which Dark Stars often got indulgently space-sloppy. Gets my upvote.
St. Stephen
Jan. 22, 1978
McArthur Court, U of Oregon

@Freedom yes, this show is pretty special. They've maintained some of that precision you got all thru 1977 but are beginning to stretch those hard rock boundaries that would come to define '78 with sometimes awesome, other times sloppy, results. I dig this version of St. but to me it doesn't hold up nearly as well as 10/29/77...the mid-jam everyone raves about is unique, but to me doesn't really jell or keep a focus like 10/29/77 does....still, I understand and have no problem--objectively-- w/its ranking here....it misses my upvote only b/c of my admitted bias that 10/29/77 is so much better and is so much lower on the ladder.
The Weight
March 28, 1990
Nassau Coliseum

@Patch I certainly thought this was the debut! Can you point us to the 1970 version? was it a gig they played w/the Band & others? Very curious!
Brown Eyed Women
May 14, 1978
Providence Civic Center

Fluid, lengthy bridge jam by Jerry and an overall exceptional version for a song mostly associated with excellence from the year previous..but this one can stand with many of the greats.
Ramble On Rose
Sept. 26, 1981
Buffalo Auditorium

Really great version from a waaaaayyy underrated show. Get the CM upgrade and check this out.