headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

7
Big River
April 19, 1978
Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Segues perfectly out of MAMU and rolls along beautifully til Jerry goes ballistic on the last solo. Must hear.
5
China Cat Sunflower
April 5, 1969
Avalon Ballroom

Nice early stand alone with a long intro. You can hear the transition from the old intro to the more familiar pickings of later versions.
5
Darkness Jam
Nov. 21, 1973
Denver Coliseum

Not really a darkness jam but more of a dark star jam than what it's listed as (PITB) leads into Wharf Rat & is beyond beautiful.
8
Wang Dang Doodle
Oct. 22, 1983
Carrier Dome, Syracuse U

The boys really "throw a mess" on this one, making the carrier dome sound like a down and dirty old time saloon. Slinky sick stuff
2
Row Jimmy
April 18, 1987
Irvine Meadows

Check out Jerry's "giddy-up" riffs in the final "Row" choruses!
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Comments

Greatest Story Ever Told
June 22, 1973
Pacific Coliseum

...and Keith is more prominent here than in many versions. Can't really go wrong w/any song from this show but yeah, the G-SET shoulda been up on the big board already.
New Minglewood Blues
June 8, 1977
Winterland Arena

check out all the other tunes mentioned above as well. Was just grooving to that version of Eyes recently. Phenomenal. A perfect 3-night run.
Eyes Of The World
March 25, 1990
Knickerbocker Arena

Absolutely love this version now that I've heard it in its best CD form, and yes, it will forever be in the shadow of the Branford performance from 4 days later....but while it can't reach that level, it's far better than any other save Nassau that I've heard in the 90's (and that includes the excellent 3/31/91 w/Hornsby.) What really sets this apart is how great Jerry's singing is...he sings this so well it's kind of astonishing, really, given the year. As noted above, the jamming is mellow and groovy but w/many points of departure into interesting and jazzy spaces. let's move this puppy up the ladder!
Eyes Of The World
Oct. 29, 1977
Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University

@allyinnoyang You have no idea how jealous I am. This is my all-time, hands-down, favorite Grateful Dead show of all time. Can't believe you were there with like, what, 5, maybe 6,000 people, tops? Dang.
Deal
Sept. 16, 1978
Sphinx Theatre

Agree it's too low...in fact this whole Egypt run gets strangely overlooked even after the official CD release. One of my favorite versions of EYES also come from the Pyramid shows & this DEAL is very worthy of more attention.
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