headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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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.
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Comments

Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
April 30, 1977
The Palladium

This really is crazy good. I never realized how much until I got the DL version. It's a flawless rendition w/belted Jerry vocals & w/several great heady jams--not QUITE on par w/the splashdowns you get on 11/6/77 but up there w/5/25/77, 5/7/77 and 5/17/77 to name a few other winners. Top 5 all time for sure. Listen and bump it.
Jack Straw
May 7, 1977
Boston Garden

Nice underrated version from the old Gah-den.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
March 31, 1984
Marin County Civic Center

Proves you can still find great Scarlet>Fires even far down on the list. Brent is all over this sleeper version, especially on "Fire", and the whole pairing is a jammed out gem. Get out of the usual suspects comfort zone and into this hidden treasure version.
Eyes Of The World
Nov. 30, 1973
Boston Music Hall

Been re-appreciating DP14 lately and this version of Eyes is THE highlight of the entire 4-disc set, which is saying quite a bit given how good both shows are. Long, flowing, jazzy, liquid-like Eyes. Up there with the very best of '73, and perhaps even the best of them all,
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
March 22, 1990
Copps Coliseum

It's a great version among those that went deep into MIDI territory but it's a non-starter for those of us who couldn't stand that sound. If I wanted to hear the Dead with a flute I'd rather they'd invited Ian Anderson on stage to jam with them. It's just a huge waste of opportunity (in my opinion) to have Jerry shred for a large portion of this great song and have it come out sounding like something a bad synthesizer produced rather than his glorious-sounding guitar. I understand they were trying to "update" their sound for the 90's and I appreciate that, but I think it's an experiment that fell short.
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