headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

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Submissions

28
Playin' In The Band
May 11, 1972
Rotterdam Civic Hall

Sometimes shorter is better. At around 10 mins. this beauty from E'72 packs the jazz, jam, passion. Like a more intense version of the one on ACE!
26
Scarlet Begonias
Oct. 3, 1976
Cobo Arena

No clean SBD on archive but at official Dead site a pristine version was on 30 days of Dead for DL. 2d best stand-alone I've heard next to 3-20-77
66
Pretty Peggy O
May 19, 1977
Fox Theatre

DP Vol. 29...Each time I think I've heard the best (i.e. 12/27/77) I hear one better. This is it. Flowing, gorgeous Jerry bridge jam. Perfection.
4
Don't Ease Me In
June 20, 1980
West High Auditorium

Proves the boys could really swing when they wanted to. Hear Jerry on "The Girl I Love" line; like 'Gator Alley--1980 a good year for this tune
32
Not Fade Away
May 26, 1977
Baltimore Civic Center

Insane. Ridiculous. Drummers locked in, Garcia in take-no-prisoners mode. 16+ minutes of full-bore Rock to the G-D Roll.
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Comments

I Need A Miracle
Oct. 21, 1978
Winterland Arena

Make it 2. Gritty gutsy version. (Overlooked song in general. Also make sure to check out 1-10-79 at Nassau)
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
April 13, 1983
Patrick Gymnasium, U of Vermont

Sensational version in bad need of a clean SBD.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
June 18, 1983
Saratoga Performing Arts Center

@cgarces Yes, I know the feeling. We are all lucky to have so many great recordings of shows available but it only makes the ones we don't have (and that are great performances) that much more desirable. Another good (maybe even better, actually) example of this can be found further down the list with 4-13-83 at UVM. It's an absolutely phenomenal Scarlet-Fire but you gotta deal with the AUDS available and some of it sadly gets lost in the translation.
Playin' In The Band
Nov. 18, 1972
Hofheinz Pavilion

Regarding "cleaner" copies of this amazing version, I think there is a fairly recent Charlie miller pitch-corrected version on the archive. It's not as pristine a recording as we may like but it's pretty damn good and may be the best-sounding recording available. So worth it. As everyone here has said, this version is legendary and does rival Veneta, if not perhaps surpassing it in some ways.
Bird Song
Dec. 9, 1981
Activity Center - University of Colorado

Doesn't reach some of the epic jam crescendos as other 80's versions but it is quite beautiful and lovingly sung by jerry and gets my up vote also b/c 1981 is often overlooked. Also make sure to check out the china-rider from this show which could very well be the best of the decade.
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