headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

please login or register.

grendel

Books and Music

+23524


Submissions

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.
4
Big Railroad Blues
Aug. 14, 1971
Berkeley Community Theater

Maybe the best pure hard riving Rock&Roll version. Lean, mean, and Jerry supreme!
34
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.
4
Ramble On Rose
Dec. 30, 1977
Winterland Arena

Faster than usual tempo with just a brilliant Jerry bridge jam and no missed lyrics make this one a not-to-be-missed version.

Comments

Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Sept. 13, 1991
Madison Square Garden

well whaddaya know, this one really is fantastic & grossly underrated & just now gets into double digits w/this upvote. Long, windy, very colorful excursion w/Jerome in uncharacteristically fine vocal form for '91 & the "fire " suffers not at all from a single lyric lost...really needs some attention.
The Other One
June 26, 1973
Seattle Center Coliseum

Haha indeed cgarces & I do agree. It’s why I tend to avoid commenting on (most) versions of TOO from ‘72-‘74 bc so many go off into that soundjunk mode & I just don’t care for it (a number of fine dark stars from the same era leave me similarly annoyed) but I’ve been finding some cool versions that don’t get as dissonant from 1971 and that still deliver great moments of improv jazz like exploration. Late fall/winter especially from that year.
Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
June 10, 1976
Boston Music Hall

One of the very best languishing oddly low in the standings. Patient, rolling, beautifully joined by all players, with a perfect pace for the Help, a super-jazz-infused reading of Slipknot & then a pic-perfect Franklin's with Jer in command of all the verses lyrically and typically hot runs of jamming between the verses. Really needs more ears.
West L.A. Fadeaway
April 16, 1984
Community War Memorial Auditorium

Spot-on observation about how well Jerry sings this version, which is surprising given the year, but even the grand master of them all, the well-deserved #1 slotted Alpine '89 version isn't sung as well as this and of course, the jamming is spectacular as is often the case w West LA. Needs way more than the paltry 2 votes it had when I just added mine
Estimated Prophet
May 18, 1977
Fox Theatre

This is great & may I say the Eyes that follows is also mysteriously underrated and one of the top 10 of ‘77 which means it’s one of the all time best