headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+23519


Submissions

13
Run Run Rudolph
Dec. 7, 1971
Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden

Give it a spin before Santa comes...Pig does Chuck Berry and Kris Kringle proud!
11
U.S. Blues (Wave That Flag)
Sept. 11, 1974
Alexandra Palace

DP Vol. 7 in London...special hard-core ROCK&ROLL kick-ass version, as if to remind the good folks across the Pond what happened 200 years earlier.
4
The Wheel
May 1, 1981
Hampton Coliseum

Like every song in this vastly underrated show: Just Exactly Perfect.
28
Beat it on Down The Line
Feb. 28, 1973
Salt Palace

Normally not a song I take much notice of...but Keith just takes over this puppy and turns it into a rollicking good time!
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!

Comments

The Other One
March 16, 1990
Capital Centre

Great experimentation to this far underrated version--intense as others have described and jam packed too.
When Push Comes to Shove
July 12, 1987
Giants Stadium

Always rank this tune first & foremost on how many lyrics Jerry gets right--the average is around 75% for most versions but here he's 100% nailing it and for a sweet bonus you get an absolutely slamming guitar bridge jam. Easy ups.
Eyes Of The World
June 30, 1973
Universal Amphitheatre

Love when I can still stumble across a version of Eyes that I'm either unfamiliar with or haven't heard in ages and realize how good it is--enuff to drop a comment on the board. It's been said before but with so many killer versions of this tune in its debut year many worthy entries will get lost in the shuffle. At a relatively paltry 20 or so votes this is one of them. Emerging quietly from a DarkStar this one gives you all the gooey flowing jamming that Garcia had going from the git-go in '73 and I'd also point out that the vocal harmonies are pretty sweet on the choruses...just a great, sweet as molasses reading of the tune and a typical for the year great post lyrics jazz clinic. Keith shines in this section, too.
Cassidy
May 11, 1978
Springfield Civic Center Arena

Don't see how this one's been kept hidden for so long...slightly longer jam section b4 the final return and played at a speedy but totally in control clip--Garcia is dialed in as is the whole band....great version sitting weirdly below 10 votes when I got here
Greatest Story Ever Told
Feb. 17, 1979
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Almost perfect, and almost better for not being perfect. You can tell they hadn't played it in a while & it's like Jerry's trying out new stuff in the jam section that he wasn't doing and the results are jaw-dropping if not what one could nitpick as "a bit off" when it comes to sticking the landing. But what he offers in color and energy and pure gamesmanship is more than worth the loss of pure precision. A grade stuff