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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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grendel

Books and Music

+23534


Submissions

11
Brown Eyed Women
May 17, 1977
Memorial Coliseum

Gotta check out the "small" songs in legendary shows like this as well as the usual suspects! Check out Jerry's utterly perfect bridge jam & be in awe
22
Bird Song
Sept. 22, 1993
Madison Square Garden

If you don't know Saxophonist David Murray, here's a good way to find out how great he is. This is one stellar Birdsong that flew under the radar here
19
They Love Each Other
May 17, 1977
Memorial Coliseum

Is there anything prettier, sweeter or more sublimely lovely than Keith's piano in this version? You decide. This TLEO is incredible.
56
Sugaree
May 11, 1977
St. Paul Civic Center Arena

New #1 favorite. Slightly more compact than other amazing '77 versions & so a bit more focused. 2d Garcia solo has no equal.
5
Wharf Rat
Sept. 27, 1976
Community War Memorial Auditorium

Keith shines on a long, flowing intro section that spills into space-mellow Rat-Goodness

Comments

Dark Star
Jan. 2, 1970
Fillmore East (Late Show)

It's the brief addition of cowbell around :22 in that gets my upvote, But in all seriousness, even though official releases always get a bump in the standings, this one deserves it. Even the requisite space section, which morphs from near complete silence to some TC spaceship sounds, doesn't detract from the excellent overall musical output. Very sweet star.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
May 2, 1981
The Spectrum

Young Dog knows his stuff. '81 is indeed a great year for exploratory S>F's...some are a little rough around the edges but in terms of thick, colorful, chance-taking jams esp. in transition to Fire, there are a lot from this year under-appreciated on the board. This is definitely one of them. Try also Lehigh 9/25/81.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Sept. 14, 1990
Madison Square Garden

^^^^ Yeah I’m going to check the rest out for certain. Can’t understand why this was so far under my radar til now. It is hard to crack the top 20 but I do know it’s better than a whole bunch above it currently.
Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Sept. 14, 1990
Madison Square Garden

At (as of now) a mere 6 votes this is without a doubt in my mind THE single most underrated version of any tune on this board (supplanting the Bertha from 5/26/77). As stated above this really could be a top 10 all time version (if not top 10, top 20 for absolute sure). This must be listened to by more posters here...it is a phenomenal version for any era featuring (among other things) a crazy good Wind in the Willows Jerry bridge--confident and melodic and in a grand ol' groove)....the lyrics are nailed & delivered with gusto ("Heart of gold banDDDD!") & the transition to Fire is a mind meld with a terrific Garcia solo blissfully absent of any MIDI meddling. Some great jamming in Fire as well and a lot of nice calypso percussion adding background color throughout. It's just stupid to leave this lying down here in the single digits. It's better than every damn 90s version miles above it (and I mean EVERY one) and it's exactly the sort of rendition this board was created to expose--an unheralded version that no one knows about but would love if they did. Come on, folks. Step up to this one.
Drums -> Space
March 2, 1992
The Omni

The jackhammer stuff is in the latter half...the first is some amazing calypso/marimba stuff that bounces and flows. A lot of drums/space is background music.....this one is a sit up & take notice.