headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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parrott56

millennial head

+4803


Submissions

1
Looks Like Rain
Dec. 28, 1989
Coliseum Arean

Another strong version from Brent's last year. Colorful with a swirling energy.
4
Mexicali Blues
Nov. 17, 1971
Albuquerque Civic Auditorium

Breakneck speed and blazing energy!
7
Me and Bobby McGee
Nov. 17, 1971
Albuquerque Civic Auditorium

Phil and Billy really drive this one. Astonishing energy.
3
Jack Straw
Nov. 17, 1971
Albuquerque Civic Auditorium

There’s something about the pluck of this early version. Fresh and surprising even if you’ve heard a billion Jack Straws.
8
Jack Straw
Aug. 25, 1972
Berkeley Community Theatre

The most active, detailed ’72 Jack Straw I can recall.

Comments

Spanish Jam
Sept. 13, 1983
Manor Downs

Delirious, just nuts. Mickey (I’d guess) is on castanets, Phil’s on a Seastones wavelength, Brent and Jerry and Bobby send this into deep space. Then the haunted house organ, Brent? This needs a shit-ton more votes. The Senn 441 Miller upload sounds alive and crystal clear.
Playin' In The Band
Aug. 4, 1979
Oakland Auditorium

Very odd and out there. Little of this sounds at all like PITB. There’s what sounds like a brief callback to Shakedown, then Jerry turns on the overdrive and solos quite freely. Only toward the end does it enter that electronic meltdown space familiar from other ’79 PITBs, and of course that’s well done here.
China Doll
July 15, 1984
Greek Theatre - University of California

A wonderfully twisted D>S collapsing into *this* China Doll is the sort of magic that keeps us coming back to grimy, improbably transcendent ’84. Don’t miss it.
Franklin's Tower
April 5, 1989
Crisler Arena

No sign of the early spring magic letting up here in Ann Arbor. A great example of how tight and confident the band sounded in early ’89.
Me and Bobby McGee
July 27, 1974
Civic Center

So many of the “short” songs seemingly reached their apotheosis in 1974, and this is a great example of that.