headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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sylvanriv

90s expert

+1262


Submissions

1
Playin' In The Band
Dec. 8, 1993
Sports Arena

Nice Playin'. Jerry finds a few good riffs. Not usually a fan of late era playins, as Jerry's speedy playing is so integral. He plays pretty well here
3
Cassidy
Oct. 30, 1984
Berkeley Community Theater

Picture perfect. Soaring leads from Jerry and crashes exquistely back into the verse
2
Playin' In The Band
Oct. 28, 1984
Berkeley Community Theatre

Hot Playin>China Doll>Playin. Long and exploratory on both ends, especially for 84.
2
Jack Straw
Nov. 29, 1994
McNichols Sports Arena

Very hot tour opener. Jerry's playing is excellent. This show is the only good one from this weird little run in Colorado.
5
Ramble On Rose
Sept. 29, 1994
Boston Garden

Shockingly good. Only good things to say about the Boston Garden run from this tour. These first few nights allayed fears after awful summer tour.
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Comments

Ain't Superstitious (Meet Me on the Bottom)
March 29, 1985
Nassau Coliseum

Mickey throws like 8 drumsticks at Matt Kelly at the end of this one. Kelly had apparently just shown up after being pretty much cut off by the Dead (Billy in particular, I believe Kelly stiffed him a lot of money)
China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
March 28, 1985
Nassau Coliseum

Love Jerry's "Wish I was a headlight" on this one - he's growlin (or more accurately straining against his destroyed larynx lmao)
Cassidy
March 28, 1985
Nassau Coliseum

Classic '85 Cassidy. They take the hard left at the end of the jam perfectly, Jerry brings it into the stratosphere, and they crash back. It's not the BEST version, not even of 85, but it's excellent and representative of the year and what I think a Cassidy should sound like.
Truckin'
March 28, 1985
Nassau Coliseum

Not sure how this one doesn't have more votes. Pitch-perfect windup and drop out of the jam. Great vocals throughout (for 85) and leads into a fantastic first set. Some of the first east coast shows for the band after Jerry's bust and they're amped up. Nassau always good. This is the run of shows where Mickey threw a stick at Matt Kelly during Smokestack lmao if that helps get a sense of where the Dead were at by this point lol
Pretty Peggy O
June 26, 1994
Sam Boyd Silver Bowl

Love this version so much. Acoustic tone rocks and the solo is truly cohesive and beautiful. The video is perfect and beautiful. I do wonder if the reason this is voted so high is that it's one of the first dead videos that we all watched; it's been on youtube since youtube existed. Doesn't make it a bad version though.
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