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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Carrion_Crow

Stealth Head

+49767


Submissions

3
Born Cross Eyed
Feb. 3, 1968
Crystal Ballroom

Wild and scrambled with lots of hooting and yelping. Lots of scary fun on this rare gem folks, with a Spanishy jam at the end.
5
China Cat Sunflower
Feb. 3, 1968
Crystal Ballroom

Killer power bridging Dark Star into an atomic The Eleven. Not kidding, but all the early ones belong up here to spread more heads into '68 Dead.
8
Not Fade Away
Feb. 11, 1970
Fillmore East

High-energy and very tight. Opens (?) an immortal show with a big bang. Great clear sound quality, too.
5
The Other One
Feb. 11, 1970
Fillmore East

Super-charged, but unfortunately incomplete. From the era when TOO took over from Cryptical, but this reprise has surprising power: PHIL.
3
Cold Rain and Snow
Dec. 28, 1969
International Speedway

Explosive and uptempo with a high-pressure energy that blows the tubes.
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Comments

Scarlet Begonias
June 3, 1976
Paramount Theatre

Revisiting after a long spell, and this is as pure as they come. No FoTM, but natch, it wasn't written yet. What a beauty.
Cassidy
June 3, 1976
Paramount Theatre

Years later and back for another dose of this historic show. Sure, there's some rough patches, but can you imagine being there as a head, waiting out the hiatus and they bust out with new repertoire including Cassidy? This is some of Barlow's greatest writing for the band, and I've always considered this one of the most philosophical songs in their oeuvre deceptively simple, but "scattered like lost words" speaks beauty, and "I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream" is mysterious dark poetry of the highest order. This might not be the tightest version ever, but it's definitely one of the most satisfying - at least for me.
Sugar Magnolia
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Totally bonkers. Really, like zonkers bonkers: It's more uptempo - maybe our boys took their vitamins during the break - and Crosby's addition gives it an almost orchestral quality. Really a beauty.
The Other One
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Goes deep weird. (I love that.) But it also has a floaty ethereal passage before heading into Morning Dew that is just sublime. Phil and Billy's Drum and Bass solo is brilliant. Did they freakin' invent the genre? They did a similar solo on the 12th of the same month which is worth a listen, too.
Truckin'
Dec. 31, 1972
Winterland Arena

Scorching hot jam, with a great radio broadcast version on the Archive with a perfectly balanced soundboard. Everyone is audible, and they're deep in the pocket, plus Jerry is just inspiration on wheels. Truckin' when it's hot is unbeatable, and this one kicks off over an hour-long sweet sweet suite.
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