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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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1
Cryptical Envelopment
Nov. 11, 1970
49th Street Rock Palace

As Jerry shouts, “You know he had to die.” BANG! A massive gunshot right on rhythm. Great reprise with great drum work from Billy and Mickey.
1
The Other One
Nov. 11, 1970
49th Street Rock Palace

Jerry takes off and soars. Gets really heavy, and out there FAST. Experimental passages and new themes explored. This is what the Dead do best.
1
Drums
Nov. 11, 1970
49th Street Rock Palace

Billy and Mickey flowing in and out of the main TOO rhythms. They’re both putting each other to the test as they really get deep in this one.
1
Uncle John's Band
July 11, 1970
Fillmore East

“At this risk of being repetitious we’re going to do another song in the key of G.”-Bob Weir. This version is quite sweet. Patchy audio, great version
1
Candyman
Oct. 30, 1977
Assembly Hall - Indiana University

Keith stands out on this crystalline version. A stunning performance as the band is completely in synch with each other. Watch out for that solo too.

Comments

Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
Oct. 2, 1977
Paramount Theatre

As a Scarlet Begonia’s fan this delivers. Jerry sings wonderfully commanding the music with every fiber of his being. A guitar masterclass in melody making. Tiny embers dance in an open field of tall grass with a neighboring forest swaying in the wind dancing with the embers. There are some truly wonderful moments during this piece of music. Phil and Keith create some wonderful moments of harmonic texture during the transition, leaning towards A flat minor but Jerry’s keeps jamming in B Major territory( or Mixolydian if you want to get technical) leading the band to the earth’s core. You can see in your head the small fairy like embers are now, swirling spheres of raging flames, descending from the mountain as the band reach the center of the earth. There’s a Fire on The Mountain and it’s HOT. The ending jam During FOTM gets pretty spacey, natural energy evolving and growing in spaces of green and fire red. What a version we have here. One of the best of that year with that classic 77 sound.
Viola Lee Blues
July 11, 1970
Fillmore East

I feel right at home with the audience. Cheering along with them with the peaks and moments of musical freedom that immortalize the band for what they are. Certainly a grainy recording but it adds to the atmosphere. The Viola Lee itself is a massive, massive version not to be overlooked. A melting of the minds as the band becomes a singular entity, they take their time building up the jam but when Jerry takes the helm they build up in a ferocious manner. A perfect era appropriate Viola, mixes new ideas while keeping that deep psychedelic wonder that makes the song so unique.
Viola Lee Blues
Sept. 3, 1967
Dance Hall

22:50 of high octane brain enrichment. A psychedelic warhorse that plows through your psyche and commands the listener through some very hypnotic music. Once again you hear telepathic communication from each band member. Phil is putting on a San Franciscan bass clinic, and for someone who hasn’t been playing bass all that long, he really holds his own here. Billy builds and builds around Jerry, who shows off his ever expanding blues vocabulary and making his instrument speak some very coherent sentences all throughout this performance. Check out this jazzy face melting line he plays around 7:35, and from there you have a super charged jam going at lightning speed, that ultimately leads into a thunderous climax of electric wails that quickly goes right back into the main groove of the song. Jaw dropping.
The Other One
Oct. 22, 1967
Unknown

Jerry sings for his life during the Cryptical reprise. Very cool to hear the alternative lyrics during the main verses, a cocoon that quickly metamorphoses into the blotter art butterfly we call The Other One. Jerry does some incredibly weird shit with his guitar, making it speak in tongues and channeling the energy of the sun through each psychic attack. For 1967, this is absolutely without a doubt, revolutionary. Heavy metal thunder. I’m melting!!!!
Beat it on Down The Line
Oct. 22, 1967
Unknown

Speaking of catching a wave, this is what would happen if the Ventures dropped a copious amount of some orange sunshine and thrashed their amp speakers.