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find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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OrangeTangoJam

yeller dawg

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Submissions

1
Mister Charlie
Dec. 4, 1971
Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden

The blues is strong here, Jerry's solo is truly incredible. Keith laying it down with Pigpen in the Garden rapping up a storm. One of the best.
1
Playin' In The Band
Nov. 23, 1978
Capital Centre

The band tries to catch Jerry and wolf as they’re seemingly on the loose. Traversing through snowy mountaintops. A wonderful journey.
1
Good Lovin'
March 9, 1981
Madison Square Garden

Brent’s organ takes this to another level. I’m partial towards the Pigpen Version, but this shines in its own ways. Lovely phrasing from Jerry as well
1
U.S. Blues (Wave That Flag)
March 9, 1981
Madison Square Garden

Shocked to not see this here yet. Absolute scorcher from a really great show. Jerry’s tone cuts through like a scorching hot knife. Skin your wife.
1
Drums
Aug. 12, 1972
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium

Coming out of He's Gone. Billy goes ham, hitting the drums like a machine gun.

Comments

Mountain Jam
July 28, 1973
Grand Prix Racecourse

Enter the hall of the Mountain King!! As epic as they come. I love how this one flows, doesn’t stay in one place for too long at all. Simply sublime. Dickey is quite tasteful on this one, allowing Jerry to traverse these mountain ranges with ease. It’s really THAT good. Highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t checked this out yet.
Playin' In The Band
July 28, 1973
Grand Prix Racecourse

Deadly interplay on this one. Bobby’s on full attack mode as soon as the jam starts, creating this wonderful urgency in the music without being too aggressive or rushed. This trapezes between underwater exploration and celestial travel through unexplored nebulas and gas giants. Gets into Tiger territory very early on but never leaves it, reappearing multiple times as a swirling vortex that shoots the band into these wonderful and inventive territories. Check out 14:15, unison lines in full force. Phil rings like a bell and the boys enter this witchy and archaic space. Great suggestion darkstar, I forgot this was the show with the famous Mountain Jam, going to be relistening shortly.
The Other One
March 28, 1972
Academy of Music

Starts as a raging tornado that spirals the listener into a chaotic and twisted journey. This really reminds me of Dorothy’s journey to the land of Oz, the idea of everything you once knew about anything is gone, and you’re taken away by this force of nature only to land in this mysterious and quite dreamlike landscape. The boys follow the yellow brick road and walk towards their goals. Will they get home? Will they muster up the courage within themselves? You can hear the band find themselves in this tumultuous journey. Analogies aside, this The Other One is dense and rich with ideas. Gets into Dark Star territory with not one single person leading. Keith starts this wonderful motif around the 12 minute mark in which Jerry responds with an almost sarod or sitar inspired lick that leaves me utterly speechless. I also find Bobby’s parts are quite intriguing, the way he thinks about the music and how open minded he is with throwing everything you know out the window and just “going for it” really makes this one quite unique. 5 star The Other One with so much to unpack.
The Other One
June 22, 1973
Pacific Coliseum

Reaches a point of singularity that consumes the band in a dark energy unlike anything before. Undefinable. Out of body, indulging in this desolate, nightmarish world of inexplicable constructs, structures that defy the laws of physics, The outer reaches of the universe, and the edge of insanity. Where are they? I don’t think they even knew at this point. How dark, and how mysterious this version is. “Madness is but an over acuteness of the senses”
Truckin'
June 22, 1973
Pacific Coliseum

Phil, like Atlas, holds the world on his shoulders. With each pluck of a string, maintaining balance of everything that is. The Truckin is a portal to a vast, ghostly realm of the dead, misty, and full of intrigue. This is as uniform as the band gets, astral projecting and leaving the material world behind, and exploring these places not yet known to mankind. RIP Phil.