headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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Submissions

1
Drums
Dec. 10, 1972
Winterland Arena

Supercharged Billy at the helm deconstructing and building layers of structure like a master architect. Some of his most inventive fills put to record
1
Me and My Uncle
July 16, 1972
Dillon Stadium

Notable for coming straight out of Cumberland and the alternate lyrics “And I Grabbed the Bottle, Grabbed Him in the Jaw” A cowboy classic.
1
Promised Land
Aug. 5, 1974
Philadelphia Civic Arena

Firing on all cylinders right out the gate. I'm certain Jerry's fretboard caught fire after that first solo. Impossible not to groove to.
1
El Paso
Dec. 4, 1971
Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden

Delicate. Like a last waltz of the cowboy and his love, with each lick from Jerry conveying the urgency of the story. Keith makes such an impact here.
1
Cumberland Blues
Dec. 4, 1971
Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden

Part of the beginning is cut off, but that doesn't stop this train from rolling on down the mines. Short and sweet.
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Comments

Big River
Aug. 13, 1975
Great American Music Hall

If I had a dollar for every time I played this song, I wouldn’t have a worry for the rest of my waking days. This to me is the definitive Big River, a version that melts you into a puddle while shooting you into oblivion. Jerry tears a new one into this with his clever and incredible playing. Roaring and soaring blues wailing, Jerry taught the weeping willow how to cry. Keith’s electric piano sound also goes really well with the acid cowboy exploration they got going on. Will always have a special place in my heart.
Johnny B. Goode
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

Needs more votes, genuinely swinging and the purest Rock and Roll you can get around these parts.
Drums
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

Nice to hear Billy and Mickey back on drums, on this one you can hear that they're not fighting each other at all. Billy throws in an idea, Mickey interprets it and responds back, classic primal drums from a later era show. Sick transition back into King Solomon's Marbles.
King Solomon's Marbles
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

Holy shit. Carrion right again with the Miles influence on this one. This is one of the best jams they have ever put to tape. It's intense, full of life, a new species of animal could be born from this music it's that full of life. Total annihilation of the psyche that zaps you right in the brain and sends you down a whirlpool of magic through sound. Oh how I wish that The Dead continued to explore this side of their music. Drums/Space could be so limiting compared to the Avant Garde heights they reached in the 60s-75. I love 76 onwards but to me this is the Dead at their purest. Continuously inventive that transports you to different multiverses. This is it.
Blues For Allah
March 23, 1975
Kezar Stadium

A deep atonal space that showcases how far the band was able to take this kind of music. True students of freeform jazz in which those abilities are put on full display. Hints of Sun Ra, Lonnie Liston Smith, incredible combination of sound and imagination. Personal favorite version.
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