headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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catalonia

neshaminy

+2148


Submissions

4
Deal
Oct. 10, 1981
Stadt Halle

Incendiary second solo becomes delicate and beautiful before they build the final refrain.
9
Deal
Oct. 4, 1981
Rainbow Theater

You can't compare 70s Deals w/ late 1980 onward. There's a four minute shredded 2nd solo on this one that wasn't a part of Deal in its 1st decade.
3
Deal
Sept. 25, 1980
Warfield Theater

This is the first one with the second solo, revamped for the 15th anniversary.
7
Mississippi Halfstep Uptown Toodeloo
Jan. 8, 1979
Madison Square Garden

Pre rio grandeo is good, but there are two peaks post rio grandeo, one built off the other and the latter crashes into Franklin's Tower.
4
Stella Blue
May 13, 1981
Civic Center

A fluttery and lyrical solo after the bridge and then an autobiography of an outro. There is a video on YouTube.
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Comments

Sugaree
June 21, 1980
West High Auditorium

I like this one for Jerry's tone when he starts his second solo - its outer space travel soundtrack material. That follows one of those occasional solo breaks taken by Mydland in Sugaree early in his tenure.
The Other One
June 8, 1977
Winterland Arena

This one gets a vote for the outro which is so sweetly played into wharf rat. If you like the way Eyes goes into WR on 5/22/77, you'll find something similarly beautiful here. The Other One itself is solid (what on this box isn't?), but the outro is what brought me here.
Bird Song
March 9, 1981
Madison Square Garden

Jerry tears out of the gate on this solo. There are some weird choices and an emphatically psychedelic jazz aesthetic - it belongs up on the list. I saw some names I knew up here talking about this version a couple of days ago and made a mental note. These guys usually know what they're talking about.
To Lay Me Down
Dec. 31, 1980
Oakland Auditorium

Great call - there's a YT video and the playing and the harmonies say that this is peak dead. It's early on NYE and everyone's clear and on. A fantastic opener.
Samson and Delilah
Dec. 31, 1976
Cow Palace

This intro stands out. All other versions are so similar, it's hard not to wish that they'd played it like this at least occasionally. I'd have to put this close to the best ever, if not actually #1.
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