headyversion

find the best versions of grateful dead songs

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dictsang

boxdapocalypse

+129


Submissions

1
Terrapin Station
June 28, 1995
The Palace

Not particularly heady, but a notably not-too-bad later version with nice Vince vox
1
Cassidy
Sept. 29, 1980
Warfield Theater

Perfect acoustic version
1
The Other One
March 18, 1994
Rosemont Horizon

Weird, jazzy 90s version. Remarkably good!
1
Mexicali Blues
June 16, 1974
Iowa State Fairgrounds

Often a throwaway, this super bouncy version from a top 10 show sparkles.

Comments

Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
May 22, 1977
The Sportatorium

Big fan of the jam parts of this, but it must be said that the playing on the song portion of "Help" is distractingly sloppy. I think this is one of a select handful of songs that they actually managed to pull off better in the 80s, along with "Deal", "Loser", and "Cassidy".
Playin' In The Band
Oct. 9, 1989
Hampton Coliseum

Wildly underrated. This is among the best of the later Dead, period: Jerry is fully locked in, shredding up a storm; the drummers are making one of the best cases for two-drummer Dead, a heavy-ass jazz fusion beatdown; and the jam gets *super* far out, with Weir playing some of his wildest guitar ... ever? He's quite prominent here. The very good mix on the live release spotlights Phil...Brent shows that he can play some pretty out stuff...I dunno man. This should be in the top 15.
Playin' In The Band
July 29, 1988
Laguna Seca Recreation Area

I'm a defender of later Dead, and I *love* the idea of the So Many Roads box, but so many of their choices for the 80s are baffling. To me, this is a *unique* version but apart from how "out" the jam gets, not that great: Weir totally flubs parts of the song (rare for this song: it's pretty simple apart from the rhythm!) and the mix is weird, drummers kind of limp. Definitely worth a listen, but I think this is another case of Dead archivists picking "significant" versions over "best" versions.
Cassidy
Sept. 29, 1980
Warfield Theater

I'm submitting in part because this is the first one I ever heard thanks to Tyler Wilcox's blog (I am guessing he just grabbed this show at random from the acoustic shows). Weir's best chord sequence, Barlow's best set of lyrics, Brent absolutely in the pocket on back-up lyrics. Weir's flourishes are so perfect, and the dark jam (common to many live versions) makes the coda so special.
Help On The Way > Slipknot > Franklin's Tower
Oct. 12, 1983
Madison Square Garden

Killer Help. Believe it or not, I have never heard Garcia hit the vocals and guitar riff as cleanly live outside of its famous debut. Even the DP from 77 have notable flubs...this might be among the best years for this song.
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