4/30/2023 0 Comments Grateful dead live![]() ![]() This one comes out of a fantastic “Estimated Prophet” and quickly rolls up to cruising speed and becomes very powerful and the post-song jam is a thing of beauty, with Weir on tasteful background slide for some of it, before it eases into “Drums” (featuring Brazilian jazzers Flora Purim and Airto). It was best in the early Eighties, once Brent solidified the harmonies that were often rough in the late Seventies, and Garcia took more time getting into and out of the song. What a great moment it was at any show when the first golden notes of “The Wheel” would emerge, float into the air, and point the way to that rousing sing-along. This first-set version shows all its bludgeoning brute force (and sophistication), then dissolves into Garcia’s late-Eighties ballad tour de force, “Standing on the Moon”-which, truthfully, deserves to be on this list, too, so listen to both! Available on the Spring 1990 (The Other One) box.ĭecemLong Beach Arena, California MaCopps Coliseum, Hamilton, OntarioĬall it jagged, gnarly, noisy or unpleasant, the fact is this dissonant late Eighties Weir song was a darkly powerful force to be reckoned with, and almost featured a harrowing jam, as its ascending lines crashed and clashed. ![]() In the end, though, opinions about “best” anything are always going to be completely subjective and also probably change over time. Similarly there is general agreement on the Dead’s peak performance periods: 1968–1974, 1977, 1981–'82, 1988–'90 you’ll find a heavy concentration of Seventies performances here. Of course, there is no true consensus on any of this, but it is fair to say that there is widespread agreement that certain versions of certain songs would probably make most discerning Deadheads’ lists. Not only do they appear in order of popularity according to hundreds of folks who have weighed in on their favorite versions of just about every song in the Dead cannon-280 versions of “Eyes of the World,” 27 versions of “Liberty,” 59 versions of “Jackaroe,” etc.-but the site also provides direct links to ’s immense vault of Dead performances, so you can hear them all in just a couple of mouse-clicks. But here’s the cool news: There’s a fantastic web site called that is the ultimate resource for listening to the “best” versions of Grateful Dead songs. For the main picks, we’ve listed where they can be found on Grateful Dead–sanctioned releases (where applicable), most of which can be accessed through Apple Music and Spotify. Such are the cruel realities of list-making.Ī couple of final notes: The songs are listed in chronological order by performance date. Of course there are, and so it is with nearly any tune you’d care to mention that is not here. So why not have “Sugar Magnolia” here? Or “Deal”? Or “Touch of Gray”? Surely there are multiple versions of each that fit those categories. After all, hardcore Deadheads would argue that 50 versions of “Dark Star”-each different as can be-could be a list in itself.Īnd the fact is, this does go beyond 50: As you’ll see, for a number of tunes, there are second and third picks based on eras-songs such as “Dark Star,” “Playing in the Band,” “The Other One” and a few others changed radically from one period to the next (influenced by the change in keyboardists and other factors), so versions from each epoch get a nod.Īs for the criteria for the choice of songs-most are ones that, over time, were most variable night to night either because of the jamming in them or the intensity of the vocal delivery, or some other elevating force. The difficulty, of course, is narrowing it down to just 50. Fortunately, the Dead had the largest archive of live tapes of any band ever, so there is much to draw from. Everyone, including band members, will tell you that studio albums never quite captured the Dead’s mystical X-factor. Why live performances? Because that’s where the magic happened with this band. What follows is a selection of the best live versions of 50 songs by the Grateful Dead (and a few cover tunes) spanning their history. Along the way they built the most loyal fan base the music world had ever seen ![]() They brought it all together in a unique mélange that took them from the fire-breathing psychedelia of the late Sixties, to the Dead Americana of Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, and far beyond. Their styles couldn’t be more different, but they were completely sympathetic players, tightly enmeshed and equally in sync with bassist Lesh (another utterly unconventional player) and the drummers. ![]()
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