The Consensus G.O.A.T. Versions of Songs
It's basically impossible to have a consensus "greatest of all-time" performance for big-hitters like Tweezer, Ghost, Bathtub Gin, or Down With Disease. Same goes for compositions like "The Lizards" or "TMWSIY" which vary in quality, but not enough to have a clear "best." But there are some songs where one version clearly stands out from the crowd. And maybe it's impossible to have a unanimous G.O.A.T. but there are some consensus G.O.A.T versions of songs (i.e. the song has only broken form and been jammed once OR one version is just head and shoulders about the rest). Here's a few that popped into my head:
- The Alpine "Ruby Waves"
- The Gorge "Camel Walk"
- The Vegas "Axilla 2"
- The Vegas "Your Pet Cat"
- The IT "46 Days"
- The Hartford "Character Zero"
- The Shoreline "Soul Planet"
- The Jam Night "Lawn Boy"
- The Dicks "Undermind"
- The Portland "Horn"
- The SPAC "Piper" (debatable, but see my thoughts in the comments section)
- The Jam Night "Sample"
- The Chula “NICU”
- The Vegas “Ass-handed”
- The Chicago “Wedge”
- The Dicks “Light”
- The Vegas “Golden Age”
- The Baker's Dozen "It's Ice"
- The Island Tour "Cavern" (debatable, not because Dublin is better - it's not - but because the jam occurs before Cavern starts, but whatever, they're married and it's too good not to include.)
- The Santa Barbara "Pebbles and Marbles" (debatable, Rosemont '03 rages, but listening back to back, this one is so much more interesting and diverse.)
- The Bethel "Waves" (I’m caving to the pressure. Yes, it’s sound check, but it’s also so damn good.)
- The Virginia Beach “Fee”
- The Camden "Jibboo"
- The Atlanta "Kill Devil Falls"
- The Island Tour “Roses”
I'm looking for more songs in this vein. What other G.O.A.T. versions of songs are there?
Edit: Added hyperlinks to the songs on here. I'll also try to add songs to the list as more get posted in the comments. I have some work to do, but I'll crank a few of these in the BG, and update the list as I do. If I haven't added it, it's not necessarily because I disagree. More likely, I just haven't gotten around to looking at it.
Edit 2: Lotta suggestions. Love it! I’ll pick through them when I have more time and maybe do a separate GOAT post. But please, don’t suggest Tweezer, Gin, Ghost, DWD, Carini or any other song that has a plethora of awesomely different versions. Those songs don’t have GOATs, you have to tier them. Some folks love the Nassau Tweezer, others Tweezerbella, others Tahoe, and so on. All amazing, all very different. They’re an embarrassment of riches. It’s a good problem. But not what this post is about.
Edit: I saw a Roses poll and I posted a Bowie poll. They’re not exactly scientific, but if something crosses the 75% mark (with at least 100 votes), that’s consensus enough for me.