Video: Grateful Dead – Baba O’Riley > Tomorrow Never Knows

One of late keyboardist Vince Welnick’s contributions to the Grateful Dead’s live repertoire during his five-year tenure in the band was a pairing of two classic rock covers – The Who’s Baba O’Riley and The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows. Vince sang lead on the cover pairing which was debuted at Cal Expo in Sacramento, Calif. on May 19, 1992 and appeared at random shows through 1994.

A pro-shot video of the0 Baba O’Riley > Tomorrow Never Knows encore from a June 6, 1992 show in Buffalo has just popped up on YouTube thanks to Telekinetica

Grateful Dead – Baba O’Riley > Tomorrow Never Knows

This was a controversial cover as some Deadheads thought it was atrocious while others appreciated the variety in the encore slot, at least at first. Where did you stand?

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5 Responses

  1. Good clip – thanks. I always thought that Baba felt contrived considering what was going on inside shows and in the parking lot at this moment in GD history. That said, Vince does a credible job belting it out. Never a big Vince fan, but he tried, and in later years, made a ton of progress acclimating better. Missing Man Formation was also a pretty interesting immediate post-Jerry band. Wonder where he would be now… RIP Vince

  2. It was certainly better than “take the money and run” encores like “Don’t Ease Me In” and “I Fought The Law”.

  3. The Baba O’Reilly sounds fairly shaky at the start, but my god… that transition into Tomorrow Never Knows was absolutely money. Perfect pairing.

    If you want to hear what can REALLY be done with Tomorrow Never Knows, you guys absolutely MUST check out the numerous versions that U-Melt did with the song. Absolutely tremendous; one of the most powerful live things I’ll probably have ever experienced. Powerful, driving, and transcendental. Totally kills the Dead versions :0)

  4. We were at Cal Expo in 1992 and thought it was a little rough, but enthralling. Bob’s windmill move had us grinning from ear to ear.

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