There’s a certain level of cockiness that comes with years spent studying the Grateful Dead. After a decade or two (or six) of listening to the shows, reading the books, and digging into all the lore, it’s easy to think you know the whole greatest story ever told. But occasionally, even the most self-assured Deadhead is dosed some humility by stumbling on a random song played only once, twice, or a handful of times.

Many of the Dead’s one-and-done covers come from the late ’60s or mid-’80s. The constant frequency and often three-set configuration of the 1960s Primal Dead era opened up the songbook to many covers from the band’s influences like Buddy Holly and Hank Williams. A show from September 7th, 1969 at San Francisco’s Family Dog featuring members of the Jefferson Airplane saw the debuts of “Peggy Sue”, “That’ll Be the Day”, and “Wipe Out”, all never to be played again, as well as the introduction of Chuck Berry‘s “Johnny B. Goode” and Canon’s Jug Stompers‘ “Big Railroad Blues” which would become setlist regulars in the following decade.

Then in the mid-1980s, as the Dead’s creative output slowed and audiences grew, the band again began introducing covers from a wide assortment of artists. These ran from a fun, Brent Mydland-led “Little Bunny Foo Foo” in 1987 to The Beatles‘ “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” with Phil Lesh on vocals (’84–’86) and “Get Back” (1/28/87), Booker T. & the M.G.’s “Green Onions” (6/30/88), and Bob Marley‘s “Stir it Up” (3/26/88, 3/21/91).

Today, we’re looking back at a cover the Grateful Dead played five times over 17 years, with four of those versions occurring within the same month: “La Bamba”. The career-defining hit by the late Ritchie Valens—forever connected to fellow Grateful Dead influence Buddy Holly—was introduced to the Dead canon on November 11th, 1970, at the 46th St. Rock Palace in Brooklyn, NY. The surviving audience tape of the show is…rough, to put it mildly (the Internet Archive entry even notes, it “is recommended to the completists only”).

Coming out of a “Drums” segment and ensuing jam—well before “Drums” and “Space” became codified parts of the second set in the late ’70s—the band starts ramping up the Latin-tinged instrumental until Jerry Garcia belts out the titular refrain. The whole thing lasts a little over a minute and leads straight into The Rascals‘ “Good Lovin'”. After this show, the Dead would put “La Bamba” on the shelf for another 17 years, until it resurfaced in the same slot.

Fast forward to September 7th, 1987, and things were looking a bit different for the Grateful Dead. As opposed to the half-full Manhattan club on a Wednesday night, the Dead opened their fall tour with the first of three nights at Rhode Island’s Providence Civic Center.

The energy was already rapturous as Bob Weir riled up “Good Lovin'” to put an exclamation point on set two. As the song built to staggering heights, Jerry fired off the slinky main riff of “La Bamba” and the crowd erupted with applause as he hit the refrain, eliciting a continuous stream of roars that drowned out the entire first verse (and Garcia’s broken Spanish). Had they been able to hear, some may have noticed that Garcia deviated heavily from Valens’ actual lyrics, with accurate transcriptions still unavailable to this day. By the time the crowd had finally settled down, the band had transitioned back into “Good Lovin'” to close the show. But the Dead weren’t even close to done with “La Bamba”.

Akin to dad-style humor that suited the band members in their middle age, the Grateful Dead would run “La Bamba” into the ground in the weeks to come. Every single city on the 1987 fall East Coast tour (Providence; Landover, MD; New York, NY; and Philadelphia) saw the same movement of “Good Lovin'” > “La Bamba” > “Good Lovin'” to close the second set of one show. And every single time, the crowd erupted with applause.

By the time the Dead got to The Spectrum in Philly on September 23rd, the transition was as smooth as a freshly ironed bedsheet and Garcia’s Spanish—whatever he was singing—was perfecto. And then, just as the Grateful Dead had “La Bamba” mastered, they dropped it from the songbook completely, never to be seen again. Something about busting a cover out after 17 years, playing it to death for a month, and then ditching it entirely seems to perfectly summarize the humor of the Grateful Dead.

Check out all the Grateful Dead covers of “La Bamba” below.

Grateful Dead — 46th Street Rock Palace — New York, NY — 11/11/70 — Full Audio

[Audio: Jonathan Aizen]

Grateful Dead — Providence Civic Center — Providence, RI — 9/7/87 — Full Audio

[Audio: Jonathan Aizen]

Grateful Dead — Capital Centre — Landover, MD — 9/13/87 — Full Audio

[Audio: Jonathan Aizen]

Grateful Dead — Madison Square Garden — New York, NY — 9/18/87 — Full Video

[Video: Christopher Hazard]

Grateful Dead — The Spectrum — Philadelphia, PA — 9/23/87 — Full Audio

[Audio: Jonathan Aizen]