Quicksilver Messenger Service - Pride Of Man

 #Quicksilver Messenger Service #psychedelic rock #acid rock #folk rock #blues rock #psychedelic folk #San Francisco sound #1960s

Quicksilver Messenger Service was one of the most acclaimed San Francisco psychedelic rock groups from the 1960s. At its best, the band’s bluesy flights of fancy were propelled by the interplay between guitarists John Cipollina and Gary Duncan. Their origins lie in the folk and rock and roll scenes in San Francisco during the early 1960s, two musical circles that rarely mixed. Cipollina recalled in Guitar Player, “The folk scene was going strong in San Francisco in the early ‘60s, and rock and roll and electric guitars were pretty much identified with greasy hair, beer, and teenage trauma.” Folk singer and guitarist David Freiberg, intent on forming a band with New York folk singer Dino Valenti and singer Jim Murray, began playing with rock guitarist John Cipollina. Drummers came and went, and Freiberg switched to bass guitar. After Valenti was arrested for possession of marijuana in 1965, he was replaced by two members of the San Francisco rock group The Brogues, drummer Greg Elmore and guitarist Gary Duncan. Freiberg explained the origin of the band’s name in Rock Names: “Originally there were four Virgos in the band, and one Gemini. Of the four Virgos, there were only two birthdays: John and I were born on August 24, and Gary and Greg were born on September 4. The ruling planet for Virgo in astrology is Mercury, and it is for Gemini also. So in searching for a name, we said, ‘Well, let’s see - mercury’s the same as quicksilver, right? Mercury’s the messenger god? Quicksilver Messenger Service.’”  From: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/quicksilver-messenger-service

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Codine

 #Quicksilver Messenger Service #psychedelic rock #acid rock #folk rock #blues rock #psychedelic folk #San Francisco sound #1960s

One of the first West Coast groups, Quicksilver Messenger Service formed in San Francisco in 1965 and built up a big reputation in that area from their free concerts. The original line-up comprised John Cipollina, Jim Murray, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore and Dave Freiberg (who would go on to join Jefferson Airplane). Jim Murray left the group not long after they performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. The band then began a period of heavy touring on the West Coast of the US where they featured many times at both the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore West
Of all the great bands in San Francisco’s cosmic hall of fame, Quicksilver were the last to sign a record deal. Tired of waiting for singer Dino Valenti to get out of Folsom prison following a drug bust, they signed without him in late 1967 and recorded a decent but strangely subdued self-titled debut that only hinted at the majesty of the dual guitar work conjured by John Cipollina and Gary Duncan at their live shows.
The band decided to record the follow-up LP live at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West in San Francisco, although Capitol also recorded gigs at the Fillmore East. Half a dozen performances recorded in November 1968 at both venues provided the spine of the album that became Happy Trails. At the time, Quicksilver were living across the Golden Gate Bridge on a ranch in Mill Valley, where they staged acid-fuelled ‘cowboys and indians’ fights with The Grateful Dead. These shoot-outs inspired the artwork for the album and George Hunter of The Charlatans came up with the perfect image of the Old West for the front cover. The back featured pen-and-ink cowboy portraits of the band, like extras from a Wild West show.
Naming the LP after the Roy Rogers theme tune, they tricked drummer Greg Elmore into singing it in a cowboy drawl. Yet what preceded this campfire coda couldn’t have been more different. Side one featured a 20-minute psychedelic work-out on Bo Diddley‘s Who Do you Love? spliced together from different live shows, with two free-flowing guitars cross-stitching soaring arpeggios and stinging feedback. Side two offered more of the same, opening with a tumultuous version of Diddley‘s Mona, while the screaming lead guitar lines on the album’s only studio cut, Calvary, represented the band’s interpretation of the crucifixion. The track ends with the coming of the angels, before the spirit of Roy Rogers takes over. “We were really swacked out when we conceived that one,” Cipollina later confessed.  From: https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-q/quicksilver-messenger-service/