expand Quicksilver Messenger Service

Even the band can't agree on their origins other than it was 1965 in San Francisco. The band kicked it on the West Coast for two years, building up a following and resisting the urge to sign any recording contracts.  They finally signed with Capitol who had missed the boat and hadn't found a hippie band yet.  This did allow them to negotiate better contracts than a lot of their peers.  

Their first two albums, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Happy Trails are a great representation of the San Francisco sound "in its purest form".  The later, or Hawaiian albums as they are sometimes called, were much more successful even if the band was now just a backing act for Dino Valente who wrote most of the songs.  Just For Love and What About Me? sounded nothing like the original band, alienated scads of fans, and yielded their one big hit 'Fresh Air'.  Nicky Hopkins, John Cippolina, and David Freiberg bailed out before the last two albums came out.

RDC

A friend of mine was working as a laborer on a roofing job. The song "Fresh Air" by Quicksilver came on. A guy sitting on the roof nailing said "there's another penny for my lawyer and the ex-wife." nv
  • Kurt Page Quicksilver rules! From "Pride of Man" on.
Live KSAN 1968. Love those sinewy leads. nv
Okay, Quicksilver fans, and there appears to be a few of you, the vocals start off a little dodgy but improve a couple of verses in. So here they are at Monterey Pop Festival. It's giving me goosebumps....hearing this and seeing all those stoned out hippies..............great performance by the the band.....................nv
While rummaging around the Quicksilver vids on Youtube I found this. There is no info on when or where but it is interesting even though I have yet to ingest enough lucky charms and peach brandy to catch up with the laid back feel of this post. Perhaps I should switch to kahlua and cocoa puffs.................nv
Seeing John Cipollina sing is about as rare as an honest politician. It was great in San Francisco in the late seventies into the eighties seeing various permutations of John's various bands around town in small clubs. The person who uplo
aded this said that no matter how small the venue John made it magic. So here are the Dinosaurs! There are also some Terry & The Pirates and his other bands floating around on Youtube. nv
John Cipollina & Dinosaurs Motel Party Baby.mp4
For those who love the world of real music

Terry Dolan, John Cipollina, Greg Douglass, David Hayes & Greg Elmore grooving somewhere. I imagine there were a lot of people that saw these offshoot bands and never had a clue..................nv

It wouldn't be right to bypass Mona, now would it? I passed a lot of mics with this tune in the day......nv

The descriptor says "A soulful plead from the 1971 album Quicksilver. Great tune! nv

go forth and irritate................have a nice day..................................nv
  • Terry Greene Don't stop. They were SO great. Yep, memories of sweet breezes blowing through a Haight Ashbury window...

so much good stuff................it's hard to stop! nv
A friend of mine was working as a laborer on a roofing job. The song "Fresh Air" by Quicksilver came on. A guy sitting on the roof nailing said "there's another penny for my lawyer and the ex-wife." nv
  • Kurt Page Quicksilver rules! From "Pride of Man" on.
Live KSAN 1968. Love those sinewy leads. nv
It wouldn't be right to bypass Mona, now would it? I passed a lot of mics with this tune in the day......nv
Mona (1969) - Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service with an outstanding outdoor performance in 1969. From Ralph J. Gleason's "Go Ride the Music" produced for KQED. This excerpt is...

The descriptor says "A soulful plead from the 1971 album Quicksilver. Great tune! nv

go forth and irritate................have a nice day..................................nv
  • Terry Greene Don't stop. They were SO great. Yep, memories of sweet breezes blowing through a Haight Ashbury window...
so much good stuff................it's hard to stop! nv
have a nice weekend padnuhs...............see ya round