QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - Avalon Ballroom, Sept. 09/66 CD

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Quicksilver Messenger Service is considered to be one of the most important bands to come from the San Francisco music scene of the sixties along with their contemporaries The Grateful Dead and The Jefferson Airplane.

The band initially came together in 1965 and proceeded to play a great many gigs across America.

The band became one of the most popular draws in the Bay area of San Francisco and built a solid reputation as a strong live act built around a mixture of good material and what would essentially become their calling card long extended jamming pieces.. The original line up was guitarists John Cippolina and Gary Duncan alongside drummer Greg Elmore, bassist David Frieberg and vocalist Jim Murray. Originally vocalist Dino Valenti was also in line to become a member however he was arrested and jailed on drugs charges whilst the band was still in its formative stages. He did however join the band at a later date. The original line up lasted from the bands inception in late 1965 until they signed with Capitol Records in late 1967. Just before the band signed to Capitol Jim Murray left the band and the band elected not to replace him

The bands debut album the self title Quicksilver Messenger Service was released in May 1968 and was an eclectic affair including key songs that still stand up to scrutiny forty years later. The album includes Pride of Man, Dino’s Song (Written by Valenti), Gold and Silver and the extended song The Fool.

The following year the band released what many consider to be their best album. Entitled Happy Trails the album broke into the top 30 and included a side long suite of songs based around the Bo Diddley song Who Do You Love. Happy Trails also included another Diddley song Mona and also the Gary Duncan composed Calvary. The album set the seal on the bands reputation as one of the key bands of the time and certainly one of the key bands to come from the San Francisco music scene. Shortly after the release of Happy Trails however Gary Duncan departed and he was replaced by English keyboard player Nicky Hopkins. With this line up the band recorded Shady Grove which was another top thirty success for the band.

By the time of the 1970 release Just For Love Gary Duncan had returned and Dino Valenti also joined up. Further albums including What About Me (1970), Quicksilver (1971) and Comin’ Through (1972) were released although by the time of the Quicksilver album both Frieberg and Cippolina had gone.

The band folded in 1973 although there was a reunion in 1975 and an album entitled Solid Silver. The band reformed in 2006 led by Gary Duncan and David Frieberg and they have continued to perform regularly since then sometimes alongside Jefferson Starship. John Cippolina, Dino Valenti and Nicky Hopkins have all subsequently died and the current whereabouts of Greg Elmore are unknown.

This early period performance of the band was captured at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco on the 9th of September 1966.The Avalon Ballroom was one of the most important venues in San Francisco operated by Chet Helms and his Family Dog Productions. Amongst the highlights here are the songs Pride of Man which would grace the bands debut album some eighteen months later and also Mona a key track from the 1969 album Happy Trails. Two other tracks heavily associated with Quicksilver Messenger Service also find their way into the et and they are Babe I’m Gonna Leave You and Codeine. There is also a twenty minute plus version of Hoochie Coochie Man which highlights the musical interplay of the band and their jamming skills.