If fans of late 1960s and early 70s San Francisco rock music listed their favorites, chances are Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and The Grateful Dead would be close to the top rankings. Perhaps Moby Grape and Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band would squeeze in there too.
One band also captured the spirit and sound of San Francisco but has largely been forgotten: Quicksilver Messenger Service. Decades later, unearthing their eclectic musical offerings brings many surprises.
Quicksilver Messenger Service’s history reveals some clues as to why they’ve gone missing. They never had a top 40 single and achieved only moderate success with album sales, though four of their albums were in the US top thirty. They didn’t play Woodstock, and while they performed at the famous Monterey Festival in 1967, they weren’t featured in D.A. Pennebaker’s film of that landmark event.
Missing out on these key opportunities didn’t help, nor did having a volatile, ever-changing lineup. The internal relations were exceptionally hostile. In Philip Dodd’s The Book of Rock, QMS guitarist John Cipollina gave a chilling account of working with singer Dino Valenti. Cipollina said, “Dino and I have a perfect arrangement: when Dino’s in the band I’m not.”
Along with Valenti and Cipollina, QMS’s classic core lineup included Gary Duncan, David Frieberg, Gregory Elmore, and legendary pianist Nicky Hopkins. QMS’s talents are on full display in releases including Quicksilver Messenger Service, Happy Trails, Shady Grove, Just For Love, What About Me, Quicksilver, Comin’ Thru, and Solid Silver.
Exploration of these albums is well worth it, but to get a wonderful banquet of QMS music, seek out the compilation QMS Anthology.
This collection kicks off with “Pride of Man,” “Dino’s Song,” and “The Fool.” Only three songs fill the whole side, but it’s a great introduction to the band. The first two songs are sunshine pop coupled with a folk-tinged groove. “Dino’s Song” is immensely catchy, written by Valenti, but not sung by him. Valenti, who grew up as “Chester William Powers, Jr.” and used the name “Jesse Oris Farrow” for songwriting credit, wrote many songs for QMS, but not all. His song “Get Together” was later made famous by The Youngbloods.
Side 2 has “Bears,” “Mona” and one of the oddest names for a song, “Edward, The Mad Shirt Grinder,” a Nicky Hopkins piano-driven instrumental. It may have a silly name, but Hopkins’ keyboard artistry and skills are on full display.
Side 3 features “Three Or Four Feet From Home,” “Fresh Air,” “Just For Love,” “Spindrifter,” and “Local Color.” All of these songs deserve their place in this fine anthology, but “Fresh Air” and “Spindrifter” are highlights.
“Fresh Air” got FM radio airplay and is best known for its classic line, “Have another hit…of FRESH AIR!”
“Spindrifter” is a moody jazz instrumental, which ranks amongst Hopkins’ finest compositions. Tyler Golsen of Far Out wrote, “Hopkins found that the strict discipline of classical music didn’t have to contradict his love of rollicking rock and roll. Instead, he could fuse them together to create a new style of piano playing that let technical brilliance and deep knowledge of music theory shine through.” Listen to it and try to come up with a more captivating piece of music.
Side 4 finishes with “What About Me,” “Don’t Cry My Lady Love,” “Hope,” “Fire Brothers” and “I Found Love”. QMS could slide from pop to rock then to country, all in the same song. These last five songs showcase that ability.
QMS’s recording career is well represented by Anthology. They were a curious band. On the one hand, they were a self-indulgent hippie band singing about sex, love, and saving the environment. On the other, they were a group of highly skilled musicians that produced breathtakingly beautiful songs. Their music from 1967-1971 should be treasured.
-Vincent Maganzini
Photo: QMS, 1970 From left-John Cipollina, Greg Elmore, Nicky Hopkins and David Freiberg. (public domain)
Nice to see you recognize this great band. “Happy Trails” is a West Coast rock classic, Cipollina a distinctive guitarist. Along with Moby Grape, they deserve more attention. (But wasn’t Capt. Beefheart Southern California-based, not San Fran?)
QMS was one of my all-time favorite ever bands. Until Dino Valenti got involved. John Cipolina was an amazing guitarist. The live version of Mona is such a great song
Thanks for the comment. I find ALL their stuff amazing. They were eclectic and should rank up there with Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds. I guess fans will like somethings more than others, but it’s hard not to love “Fresh Air” and “What About Me”, which features the frenemies Cipollina and Valenti.
Some of us involved with the production of concerts and dances in the SF Bay Area in the late 60s and 70s referred to that iteration as “Dino and the Quicksilvers”.
Both musically and personally, not a fan of him.
QMS certainly had it’s share of colorful talented musicians. Valenti was a definitely polarizing factor. Thanks for the comment!
QMS and Moby Grape definitely made amazing music and both deserve more attention. It’s true that Capt. Beefheart was more of a Southern California group, and they did not even get included on wonderful SF box set “Love Is The Song We Sing”. They did however play the Avalon Ballroom(along with the Charlatans) in San Francisco. Check out the colorful poster of them listed at the Fillmore billed with The Chocolate Watch Band. They also played The Boarding House in SF. Maybe I should have added It’s A Beautiful Day instead? Thanks for the comment!
I have read that one of the main reasons QMS didn’t get the recognition they deserved is that they didn’t release their first album until May 1968 – a year or more after all the other big SF-area groups. Evidently they were holding out for a better contract, but they really bit themselves on the nose with that tactic.
Yes that’s a great point! I think that definitely effected their career. Another big obstacle was the drug busts that sidelined band members. Pot smokers got thrown in jail. T’was a different time.
Happy Trails, the band’s greatest album, was under represented on Anthology because of the length of the songs therein. When Gary Duncan left in 1969, the band’s sound changed irrevocably and a certain magic was lost. I’m fond of all of their studio albums but the first two are the ones responsible for the glowing reputation they still enjoy today among aficionados of SF music.
Check out some of the many live releases dating from 1967/68 to sample some of the jams responsible for their elevated reputation. Particularly the double LP Maiden of the Cancer Moon and the 2CD set, Live At The Fillmore June 7, 1968…
Thanks for the recommendations! QSM had talent to spare for sure. Happy Trails was pre-Hopkins!
I saw them in June of 1966 and many times afterwards. I love John’s style and I had the same guitar, a Gibson SG, that he played.
I loved Gary Frieberg’s strong voice, also.
Gary’s jazzy style leads, strong vocals and stage presence really added to the group.
Gregs drumming was very strong. I was fortunate to be able to jam with him at my house in Carmel in 1990.
When Dino joined he seemed arrogant and his voice was to nazally for my liking. It seemed like the band lost their original style once he joined. Then John and Gary quit and it seemed they slowly went downhill losing a lot of their original fanbase.
The changing of the line up definitely had career and musical consequences. QMS have a history that deserves more examination. I think the anthology reveals their eclectic musical skills and is a great place to start. That’s amazing that you got to experience them in the 1960s. Thanks for the comment!