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The first studio recording by the San Francisco band, Quicksilver Messenger Service, simply entitled, "Quicksilver Messenger Service", is extraordinary. The album had become one of the best examples of acid-rock that was recorded in the Bay Area during the city's golden age of psychedelia in the late 1960s. The album only included six (6) songs, but each song is a gem, and the album as a whole was well produced. While listening to this album, one must take special note here of the exceptional guitar playing by John Cippolina, one of the band's two lead guitarists. His guitar playing on this particular album was one reason he became a true San Francisco legend. If only the band had had an opportunity, and the time, to record more gems, let alone another entire studio album, with this line-up. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
Although the release of the band's first studio album in May of 1968 came late when the release date was compared with the release dates of the first studio albums for their colleagues across town, namely, The Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, the album, "Quicksilver Messenger Service", turned out to be a better first-time studio effort than the albums for their counterparts--the album was more polished and refined, and more importantly, the album has stood the test of time well. In this regard, Quicksilver Messenger Service was far ahead of their colleagues at that time in terms of releasing quality studio recordings. The Jefferson Airplane, for instance, released their first studio album, "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off", two years earlier in September of 1966, but The Airplane still had to go through personnel changes before the band found its "winning formula" with Grace Slick, on vocals, Jack Casady, on bass, and Spencer Dryden, on drums.
Take a listen to the six(6) songs on this album. It is well worth the time. You will quickly grasp the intensity in the band's playing on each and every song on the album, especially the intense two-lead-guitar interplay between Gary Duncan and John Cippolina, and you will also hear the passion in their singing. Gary Duncan, the guitarist, and David Freiberg, the bassist, take turns on the album singing lead. After listening to these songs, you will probably agree that the quartet at that time was serious about making a long-lasting impression upon San Francisco's music scene. You may even find a song or two on the album that will send a tingle up your spine. Yes, the songs on the group's first studio album are that good, and more importantly, they have stood the test of time.
This album was a one-of-a-kind studio recording by the band because the line-up on this album would never reenter a recording studio again! And, that was a significant and a sad fact in the band's history. Nonetheless, I compare with confidence the quality of the music on this album with some of the best music that rock history has had to offer--the album is on par in excellence with the first albums from well-known bands of the era such as The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and King Crimson. This is no overstatement on my part because each one of these albums made a significant mark in rock history.
It is worthy to note here that the band contributed two(2) songs to the soundtrack of a film entitled, "Revolution", released in 1968, the same year that the band released its first studio album. The film focused on the counter-culture movement at that time that was being adopted by many of the young of the day, especially following the infamous Summer of Love(1967). The band contributed the following songs to the film's soundtrack (and both of these songs did not appear on band's first studio album): "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" (a wonderful song that appeared, the following year, on Led Zeppelin's first studio album with a very different texture, a monumental album, by the way, that changed the landscape of rock music forever!) and "Codeine", a song written by Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Sometime later but before the band reentered a recording studio to work on its follow-up studio album, "Shady Grove", the band saw the temporary departure of Gary Duncan--one can only surmise what may have become of the band had it remained a quartet, especially through the summer of the following year when the mega-festival of Woodstock in New York State changed so much for so many rock groups. As a result, the remaining members of the band recruited Nicky Hopkins, the legendary British keyboardist, to replace him in the line-up. Nicky Hopkins added wonderful texture to the band's songs. However, upon Gary Duncan's subsequent return to the band, not only did Nicky Hopkins remain with the band, but Gary Duncan's friend, Dino Valente, joined the band as well. The band at this point in its history recorded the fine, twin-albums, "Just For Love" and "What About Me", but the good times would soon end. Mr. Valente's presence in the band eventually caused an internal rift and the exit in rapid succession of three (3) key members of the band. These personnel departures had dire consequences for the band, and they led to the demise of a once-stellar San Francisco band.
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Reviews with images
Wrong CD in the sleeve, twice.
CD in the sleeve does not match the one shown in the thumbnails on this page. Both were bought from Amazon New. This one is shipping back on their dime, again.
Top reviews from other countries
Paul Huston
Cómpra este disco: es una obra maestra.
Reviewed in Spain on November 23, 2023
