Quicksilver Messenger Service: Studio and contemporary live albums 1968 - 1975 Part 2.

Gary Duncan and Dino Valenti both returned to Quicksilver Messenger Service, expanding the group to

a six-piece. The next two albums, "Just for Love" and "What About Me", were recorded simultaneously in Hawaii. Much of "What About Me" was recorded at Pacific High Recording in San Francisco, and both albums were mixed at Pacific High.
                              

The band's approach to recording was undisciplined, with Valenti hiring a building without electricity to

record in. The finished albums took many hours in the studio because the group had a contract which allowed unlimited studio time with no Capitol producer present unless invited. The producer was only invited to the studio to hear the playing of the finished albums.
                      

The albums are a departure from the group's earlier sound, with Valenti taking over as lead singer

and, under the pseudonym of Jesse Oris Farrow, principal songwriter. The records sold relatively well and produced the group's one hit radio single, "Fresh Air." John Cipollina and Nicky Hopkins departed soon after their experiences in Hawaii. Hopkins apparently left during the Hawaii recording sessions, as founding Paul Butterfield Blues Band keyboardist Mark Naftalin takes his place for three cuts on What About Me.
                              

The band continued with the lineup of Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore, Dino Valenti and David Freiberg until September 1971, when Freiberg was jailed for marijuana possession; he was replaced by Mark

Ryan. Following his recent session contributions, Naftalin joined the band in earnest. This lineup recorded two commercially unsuccessful albums ("Quicksilver" [1971; No. 114] and "Comin' Thru" [1972; No. 134]) that left the group without a recording contract. Duncan's "Doin' Time in the USA" from the latter album enjoyed a modicum of FM radio play at the time, while the Quicksilver track "Fire Brothers" was later covered by 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell's This Mortal Coil on Filigree and Shadow (1986).
                              

Solid Silver is the last Quicksilver album to fit into the group's original time line -- although this was really a reunion rather than an actual continuation of their previous work, reestablishing however

briefly the classic core lineup of Dino Valente, John Cipollina, David Freiberg, Greg Elmore, and Gary Duncan. And the results are impressive, even at times glorious and soaring, and not just on Valente's compositions, which fill six of the ten slots on the album. His work is as good as ever, and the haunting "Cowboy on the Run" was practically worth the price of the album.
                        

Most of the album represents a latter-day folk-rock (or blues-rock) cum acid sound, not too far removed

from the virtuoso levels achieved earlier in the decade by the Jefferson Airplane, with the members fairly playing their hearts out here like it's as urgent as any of their classic late-'60s recordings. But perhaps that also explains the album's commercial failure -- released in 1975, it sounds as though it's caught in a time warp about six or seven years in the past, which for some listeners was exactly where the band and its sound belonged.

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - WHAT ABOUT ME  1970 

 
                      

Quicksilver Messenger Service – What About Me
Label: BGO Records – BGOCD58
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 1990
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                    

01. What About Me
Written-By – Jesse Oris Farrow
02. Local Color
Written-By – John Cipollina
03. Baby Baby
Written-By – Jesse Oris Farrow
04. Won't Kill Me
Written-By – David Freiberg
05. Long Haired Lady
Written-By – Jesse Oris Farrow
06. Subway
Written-By – Jesse Oris Farrow
07. Spindrifter
Written-By – Nicky Hopkins
08. Good Old Rock And Roll
Written-By – Jesse Oris Farrow
09. All In My Mind
Written-By – Gary Duncan, Jesse Oris Farrow
10. Call On Me
Written-By – Jesse Oris Farrow
                   

Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Ron Taormina
Congas, Percussion, Vocals – Jose Rico Reyes
Drums, Percussion – Greg Elmore
Guitar, Bass, Vocals – David Freiberg
Guitar, Percussion – John Cipollina
Guitar, Vocals, Percussion – Dino Valenti
Piano – Mark Naftalin (tracks: 1, 3, 10), Nicky Hopkins (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 7 to 9)
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Morin
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Flute – Martine Fierro
Trombone – Pat O'Hara
Trumpet – Ken Balzell
Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Organ, Percussion – Gary Duncan

MP3 @ 320 Size: 115 MB
Flac  Size: 308 MB

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - QUICKSILVER  1971

 
        

Quicksilver Messenger Service – Quicksilver
Label: BGO Records – BGOCD217
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK
Released: 1994
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                       

01. Hope    3:02
02. I Found Love    3:56
03. Song For Frisco    4:59
04. Play My Guitar    4:38
05. Rebel (Arranged By – Dino Valenti/Written-By – Trad.)   2:03
06. Fire Brothers    3:12
07. Out Of My Mind    4:34
08. Don't Cry My Lady Love    5:12
09. The Truth    6:59

MEMBERS

                        

Bass – Mark Ryan
Keyboards – Chuck Steaks
Liner Notes [1993] – John Tobler
Performer – Dino Valenti, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore
Written-By – Dino Valenti (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9), Gary Duncan (tracks: 2, 6)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 105 MB
Flac  Size: 287 MB

QUICSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - COMIN' THRU  1972

 
                 

Quicksilver Messenger Service – Comin' Thru
Label: BGO Records – BGOCD88
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 1991
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                  

01. Doin' Time In The U.S.A.   4:15
Written-By – Gary Duncan
02. Chicken   4:03
Arranged By – Valenti/Written-By – Trad.
03. Changes   4:15
Written-By – Dino Valenti
04. California State Correctional Facility Blues   6:10
Written By – Valenti-Duncan-Elmore-Steaks/Written-By – Steaks, Valenti, Duncan, Elmore
05. Forty Days   5:31
Written-By – Valenti, Duncan, Elmore
06. Mojo   5:34
Written-By – Dino Valenti
07. Don't Lose It   5:57
Written-By – D. Valenti, G. Duncan

MEMBERS

                               

  
Bass – Mark Ryan
Drums – Greg Elmore
Guitar, Vocals – Gary Duncan
Organ – Chuck Steaks
Saxophone – Don Menza (tracks: 3, 6, 7), Sonny Lewis (tracks: 5)
Trombone – Charles Loper (tracks: 3, 6, 7), Pat O'Hara (tracks: 5)
Trumpet – Bud Brisbois (tracks: 3, 6, 7), Dalton Smith (tracks: 3, 6, 7), Ken Baizell (tracks: 5)
Vocals, Guitar, Congas – Dino Valenti

MP3 @ 320 Size: 93 MB
Flac  Size: 236 MB

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - SOLID SILVER  1975

 
                    

Quicksilver Messenger Service – Solid Silver
Label: Edsel Records – EDCD 376
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 1993
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Classic Rock

TRACKS

                        

01. Gypsy Lights   3:41
Backing Vocals – Dino Valenti/Organ – Michael Lewis
02. Heebie Jeebies   4:14
Backing Vocals – Gary Duncan/Vocals, Steel Guitar [Hawaiian] – John Cipollina
03. Cowboy On The Run   3:13
Acoustic Guitar – Gary Duncan
04. I Heard You Singing   3:44
Vocals – David Freiberg
Written-By – David Freiberg, Robert Hunter
05. Worrying Shoes    3:24
06. The Letter   4:02
Steel Guitar [Pedal] – Gary Duncan
07. They Don't Know   3:51
Acoustic Guitar [Vso] – Gary Duncan
08. Flames   4:17
Bass – Mario Cipollina
Guitar [Drone & Feedback] – John Cipollina
09. Witches' Moon   2:59
Guitar [Harmony Guitar] – Gary Duncan, John Cipollina
10. Bittersweet Love   4:21
Lead Guitar [Open Tuned], Rhythm Guitar – John Cipollina

MEMBERS

                              

Acoustic Guitar – Dino Valenti (tracks: 3, 9)
Art Direction – Roy Kohara
Backing Vocals – David Freiberg (tracks: 1, 7), David Freiberg (tracks: 1, 7), Kathi McDonald (tracks: 1, 4, 6, 7, 10)
Bass – David Freiberg (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10), Skip Olson (tracks: 3, 5)
Coordinator [Project Co-ordinator] – Ron Umile
Drums – Greg Elmore
Engineer – George Engfer, Mike Fusaro, Phil Brown, Tom Lubin
Guitar – Dino Valenti (tracks: 4, 9), Gary Duncan (tracks: 4, 8), John Cipollina (tracks: 4, 6)
 Lead Guitar – Gary Duncan (tracks: 1, 5 to 7, 9, 10), John Cipollina (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 8, 9)
Piano – Nicky Hopkins (tracks: 2, 3), Pete Sears (tracks: 4, 6, 9), Michael Lewis (tracks: 5, 7, 10)
Producer – John Palladino, Quicksilver
Rhythm Guitar – Gary Duncan (tracks: 1, 2, 5 to 7, 10)
Synthesizer [Arp] – Michael Lewis (tracks: 3, 7, 9)
Vocals – Dino Valenti (tracks: 3, 5, 6, 8, 10), Gary Duncan (tracks: 1, 7)
Written-By – Dino Valenti (tracks: 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), Gary Duncan (tracks: 1, 7, 10), John Cipollina (tracks: 2, 8)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 96 MB
Flac  Size: 249 MB