Jump to content

John Cipollina & QMS Appreciation Thread.


2pacHendrix

Recommended Posts

  • Members

This guitarist is seriously under-rated! Same with Quicksilver Messenger Service! I just bought Happy Trails and i love how raw and LIVE it sounds! Seriously it all seemed like one huge song. For those of you who are like "WFT!? Who is John Cipollina?" This might ring a bell;

ampStack01.jpg

 

I stopped using a pick because of him. You guys really should check him out! So in this thread post everything that you like about QMS and John Cipollina, favortie songs, bands he has been in, albums etc...

Here are some songs you should check out;

crW2O-xP0Sc&feature=related

ELOYLqW6iR4&feature=related

 

Here is his memorial site!

Wiki

 

Check 'em out if you like Hendrix and all that hippy stuff,

Happy Trails :wave:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I never saw Quicksilver, but one of my first concerts to Bill Graham's Winterland was Copperhead feat. John on lead guitar. Unbelievable!! Fantastic player.

 

Here's the line up that night:

 

Dave Mason (with, at that time, unknown Pointer Sisters on back up vocals)

 

Tower Of Power (2 weeks before the release of Bump City with my fav of all their singers Rick Stevens who only sang on this one album)

 

Copperhead with John Cipollina

 

Opening the show was Herbie Hancock

 

cost for ticket??? $2.50

 

the good ol days for sure

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I LOVE QMS! I listen to Happy Trails at least once a week. John Cipollina was a fantastic player, he's one of the reasons I fell in love with SG's and Bigsbys.

 

I wish Gary Duncan (the other guitarist) got more credit. I love his playing on that album too. I read in an interview that he was playing a 1946 Gibson L5 (with humbuckers and a soundpost installed) on that album. I feel like I can hear the air moving through the guitar on Happy Trails. I love when bands have two great lead guitarists.

 

It's too bad that they had Dino Valente join the band. I like Just For Love somewhat, but I prefer the lineup on the first two albums.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I never saw Quicksilver, but one of my first concerts to Bill Graham's Winterland was Copperhead feat. John on lead guitar. Unbelievable!! Fantastic player.


Here's the line up that night:


Dave Mason (with, at that time, unknown Pointer Sisters on back up vocals)


Tower Of Power (2 weeks before the release of Bump City with my fav of all their singers Rick Stevens who only sang on this one album)


Copperhead with John Cipollina


Opening the show was Herbie Hancock


cost for ticket??? $2.50


the good ol days for sure

 

 

I wish i was alive back in the late 60s/ early 70s

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Cipollina's playing on 'The Fool' from the QMS first album is probably among the first songs that really got me listening to lead guitar playing.

 

Word!

 

That first QMS LP really singed my brain hairs back then & to this day. Killer dual guitarists! :thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Always nice to see Cipollina and Quicksilver getting some love. I'm a big fan of both. I never got to see the original group, but have seen a couple splinter groups in recent years. In '98 I saw "Gary Duncan's Quicksilver" opening the show for the Jefferson Starship at the Fillmore. The band also included original member David Frieberg. They were good, although not incredible - not enough Quicksilver classics.

 

Then a few years later, at the 35th Anniversary of The Summer Of Love in SF, I saw a group called Quicksilver Gold. They were awesome and played all the old QSMS favorites. The group included Joli Valenti, the son of Dino Valenti, on vocals who sounded exactly like his dad, and Mario Cipollina (John's brother) on bass, who's played with a number of bands including Huey Lewis and The News. The band also featured a number of Bay area musicians from groups like the Jerry Garcia Band, Sly, Chaka Kahn, etc. They played all the songs you would want to hear from Quicksilver, and if you closed your eyes, it was like hearing the originals - just great! Also on the bill that day were Country Joe & The Fish, Canned Heat, Love w/ Arthur Lee, and best of all, It's A Beautiful Day!

 

But I sure would have loved to see the original group back in the day. I recently had an opportunity to have a recording session at my studio with Pete Sears who played with John Cipollina, as well as with Jefferson Starship, Rod Stewart and many others. He had some great stories about those days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

No that was a thread about unusual gear.

And in conclusion, Cipollina's gear wins
:thu:

 

Oh, okay then.

 

I think their first 2 albums are great. Pride of Man is one of my all time favorite songs. Happy Trails is one of the greatest complete albums ever. I've always been a big fan of Cipollina's playing. I got to see The Dead at the closing of Winterland New Years Eve show and I got to see John playing with The Dead on one of their many encores that night/morning. Good times!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I really learned a lot from Happy Trails, I copped a lot of hot lix from that album back in the early 70s.:thu:

 

I have an old Rolling Stone interview with Mike Bloomfield and QMS and Sons of Champlin were the only San Francisco groups that got any props from Bloomfield, the interview was from February, 1968.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 6 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...