One of the first West Coast Bay Area groups, QMS
formed in San Francisco in 1965 and built up a big reputation in that
area from their free concerts. The original line-up comprised Jim Cippollina, Gary Duncan, Greg
Elmore and Dave Freiberg (who would go on to join Jefferson
Airplane).
While their contemporaries were being signed by major
labels and packed off to LA, this oft-overlooked band retreated into
the Frisco hills, lived on a ranch, dressed as cowboys and came at
The Grateful Dead with real guns. In
late 1967 they eventually signed with Capitol Records and recorded
their debut self-titled album.
With no obvious single, scan chart-action, and a muted
critical reaction, Capitol no doubt expected more from their
investment, though the album was a far subtler beast than that. Two
long, meticulously worked acid-rock excursions dominate the record,
giving it true art-rock kudos. Gold and Silver, a classically
inspired instrumental, showcases Cipollina and Duncan's guitar
sparring, with the former's bittersweet sustain becoming the band's
distinctive sound.
More meandering still is The Fool, an elegant
12-minute suite - almost ruined by a painful snatch of Freiberg
falsetto - that climaxes in a heap of controlled feedback. Elsewhere,
Dino's Song and Light Your Windows reveal the group's
folk-rock origins, and It's Been Too Long reveals the absence
of a distinctive vocalist (or songwriter for that matter).
Unlike most hippie bands from San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury
scene, Quicksilver Messenger Service were able to transfer their
wide-eyed on-stage sonic exploration successfully to the studio. Yet
the band would really wave the freak flag with their 1969 release, Happy
Trails - a mostly live set recorded at both Fillmore East and
West.
The opening track, a side-long workout of Bo Diddley's
Who Do You Love?, remains one of the most vibrant psychedelic jams
ever committed to wax. Broken into six parts, with the central four
each showcasing a different band member, the Who Do You Love? suite
conveys what it must have been like to be munching an apple, drinking
Kool-Aid and dancing until 4.00 AM at one of Bill Graham's colorful
parties. The record closes with the short farewell Happy Trails (TV
Cowboy Roy Rogers' signature tune).
The Happy Trails album reached the Top 30 in
the US and remains the clearest snapshot of the band at the height of
their improvisational powers.
