The psychedelic era produced it’s fair share of remarkable guitarists. Jimi Hendrix invigorated the blues with a cosmic twist. Jerry Miller of Moby Grape injected some country licks into his band’s early power pop masterpieces. Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead captivated the hippy generation with seemingly endless jamming marathons in legendary auditoriums like The Fillmore. One of the most singular talents and instantly recognisable players to emerge from this era was Quicksilver Messenger Service’s John Cipollina.
John Cipollina and Quicksilver Messenger Service were one of the house bands of the San Francisco acid rock scene. Their music is indubitably linked with this period, with flower-child lyrics and extended space-blues jams. The guitar playing of Cipollina was what really set them apart from the crowd though. The best phrase to describe his playing is left-of-centre. His style was a striking amalgamation of blues, jazz, classical and thumb-picked rock, all delivered with extensive wiggling of his Gibson SG’s whammy bar. His intense vibrato style would influence many future guitarists like Tom Verlaine, Nels Cline and Richard Thompson. Check out this video from Cipollina’s solo career. Please excuse the mooners near the start of video, they mean no harm.
Quicksilver is not one of the more celebrated bands from this period. This could be down to their inconsistent recorded legacy. Having said that, the band did produce some interesting music that is worth a listen. What makes most of their stuff interesting for me is Cipollina’s idiosyncratic guitar style, incorporating jazz and classical licks with a unique blues-rock vocabulary. He is one of Quicksilver’s signature tunes, Gold and Silver. The use of unusual time signatures and elongated instrumental sections make it an early example of jazz-rock.
Recommended Listening: Happy Trails – Quicksilver Messenger Service
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Some Top Quicksilver Moments: Who Do You Love, Mona, Gold and Silver.
