Happy Trails

Performer: Quicksilver Messenger Service
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Quicksilver Messenger Service: John Cipollina, Gary Duncan, Greg Elmore, David Freiberg. If the quintessential San Francisco Sound is defined by lengthy improvised guitarwork and near-telepathic interplay, then HAPPY TRAILS crystallizes the genre on record. Extemporizing mightily two Bo Diddley songs ("Who Do You Love" and "Mona," the quartet introduces new realms of expression to rock music. Guitarists John Cipollina and Gary Duncan offer contrasting textures and sound, goading each other to greater heights. Largely recorded live in concert, HAPPY TRAILS encapsulates an era of experimentation, employing images that embodied the outlaw chic of the hippie subculture. Its strengths are not, however, bound to that era; the album's mesmerizing power remains as true as ever. The George Hunter cover painting is also indispensible.

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) - Ranked #44 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records". Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.136) - Ranked #189 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" Rolling Stone (5/3/69) - "...It begins with an entire side dedictated to Bo Diddley's `Who Do You Love,' superbly recorded at the Fillmores East and West...a beautiful example of the kind of communication rock'n'roll is all about..." -Greil Marcus

Along with the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service were one of the first and best of the San Francisco '60s psychedelic bands. Though they shared with their peers an improvisational bent and eclectic roots in blues, jazz, folk, and rock, what helped set them apart was the distinctive twin-guitar work of John Cipollina and Gary Duncan, two virtuosic players. When New York singer-songwriter Dino Valenti became their frontman, their sound became more accessible and they scored a couple of minor hits before disbanding in the mid-'70s.

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