The Quicksilver Messenger Service (hence referred to as QMS because I type slowly) was one the psychedelic bands from San Fransisco that formed in the 1960s. The history of them is sort of obscure, because few documented sources are available, but there is some information available.
Like many bands, particularly American ones, at the time, their lineup changed often. The origin is sort of obscure, but as best as can be pieced together it was the brainchild of the following musicians.
Antenote: I apologize for not posting Pique the Geek last week, but I had a HORRIBLE case of seasonal allergy and my head was feeling like it was ready to explode. I am much better now, and I encourage everyone to tune in here Sunday evening at 9:00 Eastern for a discussion of what MIGHT be a serious health threat from soft drinks. I have not finished the research for the post, but you know that I will present a scientific analysis of the topic.
The founders seem to be Dino Valente, John Cipollina, Gary Duncan, and Jim Murray. However, there is controversy about whether or not Valente was involved, because just before the band came together, he was arrested and gaoled for pot, and spent more of less two years in confinement. But the band did form, with no name.
There are many connexions between QMS and bands like The Jefferson Airplane and The Greatful Dead, much too numerous to cite here. Let it suffice to say that San Francisco in the mid to late 1960's was one of two stars in a binary system of the evolution ofrock and roll, the other one being in London. (The four lads from Liverpool, just across the bay from my paternal grandparents' town went to London for most of their recordings).
In any event, QMS became quite popular in San Francisco by 1967. They even played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 (here is All I ever Wanted to Do from that festival), and The Who (hey, you all know that The Who will always turn up in a music post by me) were also there. But The Who had already noticed a future member of QMS, in the person of Nicky Hopkins, a Brit. But I am getting ahead of myself. I will say, however, that Hopkins was the "keyboard guy" for The Who from around 1965 at least until 1973 for their studio work.
But the band still did not have an official name. One evening the guys were passing lots of joints and thought about it (by the way, imprisonment for pot possession plagued the band for years, the founder Valente not joining them until 1969 after incarceration) and realized that many of them had astrological signs governed by the planet Mercury. After another couple of tokes, as I imagine, someone suggested that the old name for the element mercury was quicksilver. As a scientific aside, the modern symbol for mercury is Hg, from the Latin hydrargyrum, using the combining the forms of hydr, meaning watery or especially runny, and argyrum, that meaning silver.
I can only speculate whence came the Messenger Service came, but would guess that they thought that they some message to say, and wanted to tell it quickly. Please correct me if you have better information.
Finally, in 1968 they issued their first record album, Quicksilver Messenger Service. Actually, it sort of forgettable, containing only six songs. Likely the most memorable is Dino's Song sent to the band members whilst Valente was is the gaolhouse. That is a cut from 1969. On the actual record album, there were three different bands. It turns out that San Fransisco bands were quite volatile at the time, and personnel often just got up and left.
Interestingly, they performed with the original Steve Miller Band in or around that time. The Steve Miller Band was probably the last of the SF ones to gain any fame or money, and then blew it with the very stupid Abracadabra. But this is not a post about them. However, that song was such an ignominious conclusion to a brilliant career that I should mention that when I was in graduate school (the song was popular at the time), several of us, including my professor, rewrote the lyrics to read Have a Cadaver. The results of "reaching up an grab[ing] her" were chunks of decaying flesh, like the song was. But, I must admit to digression.
QMS released another record album, Happy Trails, in 1969. It was almost all Bo Diddley stuff, that was very popular at the time, after The Who's Magic Bus sensational single (you just might get used to me to refer to The Who, because they were GREAT!). It was pretty popular, and made them a little money. But they were not quite as we remember them now. However, if you were not a Deadhead and did not know that this is QMS, you would agree that Garcia was playing.
The next era came when the band changed dramatically. In 1969 they added Nicky Hopkins, likely to the keyboard as Keith Moon was to the drums. I will have more to say about Nicky's tragic life later. He was as good as one gets on keyboards, especially with the piano, but he was also good on organ. Their first record album with him was Shady Grove, and here is the title song. Note the keyboards, which had never before been in QMS.
But it still sounded like QMS, even with keyboards. Here is a bit of Nicky Hopkins playing with The Who. On their initial record album, The Who Sing My Generation, he played essentially a trio with Moon and Entwisle, a instrumental call The Ox, and Entwistle kept that name until he died. Is is wonderful. Here it is. That is not Pete on guitar, it is John using his most treble string to sound like a fairly low register on guitar. He even got the feedback right.
Here is a more mature Nicky Hopkins playing with The Who. It is from Quadrophenia from 1973. I hope that you like it. Hopkins was brilliant. This cut is called Drowned, and is perhaps one of The Who's top five creations, the very top one being We Don't Get Fooled Again. We can discuss that another time.
Interestingly, the song that most folks think of when they remember QMS is What about Me? It is hauntingly beautiful, and probably is the band's signature song, but there are so many other excellent ones as well. It was a record album as well as the title single, and Nicky was done after that record. Nicky had been ill all of his life, and as I said, I will go into some detail about that later.
What about Me is quite different from the early sounds of QMS, but is excellent. Please do not judge them for this single song. It is, in my opinion, overproduced, and makes their roots bare. I like the song, but it sounds too much like the "Wall of Sound" that Phil Spector liked. Personally, I preferred the older cuts from The Quicksilver Messenger Service.
They had some minor sucesses later, but none like in their heyday. They became a shell of themselves later, and the most success that they had was to recreate their earlier, better songs. Please do not take this as my being ugly to them. They evolved, but, for my taste, the evolution went in the wrong direction.
Duncan and Freiburg are still touring using the QMS name, and I think that they have the right to use it. I have never seen one of their concerts, but good on them if they can make a living with the name, since they created it in a sense. But it is not the same, nor are only Pete and Roger touring as The Who. Mere shells of the originals, we still should cherish what is left of them.
Sadly, Nicky Hopkins had Crohn's disease about all of his life. This is a very serious inflammatory bowel disorder that not only causes pain and horrible diarrhea, it also makes, in many cases, surgery necessary to disconnect fistulae that form between unrelated parts of the bowel. Nickey died in 1994 from complications after a surgical procedure that was to help him. No one is sure about the etiology of this disorder, but one school of thought is that is an infection. Anyone with better information, please comment.
Well, this adventure is over except for the comments and corrections and additions that I cherish. I shall post a new poll for the next band that you want. This series is completely dependent on reader comment, and if I do not get at least 100 I will abandon it. Pique the Geek, on the other hand, is a labor of love from me, and even if I get two comments, I shall continue it, but obviously I would like more.
UPDATE: the results are in now, and Arthur Brown is next for examination. I do not think that you will be disappointed, because almost everyone knows at least one of his songs. I have three vinyl copies of his first album, two on Atlantic, and one on Track Records. Anyone remember who (hint, hint) owned Track records?
Warmest regards,
Doc
Crossposted at Docudharma.com