Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
"Pride of Man" – 4:08 (Hamilton Camp)
"Light Your Windows" – 2:38 (Gary Duncan, David Freiberg)
"Dino's Song" – 3:08 (Dino Valenti)
"Gold and Silver" – 6:43 (Gary Duncan, Steve Schuster)
Side two
"It's Been Too Long" – 3:01 (Ron Polte)
"The Fool" – 12:07 (Gary Duncan, David Freiberg)
Quicksilver Messenger Service Band Members / Musicians
John Cipollina - lead guitar
Gary Duncan - rhythm and lead guitar, vocals
David Freiberg - bass guitar, vocals, viola
Greg Elmore - drums
Quicksilver Messenger Service is the debut studio album of Quicksilver Messenger Service, released in 1968.
Quicksilver Messenger Service (sometimes credited as simply Quicksilver) are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band achieved wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, and several of their albums ranked in the Top 30 of the Billboard Pop charts. They were part of the new wave of album-oriented bands, achieving renown and popularity despite a lack of success with their singles (only one, "Fresh Air" charted, reaching number 49 in 1970). Though not as commercially successful as contemporaries Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their jazz and classical influences and a strong folk background, the band attempted to create an individual, innovative sound. Music historian Colin Larkin wrote: "Of all the bands that came out of the San Francisco area during the late '60s, Quicksilver typified most of the style, attitude and sound of that era."
Member Dino Valenti drew heavily on musical influences he picked up during the folk revival of his formative musical years. The style he developed from these sources is evident in Quicksilver Messenger Service's swing rhythms and twanging guitar sounds. After many years, the band has attempted to reform despite the deaths of several members. In 2009, original members Gary Duncan and David Freiberg toured as the Quicksilver Messenger Service, using various backing musicians.
Quicksilver Messenger Service Band Members / Musicians
David Freiberg – bass (1965-1971, 1975), rhythm guitar (2006–present), lead and backing vocals
Chris Smith − keyboards (2006–present)
Linda Imperial − backing and lead vocals (2006–present)
Donny Baldwin − drums (2008–present)
Peter Harris − rhythm and lead guitar, backing and lead vocals (2009–present)
Jude Gold − lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2012–present)
Steve Valverde − bass (2015–present)
John Cipollina – lead and rhythm guitar (1965-1971, 1975; died 1989)
Gary Duncan – rhythm and lead guitar, lead and backing vocals (1965-1969, 1969–1979, 1984–1996, 2006–2009; died 2019)
Greg Elmore – drums (1965-1979)
Jim Murray – rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals (1965-1967; died 2013)
Nicky Hopkins – keyboards (1969-1971; died 1994)
Dino Valenti – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar (1969-1979; died 1994)
Mark Naftalin – keyboards (1971-1972)
Mark Ryan – bass (1971-1972)
Harold Aceves – drums (1972-1975)
Chuck Steaks – keyboards (1972-1975)
Roger Stanton – bass (1972-1974)
Bob Flurie – bass (1974-1975)
W. Michael Lewis – keyboards (1975-1979, 1984–1996)
Skip Olsen – bass (1975-1979)
Sammy Piazza − drums (1986-1988)
Bobby Vega − bass (1988-1996, 2006–2007)
Greg Errico − drums (1988-1996)
John Bird − rhythm and lead guitar (1988-1996)
Prairie Prince − drums (2006-2008)
Keith Graves − bass (2007-2015)
Quicksilver Messenger Service Discography Full
1968 Quicksilver Messenger Service
1969 Happy Trails
1969 Shady Grove
1970 Just for Love
1970 What About Me
1971 Quicksilver
1972 Comin' Thru
1975 Solid Silver
Gary Duncan's Quicksilver
1986 Peace By Piece
1996 Shape Shifter Vols. 1 & 2
1998 Three in the Side
200 Shapeshifter Vols. 3 & 4
2006 Strange Trim
2008 Six String Voodoo
Live albums
1968 Smokin' Sound
1969 Happy Trails
1983 Maiden of the Cancer Moon
1997 Live at Fieldstone
2007 Live at the 7th Note
2008 Live 07
2009 Reunion (live at The Sweetwater, Mill Valley, CA)
2007 At the Kabuki Theatre (2-CD)
2008 Live at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 9th September 1966
2008 Live at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 28th October 1966
2008 Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, 4th February 1967
2008 Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, 6th February 1967
2008 Live at The Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, 4th April 1968
2009 Live at the Quarter Note Lounge, New Orleans, LA, July 1977
2013 Live at the Fillmore, June 7, 1968
2013 Live at The Old Mill Tavern - March 29, 1970
2013 Live at the Winterland Ballroom, December 1, 1973
2014 Fillmore Auditorium - November 5, 1966
2015 Cowboy On The Run (Live In New York) LP
2015 Live in San Jose - September 1966
2015 Fillmore Auditorium - February 5, 1967 Live
2015 Stony Brook College, New York 1970 Live
2016 Live Across America 1967-1977
2016 More Happy Trails 1969 - Live
Compilations
1968 Revolution (Movie Soundtrack) with Steve Miller Band and Mother Earth
1973 Quicksilver Anthology
1991 Sons of Mercury 1968-75
1999 Unreleased Quicksilver Messenger Service - Lost Gold and Silver
2002 Classic Masters
2009 Castles in the Sand (Studio Jam 1969/70)
Singles
1967 - "Pride of Man"
1968 - "Dino's Song"
1968 - "Stand By Me"
1969 - "Holy Moly"
1969 - "Who Do You Love"
1969 - "Shady Grove"
1970 - "Fresh Air"
1971 - "What About Me"
1971 - "I Found Love"
1972 - "Changes"
1975 - "Gypsy Lights"
