Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968)
Quicksilver Messenger Service's debut is an album I'm largely unfamiliar with, despite having a long history with the follow up Happy Trails. It's one of those albums, that if you do find the LP, it's usually been too "well loved" for comfortable listening. So finding this CD for 69 cents allows me a chance to fully evaluate the contents. The album is comprised of six songs, four of them that attempt songwriting, and the other two are primarily jam oriented. For my tastes anyway, the songs flew by without notice. Not memorable or particularly interesting. The jams, however, are the opposite. Not unlike many early 70s Krautrock albums, that were to distill the experimentation and intensity to the next level. Certainly Quicksilver Messenger Service played a role in the development of that, though I'd still submit Iron Butterfly were closer to the prototype. More of historical importance than substantive, Quicksilver Messenger Service represents a time and place quite well. Seems another jam or two would have elevated its reputation even more.
Ownership: 1992 Edsel (CD). Booklet with photos, lyrics, and extensive historical liner notes.
1/5/26 (review)
What About Me (1970)
Of all the bands from the Bay Area Summer of Love, Quicksilver Messenger Service certainly embraced the culture of San Francisco the most. The cover is awesome depicting Haight Ashbury on a ship against the commercial skyline. The back is no less awesome with all the elements that make San Francisco such a great city (good news - it's coming back to excellence now that they have a mayor who cares about the city not just themselves). But it's 1970, and as I've said countless times, the bands coming out of psychedelia didn't know what to do. Country? Folk? Hard rock? Soft rock? Prog? Jazz? Keep going with Psych rock? All of the above, with no focus or great songs. If they had just extended the instrumental sections, then that would have been more preferable. So each and every one of them sunk to the bottom of the ocean while the English bands took over FM radio. What About Me starts off promisingly enough with some flute, and it seems they may be up to some challenging material. If only. Much of this owes more to a drunken saloon rather than a classic rock club setting. One wonders what they were thinking while making this album. No hooks, no edges, and no composition acumen. Apparently it was recorded haphazardly in Hawaii with no discipline whatsoever. It sounds like it. The album sold well despite the lack of anything to listen to. Like with Iron Butterfly, they let their brand name tarnish long before necessary.
Source: 1974 Capitol (LP)
9/6/25 (review)
Solid Silver (1975)
I've seen this in the thrifts before, but passed on it. Usually not in very good shape, and it's not exactly a top seller. And there's a reason for that. It's just not very good. Starts off decent with 'Gypsy Lights', but it's clear the band have long shed their psychedelic tendencies and are trying to make it in the mid 70s rock world. The rest of the side is made up of country and boogie rock. Which are probably my least favorite forms of the genre. Side 2 starts off similar, and then the rest is pretty good from a soft rock perspective. One can see the band interviewing for Rolling Stone stating "Yea, we're back together, and this is our best stuff yet. We're really excited." They always say that. And it's rarely true. Throw QMS in the Iron Butterfly and Rare Earth stack - bands that were poised for the big time for many years, but it never materialized.
It would appear the band may have been going for the Yacht Rock scene. The cover displays that they took the budget route instead.
Source: 1975 Capitol (LP)
5/25/21 (review)
Happy Trails (1969)
Quicksilver Messenger Service are at their best here, just letting the jams fly. Nothing too sophisticated, and songwriting is optional. I wish I could go back and visit San Francisco in 1969. My first time there was in 1995 - long after Silicon Valley had been established. To be fair, I spent many years in the SF Bay Area afterward, because of said industry. It's so hard now to imagine San Francisco as a "city of the Western frontier".
Ownership: 1969 Capitol (LP)
1991 (acquired); 11//05; 9/23/17; 9/20/20 (notes)
1/5/26 (new entry)
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