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Gavin B. · 08-25-2009, 08:54 PM

Song of the Day

Mona- Quicksilver Messenger Service My father used to book Quicksilver's gigs in St. Louis and Chicago in the late Sixties. A couple of weeks after this open air gig in the Bay Area in the fall of 1969, in the video below, they flew to St. Louis and played an open air free gig at the World's Fair Pavillion in Forest Park in St. Louis that my father organized.

I vividly remember Forest Park Pavillion QMS gig even though I was a kid. Lots of people blowing bubbles, balloons, face painting, and Crazy Marvin the head of the Boneshakers Motor Cycle Club who was friends with my dad. My mom carried my younger brother around on a papoose on her back like the Lakota princess she was. I saw my first black dude in a big giant afro that day (power to the people!). I couldn't tell you what I ate for breakfast this morning but I have total recall of the big afro dude I saw in 1969 as a kid.

Quicksilver had a reputation for their love of LSD, guns, music and horses and it was all about in that order. The band existed in a constant state of chaos and paranoia. They were the first Frisco band to move to Marin County so they could avoid any more drug busts. They spent a lot of time firing their vintage guns and riding their horses. The major labels were interested in Quicksilver as early as 1965 but they were about the last San Francisico band to put out an album. Quicksilver really didn't have much of a work ethic and did everything in the moment.

Quicksilver was signed in 1966 by Capitol Records and they spent two years blissed out in the studio before coming up with an embarssingly thin 6 song debut album that was really quite good but should have taken two weeks to record. Commerical success was never a priority for Quicksilver. They allegedly drove Capitol Records crazy who dropped them after their second album even though that album, Happy Trails became a psychedelic classic and made it to 27 on the charts and big improvement on their self titled debut which peaked at 68 on the charts.

Quicksilver had all kinds of problems with the law including drug busts and one member who went AWOL to Canada when he was drafted. The band actually hung together in various forms until 1975 which was amazing given the dysfuntional behavior of the band members and thier stubborn refusal to embark upon anything resembling a career path throughout their 10 year existence. (click on HQ button once YouTube player starts for vastly improved sound and video quality).

08-25-2009, 08:54 PM	#64 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	Song of the Day Mona- Quicksilver Messenger Service My father used to book Quicksilver's gigs in St. Louis and Chicago in the late Sixties. A couple of weeks after this open air gig in the Bay Area in the fall of 1969, in the video below, they flew to St. Louis and played an open air free gig at the World's Fair Pavillion in Forest Park in St. Louis that my father organized. I vividly remember Forest Park Pavillion QMS gig even though I was a kid. Lots of people blowing bubbles, balloons, face painting, and Crazy Marvin the head of the Boneshakers Motor Cycle Club who was friends with my dad. My mom carried my younger brother around on a papoose on her back like the Lakota princess she was. I saw my first black dude in a big giant afro that day (power to the people!). I couldn't tell you what I ate for breakfast this morning but I have total recall of the big afro dude I saw in 1969 as a kid. Quicksilver had a reputation for their love of LSD, guns, music and horses and it was all about in that order. The band existed in a constant state of chaos and paranoia. They were the first Frisco band to move to Marin County so they could avoid any more drug busts. They spent a lot of time firing their vintage guns and riding their horses. The major labels were interested in Quicksilver as early as 1965 but they were about the last San Francisico band to put out an album. Quicksilver really didn't have much of a work ethic and did everything in the moment. Quicksilver was signed in 1966 by Capitol Records and they spent two years blissed out in the studio before coming up with an embarssingly thin 6 song debut album that was really quite good but should have taken two weeks to record. Commerical success was never a priority for Quicksilver. They allegedly drove Capitol Records crazy who dropped them after their second album even though that album, Happy Trails became a psychedelic classic and made it to 27 on the charts and big improvement on their self titled debut which peaked at 68 on the charts. Quicksilver had all kinds of problems with the law including drug busts and one member who went AWOL to Canada when he was drafted. The band actually hung together in various forms until 1975 which was amazing given the dysfuntional behavior of the band members and thier stubborn refusal to embark upon anything resembling a career path throughout their 10 year existence. (click on HQ button once YouTube player starts for vastly improved sound and video quality).