Quicksilver Messenger Service

Originally assembled as a rock outlet for folk singer and songwriter Dino Valente (b. Nov. 7, 1943, d. Nov. 16, 1994), the author of “Get Together,” the group that later became Quicksilver Messenger Service took shape in San Francisco. There Valente recruited guitarist John Cipollina (b. Aug. 24, 1943, d. May 29, 1989) and vocalist Jim Murray. His acquaintance David Freiberg (b. Aug. 24, 1938) came aboard on bass, and the lineup was finished with drummer Greg Elmore (b. Sep. 4, 1946) plus guitarist Gary Duncan (b. Sep. 4, 1946). Before the ensemble could fully coalesce, however, Valente was jailed on a narcotics offense and remained absent until much later.

The band made its first appearance at the close of 1965 and spent the following two years performing throughout the Bay Area and along the West Coast, cultivating a sizable audience while declining recording contracts that Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead had already accepted. Only toward the end of 1967 did Quicksilver sign with Capitol, cutting its self-titled debut album the next year after Murray had already departed. The 1969 follow-up, Happy Trails, captured the group in concert. Once that record appeared, Duncan exited and was succeeded on Shady Grove (1970) by British session pianist Nicky Hopkins. By the time the album surfaced, Duncan had rejoined and Valente had returned as well, expanding the unit to a sextet.

Centering on Valente’s compositions and lead vocals, this configuration endured for only a single year and produced the albums Just for Love and What About Me. Cipollina, Freiberg, and Hopkins subsequently departed, leaving Valente, Duncan, and Elmore to enlist new members and complete two further albums before the band dissolved. A 1975 reunion yielded another record and a tour, while in 1986 Duncan reactivated the Quicksilver name for a release that included background vocals from Freiberg.