--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Joe" <geezerfr...@...> wrote: > > Cippolina was a real master, way ahead of his time. Is he still > around? Those Quicksilver concerts when they were a quartet with > Gary Duncan, were incredible!
As I see from Message View that Bhairitu posted, John died some time ago. I agree with you about the original quartet. Back when I and my college hippie friends were promoting rock concerts, Quicksilver was our favorite group to hire. And to party with. The dynamic between Cippolina and Gary Duncan (self-described as "The Agony and the Ecstasy") was electric, and wonderful. None of the "latter" formations of Quicksilver (adding Dino Valenti and Nicky Hopkins) were as good. > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > > tartbrain wrote: > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > > > >> tartbrain wrote: > > >> > > >>> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > >>> > > >>> > > >>>> I had some email exchanges with Alan a few years back. He had claimed > > >>>> on his podcast that rock musicians of the 1960s didn't know that much > > >>>> about music (he claims to be a former profession songwriter). Au > > >>>> contraire, even people like Graham Parson had jazz backgrounds. > > >>>> Brian > > >>>> Wilson was also into jazz and composition. So were many of the well > > >>>> known rock stars I met and we used to compare notes. I particularly > > >>>> remember siting with some of the guys from the Greatful Dead at my > > >>>> house > > >>>> listening to John Cage. We were all music students that looked at the > > >>>> rock scene and thought "hey we can write that stuff in our sleep!" > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>> With all due respect to John Cage -- he broke a lot of boundaries, but > > >>> the John Cage concert I went to -- was about 1000 record players each > > >>> playing a different song, symphony opera, nature sound world music or > > >>> spoken narrative. And John was there, but no visibly present. Probably > > >>> walking around the audience -- who were walking among the record > > >>> players. Or perhaps hiding behind a stage curtain -- I could have > > >>> written that in my sleep. In fact I think I have a few times. > > >>> > > >>> Did you know Emil Richards and his cosmic micro tonal band? Paul Horn's > > >>> friend. And a meditator of course. > > >>> > > >>> The Grateful Dead seemed to be sort of micro tonal -- tuning their > > >>> guitars to some out there scale. And particularly QuickSilver live -- > > >>> who I used to tell friends "they played like you know, 100 dissonate > > >>> notes and chords per second" > > >>> > > >>> Or maybe they were just to far tripping to tune their guitars by > > >>> standard means. > > >>> > > >>> And thanks for the Digital video insights > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >> I didn't know Emil Richards but did know Paul Horn. I knew the > > >> Quicksilver guys too. Lived next door to John Cipollina and Nicky > > >> Hopkins (who also played on a lot of the Beatles cuts as well as in The > > >> Rolling Stones). > > >> > > > > > > I like the breadth of Nicky Hopkins -- he was everywhere. I remember him > > > from the Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart -- when he was good :), Ronny > > > Wood and of course Jeff Beck. And later with Jefferson Airplane -- and > > > about everybody else. > > > > > > John Cipollina was amazing to watch live. And had the look of the > > > archetypal hippie -- when the term was new and fresh -- tall, thin, long > > > stringy hair, intense gaunt look, good and interesting guitarist. QS's > > > "Who Do You Love" -- the greatest rock song ever recorded -- or played > > > live. > > > > > > "To create his distinctive guitar sound, Cipollina developed a one of a > > > kind amplifier stack. His Gibson SG guitars had two pickups, one for bass > > > and one for treble. The bass pickup fed into two Standel bass amps on the > > > bottom of the stack, each equipped with two 15-inch speakers. The treble > > > pickups fed two Fender amps: a Fender Twin Reverb with two 12-inch > > > speakers and a Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns. His > > > style was highly melodic and expressive. Cipollina's classical past no > > > doubt influenced his guitar style, which was miles beyond the usual > > > pentatonic blues-scale work of many of the other psychedelic-era > > > guitarists. His work on fellow dueling guitarist Gary Duncan's electric > > > arrangement/adaption of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five", retitled "Gold and > > > Silver," which appears on the self-titled first album of Quicksilver, is > > > an excellent example of how Cipollina took rock to places it usually > > > didn't dare to venture." > > > > > > You didn't live next door to them in Mill Valley did you? If so -- did > > > you hang with Clover? Sons of Champlain? (And who was "The Girl from Mill > > > Valley" that Hopkins composed a song for on Beckola?) > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yup, it was Mill Valley with George and Marsha Lucas living across the > > street. Nick Gravenites hung out there frequently. Didn't know the Son > > of Champlain but hitched a ride with the father once. Don't know who > > the girl was. Played in another band which had a house in San Anselmo > > where a little redhead girl would come over and belt out some blues > > (Bonnie Raitt). John was always working on his guitars doing custom things. > > >
