Quicksilver's Happy Trails

There is a few reasons I was born during the wrong time. One reason I told a friend the other day was the fact my love of classic film from the 50's and 60's. I mean my top movies are from the 1960's and I always compare the movies out now to a movie from 1967. Same goes for television my favorite TV shows are from the 60's and early 70's. There really is nothing on TV now I go out and watch with bated breath and get excited to watch week to week. Even worse is when I talk about sports or look at classic cars. My favorite sports figures are from the past and even when I go to car shows I look for that specific 1967 Mustang fastback with black and gold. They called it the GT350H. The "H" stood for Hertz as in the rental car company. They made a limited production and now sell for some serious coin.

When it comes to music I like all types of genres of music, but I always go back to the era of music from 60's Jazz to 60's Psych Rock to anything from that era. I mean some artist I like from the 60's put out their best stuff in that decade compared to later decades of their career. In college I used to help teach classes on the decade of the 60's and do presentations on that time period. I loved it and if I would go back to teaching I would try to specialize in that decade.



After saying all that, nothing defines my love for the decade of the 60's then Quicksilver Messenger Service. I could have conversations with people who grew up in the 60's and we could talk about music, film, or books and as soon as I drop a few artist of the decade they know I am a serious fan of the 60's decade. Quicksilver was a band to be heard in the 60's because of their definition of the 60's.

Quicksilver Messenger Service was an unsung band from the 60's. I think what started me to become a fan of their music was two things. One was the book I was reading in High School. This book talked about the music of the 1960's and with great recommendations what albums to check or what artists the check out from this prolific time period. There was a chapter devoted to the sound that was coming from San Fransisco. In this chapter they mentioned all the acts from that area like, Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane, Santana and others. They also mentioned the unsung artist from San Fransisco and they included It's A Beautiful Day, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service and others. Since I had some It's A Beautiful Day and Country Joe and the Fish but did not have any Quicksilver Messenger Service. I must find I said and I set out to look.

The second was a radio station that used to devote a Sunday morning to the classic of classic or 1960's music. The DJ one day decided to play stuff that has not been played in quite a long time. He got on the air and said that he would play a really long song that defined for him the 1960's. He said he would pull out all the stops and play "Who Do You Love" by none other then Quicksilver Messenger Service. He mention all the cliche songs would not be represented for example "Light My Fire", "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," "White Rabbit" and others. He mentioned this was his favorite of the time. This song he said is here for the next twenty odd minutes and it's called "Who Do You Love."



The twenty odd minutes went to fast for my world to comprehend. I mean I heard it and was so blown away that I asked the DJ if he could play it again. He obvously could not, but told me that he would send me a copy of the album it came from as a token of somebody listening to his show. I got the tape in the mail and was already to play it again and again. A week later or so my friend called me up and asked if I wanted to go to the record store with him. I accepted and with twenty dollars I was ready to find the album that "Who Do You Love" was on. We stopped at our regular spots. I did not find it at both, but I had my name on one if one should appear. Then we stopped at the CD and tape store. I was a frequent there and would rummage through the cassettes and CD's. On that day was a true find. I was in the cheap cassettes and found Happy Trails by none other then Quicksilver Messenger Service. Sure enough the version the DJ sent me was on this cassette. For a cheap $2.99 I brought home my gem of the moment and the gem that stuck by me for ever.

So as I always do, I suggest this one as well. It will definitely make a lasting impression on you as it did me. It is a perfect representation of the 1960's music scene and it will give a lasting memory of a perfect way to stretch a classic blues song to twenty minutes. It was typical of a band to do this. This is quality rock at it's finest. If you do play in a band or any of that this album will give you great ideas. Enjoy and remember the lines very well...."WHO DO YOU LOOOOOOOOOOVE."