Editing Quicksilver Messenger Service (section)

{{Short description|American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965}}
{{Use mdy dates|date= June 2013}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Quicksilver Messenger Service
| background       = group_or_band
| image            = Quicksilver Messenger Service 1970.JPG
| image_size       = 250
| caption          = Quicksilver Messenger Service, 1970<br/>[[John Cipollina]], [[Greg Elmore]],<br/>[[Nicky Hopkins]] and [[David Freiberg]]
| alias            = Quicksilver
| origin           = [[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
| genre            = {{hlist|[[Psychedelic rock]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Vernon|last=Joyson|title=The Acid Trip: A Complete Guide to Psychedelic Music|year=1984|publisher=Babylon Books|page=112|isbn=978-0-907188-24-7}}</ref>|[[acid rock]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Amy L.|last=Fletcher|year=2012|title=The Guide to United States Popular Culture|chapter=Acid Rock|pages=7–8|editor-first1=Abbe A.|editor-last1=Debolt|editor-first2=James S.|editor-last2=Baugess|volume=1: A–M|publisher=Popular Press|isbn=978-0-313-32944-9}}</ref>
}}
| years_active     = 
* 1965–1979, {{nowrap|2006–2009}}
* 1984–1996 (Gary Duncan's Quicksilver)
* 2009–present (David Freiberg's Quicksilver Messenger Service)
| label            = [[Cleopatra Records|Cleopatra]], [[Capitol Records|Capitol]], Edsel
| past_member_of  = [[The Brogues]]
| website          = {{URL|http://dfquicksilver.com/}}
| current_members  = [[David Freiberg]]<br/>Chris Smith<br/>Linda Imperial<br/>[[Donny Baldwin]]<br/>Peter Harris<br/>[[Jude Gold]]<br/>Steve Valverde
| past_members     = [[John Cipollina]]<br />[[Gary Duncan]]<br/>[[Greg Elmore]]<br />[[Jim Murray (musician)|Jim Murray]]<br />[[Nicky Hopkins]]<br />[[Dino Valenti]]<br />[[Mark Naftalin]]<br />Mark Ryan<br />Harold Aceves<br />Chuck Steaks<br />Roger Stanton<br />Bob Flurie<br />Michael Lewis<br />Skip Olsen<br />Sammy Piazza<br />Bobby Vega<br />Greg Errico<br />[[John Bird (musician)|John Bird]]<br />[[Prairie Prince]]<br />Keith Graves

}}
'''Quicksilver Messenger Service''' is an American [[psychedelic rock]] band formed in 1965 in [[San Francisco]].<ref>{{Cite news |author=Sam Whiting |date=July 5, 2019 |title=Gary Duncan of Quicksilver Messenger Service dead at 72 |url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/gary-duncan-of-quicksilver-messenger-service-dead-at-72 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321005446/https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/gary-duncan-of-quicksilver-messenger-service-dead-at-72 |archive-date=March 21, 2023 |access-date=May 20, 2024 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> The band achieved wide popularity in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and, through their recordings,<ref name=pc42>{{Gilliland |url= https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19801/m1/ |title=Show 42 – The Acid Test: Psychedelics and a sub-culture emerge in San Francisco. [Part 2]}}</ref> with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, and several of their albums ranked in the Top 30 of the [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] Pop charts. They were part of the new wave of album-oriented bands, achieving renown and popularity despite a lack of success with their singles (only one, "[[Fresh Air (song)|Fresh Air]]" charted, reaching number 49 in 1970).<ref name="BillCharts">{{cite web|title=Quicksilver Messenger Service chart history|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/277256/quicksilver-messenger-service/chart|website=[[Billboard.com]]|access-date=25 August 2017|archive-date=August 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802113051/http://www.billboard.com/artist/277256/quicksilver-messenger-service/chart|url-status=live}}</ref> Though not as commercially successful as contemporaries [[Jefferson Airplane]] and the [[Grateful Dead]], Quicksilver was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their [[jazz]] and [[classical music|classical]] influences and a strong [[folk music|folk]] background, the band attempted to create an individual, innovative sound.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morrison |first=Craig |title=Folk Revival Roots Still Evident in 1990s Recordings of San Francisco Psychedelic Veterans |journal=[[Journal of American Folklore]] |year=2001 |volume=114 |issue=454 |pages=478–488 |doi=10.1353/jaf.2001.0039}}</ref> Music historian [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]] wrote: "Of all the bands that came out of the San Francisco area during the late '60s, Quicksilver typified most of the style, attitude and sound of that era."<ref name="Larkin">{{Cite book |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |year=2011 |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |edition=5th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC |location=London |publisher=Omnibus Press |at=Quicksilver Messenger Service |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8 |access-date=September 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324154302/https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC |url-status=live}}</ref>

The band's members included [[John Cipollina]], [[Gary Duncan]], [[Greg Elmore]], [[David Freiberg]], [[Nicky Hopkins]], and [[Dino Valenti]]. Valenti drew heavily on musical influences he picked up during the folk revival of his formative musical years. The style he developed from these sources is evident in Quicksilver Messenger Service's swing rhythms and twanging guitar sounds.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vulliamy |first=Ed |title=Love and Haight |work=Observer Music Magazine |location=England |year=2007}}</ref> After many years, the band has attempted to re-form despite the deaths of several members. In 2006, Duncan and Freiberg toured as the Quicksilver Messenger Service, using various backing musicians.