Editing Quicksilver Messenger Service (section)

===Early years===
Jim Murray left the group not long after they performed at the [[Monterey International Pop Festival]] in June 1967.<ref name= InterviewJB97 /> The band began a period of heavy touring on the West Coast of the United States where they built up a solid following and featured on many star-studded bills at the [[Avalon Ballroom]] and the [[Fillmore West]]. Sound system pioneer, inventor, and engineer (and famous LSD chemist) [[Owsley Stanley]] regularly recorded concerts at major San Francisco venues during this period, and his archive includes many Quicksilver Messenger Service live performances from 1966 and 1967, which were released on his Bear Recordings label in 2008 and 2009.

Quicksilver Messenger Service initially held back from committing to a record deal but eventually signed to [[Capitol Records]] in late 1967, becoming the last of the top-ranked San Francisco bands to join a major label.<ref name= Logan-Woff>{{cite book| editor-first1= Nick| editor-last1= Logan| editor-first2= Bob| editor-last2= Woffinden| title= The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock| publisher= Salamander Books| location= London| year= 1977| isbn= 0-600-33147-4| page=190}}</ref> Capitol was the only company that had missed out on signing a San Francisco "hippie" band during the first flurry of record company interest and, consequently, Quicksilver Messenger Service was able to negotiate a better deal than many of their peers. At the same time, Capitol signed the [[Steve Miller Band]], with whom Quicksilver Messenger Service had appeared on the movie and soundtrack album ''[[Revolution (1968 film)|Revolution]]'', together with the group [[Mother Earth (American band)|Mother Earth]].

Quicksilver Messenger Service released [[Quicksilver Messenger Service (album)|their eponymous debut album]] in 1968. It was followed by ''[[Happy Trails (album)|Happy Trails]]'', released in early 1969 and largely recorded live at the [[Fillmore East]] and the [[Fillmore West]]. Like most live albums of the time, ''Happy Trails'' made extensive use of studio overdubs, and the last two songs were recorded entirely in the studio, but it has nonetheless been called the most accurate reproduction of the band's acclaimed live performances.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r16003|first=Lindsay|last=Planer}}</ref> ''Happy Trails'' was awarded a gold album in the United States.<ref name="riaa.com">{{cite web |  url= https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database |  title= Gold and Platinum Searchable Database |  website= RIAA.com |  publisher= [[Recording Industry Association of America]] |  access-date= September 10, 2017 |  archive-date= February 3, 2015 |  archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150203141448/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database |  url-status= live }}</ref>

These albums, which have been hailed as "...two of the best examples of the San Francisco sound at its purest,"<ref name= Logan-Woff /> emphasize extended arrangements and fluid twin-guitar improvisation. Cipollina's highly melodic, individualistic lead guitar style, combined with Gary Duncan's driving minor scale, jazzy guitar playing, resulted in a clear, notable contrast to the heavily amplified and overdriven sound of contemporaries like [[Cream (band)|Cream]] and [[Jimi Hendrix]]. In 2003 ''Happy Trails'' was rated at No.&nbsp;189 in the ''Rolling Stone'' Top 500 albums survey, where it was described as "...the definitive live recording of the mid-Sixties San Francisco psychedelic-ballroom experience..."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417043128/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6599267/189_happy_trails|title=Music News – Rolling Stone|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-date=April 17, 2010}}</ref> Archetypal Quicksilver Messenger Service songs include the elongated rendition of [[Bo Diddley]]'s "[[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]" on ''Happy Trails''.

Duncan left the group not long after the recording of ''Happy Trails''; according to David Freiberg, this was largely because of his escalating problems with [[opiates]] and [[amphetamines]].<ref name= InterviewJB97/> His 'farewell' performances were the studio recordings that ended up on ''Happy Trails'' and a final live performance with the band on New Year's Eve 1969.<ref name= InterviewJB97/> Duncan recalled 18 years later:

{{blockquote|Well, let's put it this way, at the end of 1968, I was pretty burned out. We'd been on the road for, really, the first time in our lives. I just left for a year. I didn't want to have anything to do with music at all. And I left for a year and rode motorcycles and lived in New York and L.A. and just kind of went crazy for about a year.}}

Freiberg later recalled that Duncan's departure shook the core of the band: "Duncan was the 'engine' man, it just didn't WORK without him ... for me. I was really ... I was devastated..."<ref name= InterviewJB97/>

For their 1969 album ''[[Shady Grove (Quicksilver Messenger Service album)|Shady Grove]]'', Duncan was replaced by renowned English [[Session musician|session keyboardist]] [[Nicky Hopkins]], who had played on scores of hit albums and singles by acts like [[the Kinks]], [[the Rolling Stones]], [[the Beatles]], [[the Who]], The [[Jeff Beck Group]] and [[Steve Miller (musician)|Steve Miller]]. Hopkins' virtuoso piano boogie dominates the album, giving it a unique sound within the Quicksilver catalog.