QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - Unreleased Quicksilver : Lost Gold and Silver (1999) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

By licensing these previously unreleased live and studio tracks (plus some previously released but rare material) from the Special Markets division of EMI-Capitol Music, the mail-order company Collectors' Choice Music has legitimized Quicksilver Messenger Service recordings that had floated around on bootlegs and quasi-legal discs for many years. The performances all date from 1967-1968, a period during which Quicksilver consisted of lead guitarist John Cipollina, rhythm guitarist and singer Gary Duncan, bassist David Freiberg, and drummer Greg Elmore. As Richie Unterberger points out in his liner notes, "They were not so much singer-songwriters as they were virtuoso players and creative interpreters and stylists. They were not the greatest of vocalists or composers." True, but in Cipollina, with his tremolo-laden leads, they had one of the great San Francisco guitarists of the '60s. The first disc, titled "Studio," finds them struggling to pull together original songs for their debut LP, Quicksilver Messenger Service (May 1968), while the second disc, "Live from 1968," finds them playing some of these same songs in concert. By their second album, Happy Trails (March 1969), they had given up trying to get across in the studio and just recorded live, where they were far more comfortable. They were also more comfortable using blues and rock standards like "Back Door Man," "Smokestack Lightning," and "Who Do You Love" as jumping-off points for extended jams, or extrapolating the jazz standard "Take Five" into "Gold and Silver." Some performances age better than others -- many will find the long drum solo in the concert version of "Gold and Silver" uninspired -- but by and large, Quicksilver's live reputation stands up well. The second disc's studio outtakes are more problematic, but nevertheless interesting, notably a horn-filled arrangement of "Back Door Man." Tacked on at the end are the group's two contributions to the soundtrack to Revolution, their one-off novelty single "Bears" (all previously reissued on the 1991 Rhino compilation Sons of Mercury), and the B-side of "Bears," the pretty acoustic ballad "Stand by Me" (an original penned by erstwhile bandmember Dino Valente, not the Ben E. King song), which has not been reissued since the single was released in 1968. William Ruhlmann  
Disc One "Live From 1968"    
1-1    Back Door Man 4:16
Written-By – Willie Dixon
1-2    Codine 6:14
Written-By – Buffy Sainte-Marie
1-3    Gold & Silver    12:03
1-4    Smokestack Lightning    10:15
1-5    Light Your Windows    3:05
1-6    Dino's Song 3:32
Written-By – Dino Valenti
1-7    The Fool    13:15
1-8    Who Do You Love 12:22
Written-By – Bo Diddley
1-9    Mona/Maiden Of The Cancer Moon/Mona 11:34
Written-By – Bo Diddley, Gary Duncan
Bonus Disc "Studio"    
2-1    I Don't Want To Spoil Your Party (Dino's Song) 3:06
Written-By – Dino Valenti
2-2    Acapulco Gold And Silver (Gold And Silver)    2:38
2-3    I Hear You Knockin'    3:12
2-4    Back Door Man 4:00
Written-By – Willie Dixon
2-5    Your Time Will Come    3:10
2-6    Who Do You Love (Part 1) 5:58
Written-By – Bo Diddley
2-7    Walkin' Blues    3:07
2-8    Calvary    6:32
2-9    Codine 5:22
Written-By – Buffy Sainte-Marie
2-10    Babe I'm Gonna Leave You 5:06
Written-By – Erik Darling
2-11    Stand By Me 3:35
Written-By – Dino Valenti
2-12    The Bears 2:11
Written-By – Roger Perkins
Credits :
Bass – David Freiberg
Drums – Greg Elmore
Harmonica – Jim Murray (pistas: 2-5, 2-6)
Lead Guitar – John Cipollina
Noises [Bear Noises] – Nick Gravenites (pistas: 2-12)
Rhythm Guitar – Gary Duncan