Fretplay.com Quicksilver Messenger Service CD reviews Quicksilver Messenger Service guitar tabs Quicksilver Messenger Service CD reviews Quicksilver Messenger Service tabs Happy Trails


Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails Audio CD

A fair review of the Quicksilver Messenger Service "Happy Trails" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Quicksilver Messenger Service reviews here, or go back to the Quicksilver Messenger Service tabs.

Quicksilver Messenger Service Band: Quicksilver Messenger Service
Title: Happy Trails
Rating:
Release Date: 1994-08-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Who Do You Love, Pt. 1 2: When You Love 3: Where You Love 4: How You Love 5: Which Do You Love 6: Who Do You Love, Pt. 2 7: Mona 8: Maiden of the Cancer Moon 9: Calvary 10: Happy Trails

Moderately happy
. Competent, though inordinately cited classic psychedelic rock swings through fun covers, standard jams, and long head trips in a live show that was likely powerful to have witnessed but has retained little of its vitality throughout the decades.


I WAS THERE

I lived in the Bay Area when things were really starting to take off. I'm glad to get a chance to say something about this album and band.
My friends and I were Guitar God Worshippers.
I won't bother to list our favorites but, for example, when the Doors came to town, we ignored Morrison and crowded around Robby Krieger's place on the stage.
When the first Quicksilver album came out, we wore it out.
(As simple as it may seem to be today, it is important to remember that at that time, we had never heard anything like it. )
When Happy Trails came out, we could not believe what we were hearing.
Gary Duncan's playing on the second part of Who Do You Love (When Do You Love) is still 'acid etched' in my mind as some of the best guitar work ever recorded.
I mean it.
Forty years later, I can still play it in my head.
We saw them at the Filmore in San Francisco it was one of the best
shows I ever saw there.
Cipollina was the 'showier' player, with effects and tremolo.
But it was Duncan who played the "tasty' stuff.
He was and still is a Guitar God in my old mind and if you haven't heard
him you are missing out.
I agree with the reviewer who said they were best before Valenti joined up.






.


The real deal


I have owned more copies of Happy Trails than any other album, and that's saying something. May, 2009: It just occurred to me that I first heard "Happy Trails" 40 years ago, almost to the day. I first heard it in the summer of 1969 at a party, and it seemed like the "Who Do You Love?" side of the album was about five hours long. Maybe that's because everyone had ingested mushrooms and nobody was in any condition to turn the LP over. I was home for the summer from college, where I'd left a cheap turntable, etc. My dad had an 8-track player in the house to listen to his stuff on, and I bought an 8-track tape of Happy Trails.

Then I bought an LP copy for my senior year of college and beyond. Flash forward to the mid-1980s, when I was seriously into analog vinyl playback and found used record stores in every city I visited. I picked up two more regular copies (one sealed) and a heavy, double-weight Capitol copy. In those days, when surely my hearing was better than now, I was very interested in "sonic quality" (still am) and Happy Trails was one of my favorites to play for visitors to hear what $12,000 worth of LP playback gear sounded like.

Sadly, I sold my LP collection, more than 2,000 of them, in a personal financial meltdown in 1995, but not before making about 200 good-quality cassette tapes of my favorite LPs to hold me over. It goes without saying that Happy Trails is one of them.

Today, I own only a few dozen CDs. I just bought my first CD copy of Happy Trails and must say it sounds great, faithful to the original, even on my cheapo stereo system. At 60, I don't need mushrooms any more but I still need Happy Trails. If I wanted a funeral, which I don't, I'd ask that HT be played. Maybe even the Roy Rogers bit.

JC, New Jersey

.


ONE OF THE GREAT PSYCHEDELIC ALBUMS.
The inspired vocals, raw guitars laced with feedback and the wonderful songs combine to make Happy Trails more than the sum of its parts. There is something about this album that captures the essence of sixties psychedelic music. If you lived through the sixties and tripped to these groovy sounds you will know why it deserves the accolade of 'All time classic acid rMind Bombock. '.


'Who Do You Love?' - You, QMS; Even 40 Years Later
" Every time I look at that beautiful cover, the western painting, I smile and think of this group's fantastic 25-minute "Who Do You Love" medley. This year marks the 40th anniversary of this CD (album) and it still sounds great; one of the best musical things to come out of the "psychedelic era. To me, it's still unique - even for that era - and still is enjoyable to hear. For that "song," alone, I'll always have QMS ranked among my top (and under-rated) rock groups of all time.

"Mona," another long song that follows the medley, also is a great effort. If you need a "demo" to show "kids" some of the good music of the late '60s/early '70s, this would be one to play for them.


You can see a complete list of all Quicksilver Messenger Service discography, or go back to the Quicksilver Messenger Service tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]