Quicksilver Messenger Service - "Comin' Thru"

Raised on Classic Rock, although not of the generation, I will always revere the era as the Golden Age of music (call me biased).  And even as there was a plethora of high quality music at the forefront of this movement, much of its less popular musiq can go un-listened. I give you Quicksilver Messenger Service - Comin' Thru.

A band known for their formation during the sixties with helping the onset of the psychedelic scene, Quicksilver Messenger Service’s seventh album (first with keyboard player Chuck Steaks), Comin’ Thru is brain child of guitarists Dino Valente and Gary Duncan. Although the band’s most notable albums such as their self-titled album (1968) and Happy Trails (1969) show progressive notions of San Francisco’s psychedelic scene, Comin’ Thru shows more of the band’s musical influences of blues, jazz and folk. This album doesn’t follow the typical Quicksilver song montage of congruent jam followed by heavy psychedelic ambient structure (or lack there of). However don’t get me wrong, Comin' Thru still holds true to the psychedelic rock ideas of say the Dead or Jefferson Airplane.

The album’s front runner, "Doing Time in the U.S.A.," a song chronicling different themes regarding broken law has an almost bleeding southern rock feel to it, often resembling tones made famous by Duane Allman and Dicky Betts.  "Doing Time in the U.S.A." gives an ode to the Rolling Stones when Dino Valente recites in his most Jagger-esque voice, “…I can’t get no, satisfaction;” this being ironic seeing as how the band’s former organist, Nicky Hopkins, had recently left to do work with the Rolling Stones. Whether or not this is an actual response to the Stones classic is unknown, but in a genre where underlying song connections run wild, one can only imagine.  Quicksilver’s jazz influences are recognizable within moments of the first horn solos found on "Chicken". Sonny Lewis (saxophone) and Pat O’hara lay down dueling solos of high spectral pitch that make this soulful jam extremely tight. cAs always the bands twangy-blues guitar riffs are found throughout, most present on "Mojo" and "Changes".  "Mojo," a song about what else than a man’s swagger/libido, has the psychedelic song formation most notably found in their earlier albums.  Ending the song via a line-up of solo’s starting from guitar to trumpet to bass followed by keyboard, the band obtains a type of “jam status” rarely seen on their studio albums.  Stressing the difference between this album and their popular titles is the production of keyboard player Chuck Steaks.  His approach to keyboard is much more up tempo and “wild” compared to a more classically trained Mark Naftalin.  The albums organ solo’s often resemble contemporary solo work by (Cha Boi!) Bernie Worell, most recognizable on "Doing Time in the U.S.A" and "Don’t Lose It."

Many regard Comin’ Thru as a lesser work of Quicksilver Messenger Service since the band would fall apart near the end of the decade and many of the original members were not part of the album’s production (John Cippollina, David Friedberg & Jim Murray).  An album that holds two opinions, Comin' Thru (as many albums do) plays both poles of the spectrum: Some critics feel the horn work and heavy piano/keyboard influence is used to compensate for a less talented band, while others state it was merely innovative thinking. Let’s not hang signs, just listen.

-Max Smith

***Note: Lala's selection is decidedly limited to only certain QMS songs so the one posted here is not off of this album.  Sorry for any inconvenience in listening this may cause.