Cippolina was a real master, way ahead of his time. Is he still around? Those Quicksilver concerts when they were a quartet with Gary Duncan, were incredible!
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozg...@...> wrote: > > tartbrain wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > >> tartbrain wrote: > >> > >>> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > >>> > >>> > >>>> I had some email exchanges with Alan a few years back. He had claimed > >>>> on his podcast that rock musicians of the 1960s didn't know that much > >>>> about music (he claims to be a former profession songwriter). Au > >>>> contraire, even people like Graham Parson had jazz backgrounds. Brian > >>>> Wilson was also into jazz and composition. So were many of the well > >>>> known rock stars I met and we used to compare notes. I particularly > >>>> remember siting with some of the guys from the Greatful Dead at my house > >>>> listening to John Cage. We were all music students that looked at the > >>>> rock scene and thought "hey we can write that stuff in our sleep!" > >>>> > >>>> > >>> With all due respect to John Cage -- he broke a lot of boundaries, but > >>> the John Cage concert I went to -- was about 1000 record players each > >>> playing a different song, symphony opera, nature sound world music or > >>> spoken narrative. And John was there, but no visibly present. Probably > >>> walking around the audience -- who were walking among the record players. > >>> Or perhaps hiding behind a stage curtain -- I could have written that in > >>> my sleep. In fact I think I have a few times. > >>> > >>> Did you know Emil Richards and his cosmic micro tonal band? Paul Horn's > >>> friend. And a meditator of course. > >>> > >>> The Grateful Dead seemed to be sort of micro tonal -- tuning their > >>> guitars to some out there scale. And particularly QuickSilver live -- who > >>> I used to tell friends "they played like you know, 100 dissonate notes > >>> and chords per second" > >>> > >>> Or maybe they were just to far tripping to tune their guitars by standard > >>> means. > >>> > >>> And thanks for the Digital video insights > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >> I didn't know Emil Richards but did know Paul Horn. I knew the > >> Quicksilver guys too. Lived next door to John Cipollina and Nicky > >> Hopkins (who also played on a lot of the Beatles cuts as well as in The > >> Rolling Stones). > >> > > > > I like the breadth of Nicky Hopkins -- he was everywhere. I remember him > > from the Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart -- when he was good :), Ronny > > Wood and of course Jeff Beck. And later with Jefferson Airplane -- and > > about everybody else. > > > > John Cipollina was amazing to watch live. And had the look of the > > archetypal hippie -- when the term was new and fresh -- tall, thin, long > > stringy hair, intense gaunt look, good and interesting guitarist. QS's > > "Who Do You Love" -- the greatest rock song ever recorded -- or played > > live. > > > > "To create his distinctive guitar sound, Cipollina developed a one of a > > kind amplifier stack. His Gibson SG guitars had two pickups, one for bass > > and one for treble. The bass pickup fed into two Standel bass amps on the > > bottom of the stack, each equipped with two 15-inch speakers. The treble > > pickups fed two Fender amps: a Fender Twin Reverb with two 12-inch speakers > > and a Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns. His style was > > highly melodic and expressive. Cipollina's classical past no doubt > > influenced his guitar style, which was miles beyond the usual pentatonic > > blues-scale work of many of the other psychedelic-era guitarists. His work > > on fellow dueling guitarist Gary Duncan's electric arrangement/adaption of > > Dave Brubeck's "Take Five", retitled "Gold and Silver," which appears on > > the self-titled first album of Quicksilver, is an excellent example of how > > Cipollina took rock to places it usually didn't dare to venture." > > > > You didn't live next door to them in Mill Valley did you? If so -- did you > > hang with Clover? Sons of Champlain? (And who was "The Girl from Mill > > Valley" that Hopkins composed a song for on Beckola?) > > > > > > > > Yup, it was Mill Valley with George and Marsha Lucas living across the > street. Nick Gravenites hung out there frequently. Didn't know the Son > of Champlain but hitched a ride with the father once. Don't know who > the girl was. Played in another band which had a house in San Anselmo > where a little redhead girl would come over and belt out some blues > (Bonnie Raitt). John was always working on his guitars doing custom things. >
