{"id":2445886,"date":"2019-07-01T07:20:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T13:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=853829"},"modified":"2019-07-01T07:20:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T13:20:46","slug":"gary-duncan-quicksilver-messenger-service-guitarist-dead-at-72","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/gary-duncan-quicksilver-messenger-service-guitarist-dead-at-72\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Duncan, Quicksilver Messenger Service Guitarist, Dead at 72"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-98540630.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Gary Duncan, guitarist and vocalist of the influential San Francisco psychedelic rock band <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/quicksilver-messenger-service\/\" id=\"auto-tag_quicksilver-messenger-service\" data-tag=\"quicksilver-messenger-service\">Quicksilver Messenger Service<\/a>, has died at the age of 72.<\/p>\n<p>The band <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permalink.php?story_fbid=1245544212295178\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">confirmed Duncan\u2019s death on their Facebook page<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/bestclassicbands.com\/gary-duncan-obituary-6-29-19\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">According to Best Classic Bands<\/a>, Duncan died Saturday in Woodland, California after suffering a seizure and falling into a coma.<\/p>\n<p>Born out of the same San Francisco scene that fostered the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Steve Miller Band, Quicksilver Messenger Service were known for their electrifying live performances and complex guitar interplay.<\/p>\n<p>Duncan co-founded Quicksilver Messenger Service after a stint as lead singer of the garage rock band the Brogues, who had a <em>Nuggets<\/em>-bound hit with 1965\u2019s \u201cI Ain\u2019t No Miracle Worker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tdymJQttzIU?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Soon after, Duncan and his Brogues bandmate, drummer Greg Elmore, were recruited by guitarist John Cipollina to audition for and then join the fledgling Quicksilver Messenger Service in 1965 alongside bassist David Freiberg; at the time, the band\u2019s founding guitarist Dino Valenti (the stage name of \u201cGet Together\u201d songwriter Chet Powers) was in the midst of a two-year prison sentence on marijuana charges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first came to San Francisco before Quicksilver started, Jefferson Airplane was already playing. You could see them and see that they were gonna be successful. I mean, they were groomed for it. The Grateful Dead was just a phenomenon,\u201d Duncan said in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classicbands.com\/QuicksilverMessengerServiceInterview.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">an interview<\/a>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t pursue that. Nobody really wanted to be a celebrity. That\u2019s kind of like the way all of us are. Virgo is the sign of the hermit in the Tarot cards. We were all hermits and still are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Quicksilver Messenger Service spent the next few years honing their guitar-powered, psychedelic sound at San Francisco venues like Bill Graham\u2019s Fillmore West. Following a breakout set at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, the band signed with Capitol Records, which released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/quicksilver-messenger-service-204486\/\">their self-titled debut<\/a> in 1968.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tIcj3kNCPA0?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As far as Quicksilvers\u2019 [Monterey Pop] performance, we were scared. I was scared. I had never been in front of that many people in my life. The whole set went by in a flash and it was finished,\u201d Duncan said in 2007 for the book <em><a href=\"http:\/\/santamonicapress.com\/a-perfect-haze-the-illustrated-history-of-the-monterey-international-pop-festival\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">A Perfect Haze: The Illustrated History of the Monterey International Pop Festival<\/a><\/em>. \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware until later&nbsp;that there&nbsp;was that much media, label attention on the show. I don\u2019t know if we got signed because of our performance or not. I would assume not because we didn\u2019t play that well in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1969, Quicksilver Messenger Service released their acclaimed <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/happy-trails-116494\/\">Happy Trails<\/a><\/em>, recorded live at the Fillmore West and Fillmore East and featuring a side-long riff on Bo Diddley\u2019s \u201cWho Do You Love?\u201d Duncan also penned a pair of instrumentals, \u201cCalvary\u201d and \u201cMaiden of the Cancer Moon,\u201d that appeared the album\u2019s B-side.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/olnbwZxjcbI?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Rolling Stone<\/em> placed the band\u2019s 1969 LP <em>Happy Trails<\/em> at Number 189 on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826\/quicksilver-messenger-service-happy-trails-163917\/\">500 Greatest Albums of All Time list<\/a>. \u201cThe definitive live recording of the late-Sixties ballroom experience: This San Francisco acid-blues band\u2019s second album captures its twin guitarists in bright flight, and composed intricacies like the studio epic \u2018Calvary\u2019 prove that psychedelia was about more than just tripping out,\u201d <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> said of the album.<\/p>\n<p>Following a brief departure from Quicksilver Messenger Service \u2013 the guitarist did not perform on 1969\u2019s <em>Shady Grove<\/em> \u2013 Duncan and founding member Valenti rejoined the group for 1970\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/just-for-love-103261\/\">Just for Love<\/a>. Duncan remained a member through the founding lineup\u2019s run, which concluded in 1975 with <em>Solid Silver<\/em>. Duncan and Elmore continued performing under the Quicksilver moniker until 1979, when the group disbanded.<\/p>\n<p>While Duncan revived the Quicksilver name in the mid-Eighties for his own band, he ultimately reunited with Freiberg beginning in 2006. The duo performed as Quicksilver Messenger Service until Duncan\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RNE0CKK71TI?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><br \/><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KMvh3Qi0KKc?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/gary-duncan-quicksilver-messenger-service-obituary-853829\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gary Duncan, guitarist and vocalist of the influential San Francisco psychedelic rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service, has died at the age of 72. The band confirmed Duncan\u2019s death on their Facebook page. According to Best Classic Bands, Duncan died Saturday in Woodland, California after suffering a seizure and falling into a coma. Born out of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2445886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 19:45:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}