| John Cipollina | |
|---|---|
Cipollina, with Copperhead, 1976 Keystone Berkeley, Courtesy, David Gans |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Holland Mallet III |
| Born | August 24, 1943 Berkeley, California |
| Died | May 29, 1989 (aged 45) San Francisco, California |
| Genres | Rock, psychedelic rock, blues, jazz |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass, piano |
| Years active | 1964–1989 |
| Labels | Captitol, Line Records, Music Box Records |
| Associated acts | Quicksilver Messenger Service, Copperhead, The Dinosaurs, Man |
| Website | JohnCipollina.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson SG | |
John Cipollina (August 24, 1943 - May 29, 1989) was a guitarist best known for his role as a founder and the lead guitarist of the prominent San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service. After leaving Quicksilver he formed the band Copperhead and then later played with numerous other bands.
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Born in Berkeley, California, in 1943 John Cipollina attended Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California (as did his brother, Mario Cipollina, born 1954). John showed great promise as a classical pianist in his youth, but soon switched to the guitar as his primary instrument.
Cipollina had a unique guitar sound, mixing solid state and valve amplifiers as early as 1965. He is considered one of the fathers of the San Francisco psychedelic rock sound.
"I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top."[1]
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 and a Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns.[2]
Cipollina used a custom foot switch setup to select reverb, tremolo, Astro Echoplex (the unit mounted on the right of the Twin Reverb), and Standel Modulux (on the left of the twin reverb). 12 volt automotive running lights indicated which effect was being used.
Cipollina also employed a Gibson Maestro Fuzz and Vox wah-wah/volume pedals.
Throughout his career, Cipollina usually played Gibson SGs, but in the late '70s and into the '80s could also be seen playing a Carvin DC150, which was similar to a double-cutaway Les Paul, but with more modern factory installed electronics. He played with finger picks, thumb picks, and used a whammy bar extensively which, he explained to Jerry Garcia, was to make up for his weak left hand.
After leaving Quicksilver, Cipollina formed the band Copperhead with early Quicksilver member Jim Murray (musician) (who was soon to leave for Maui, Hi.), former Stained Glass member Jim McPherson, drummer David Weber, Gary Phillipet (AKA Gary Phillips (keyboardist) later a member of Bay Area bands Earthquake and The Greg Kihn Band) and Pete Sears who went on to play with the original Jefferson Starship and later Hot Tuna. Before recording their first album, Sears flew back to England to play piano on Rod Stewart's Never a Dull Moment album, and play bass for keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Sears was replaced by James Hutchinson (musician). Now a prominent studio musician and long time bassist with Bonnie Raitt.[3][4]
Experience with Man
In 1974, the Welsh psychedelic band Man were embarking upon a tour of the UK and the United States, but within the final leg of their tour their guitarist Micky Jones developed pneumonia and most of the dates had to be cancelled. John Cipollina was suggested to fill the place of Jones for the final gigs that were to be at the San Francisco Winterland. As they were a two-guitar band, the band met and rehearsed with Cipollina, who played with them at Winterland, and agreed to play a UK tour. These were a great success, and promoter Bill Graham paid them a bonus, and rebooked them, but the band had a shaky line-up, and one of its members left. They still were able to continue the tour in the UK, during which their "Roundhouse gig" was recorded, but rumors hold that Micky Jones had to over-dub Cipollina’s parts, as his guitar was out of tune, before their Maximum Darkness album could be released.[5] Even so, the album eventually reached #25 in the UK album charts.[6]
Cipollina died on 29 May 1989 from chronic emphysema at the age of 45 after a career in music that spanned twenty five years. Quicksilver Messenger Service fans paid tribute to him the following month in San Francisco at an all-star concert at the Fillmore Auditorium which featured Nicky Hopkins, David Freiberg, and John's brother Mario, an original member of Huey Lewis and the News. Cipollina's one of a kind massive amplifier stack was donated, along with one of his customized Gibson SG guitars, and effects pedals, for display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995.[1]
In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #32 of their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Maximum Darkness LP (1975) United Artists: CD (1991) BGO CD 43: CD Re-mix (2008) Esoteric ECLEC 2061 Micky Jones, Deke Leonard, Martin Ace, Terry Williams, John Cipollina Recorded at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, 26 May 1975
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