Shady Grove (Quicksilver Messenger Service album)
| Shady Grove | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Quicksilver Messenger Service | ||||
| Released | December 1969 | |||
| Recorded |
Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California, July−August 1969 Pacific High Recorders, August−September 1969 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, acid rock | |||
| Length | 43:26 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | John Palladino | |||
| Quicksilver Messenger Service chronology | ||||
| ||||
Shady Grove is a 1969 studio album by Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Nicky Hopkins, the English journeyman pianist who appears on albums by Jeff Beck, The Rolling Stones, The Who, all four of The Beatles and Steve Miller, joined the group for this album. Hopkins' influence is felt throughout Shady Grove, and his contributions pushed the group in new directions. However, David Freiberg's vocal presence makes the Quicksilver sound of the first two albums still apparent.
Hopkins re-recorded the closing track, "Edward", on his solo album The Tin Man Was a Dreamer, which features members of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. (“Edward” was a nickname for Nicky Hopkins, made up by Brian Jones during a 1967 session at Olympic Studios in London. The story goes that Jones was tuning his guitar and asked Hopkins to give him an E on the piano; with other noise interfering and Nicky unable to hear what he was saying, Brian eventually shouted out: "Give me an E, like in Edward!")[1] "Joseph's Coat", co-written by John Cipollina and Nick Gravenites, also appears on Big Brother and the Holding Company's album Be a Brother, which featured Gravenites on vocals.
Original guitarist Gary Duncan does not appear on this album, having quit the band for a time.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Robert Christgau | C+[3] |
| MusicHound | 2/5[4] |
| Select |   [5] |
In his review of the album, for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer writes: "This somewhat uneven effort would sadly foreshadow QMS's journey from psychedelia and into a much more pop-oriented sound on their follow-up, Just for Love (1970). However, enthusiasts of those albums will find much more to revisit on Shady Grove than those who favored the first two records."[2]
Track listing
Side one
- "Shady Grove" (P.O. Wands) 2:59
- "Flute Song" (Denise Jewkes) 5:17
- "Three or Four Feet from Home" (John Cipollina) 2:58
- "Too Far" (David Freiberg) 4:23
- "Holy Moly" (Gravenites) 4:20
Side two
- "Joseph's Coat" (Cipollina, Gravenites) 4:36
- "Flashing Lonesome" (Freiberg, Gravenites) 5:21
- "Words Can't Say" (Freiberg, Jewkes) 3:17
- "Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder" (Nicky Hopkins) 9:10
Personnel
- John Cipollina – guitar, vocals
- Nicky Hopkins – keyboards, organ, celeste, harpsichord, piano, cello
- David Freiberg – bass, vocals, guitar, viola
- Greg Elmore – drums, percussion
Production
- Engineer – Dan Healy, Bob Shumaker, Dave Brown, Mike Leary
- Mixing – Dan Healy, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Snarly Grumble
- Executive producer – J. Palladino
- Mixed at Pacific High Recorders
Charts
- Album
Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Pop Albums | 25 |
References
- ↑ Baron Wolman, Rocks Off: The Nicky Hopkins Website, http://rocksoff.org/nicky-solo.htm (retrieved 13 February 2012).
- 1 2 Planer, Lindsay. "Shady Grove > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 29, 1970). "Consumer Guide (7)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 912. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ↑ Perry, Andrew (November 1990). "Quicksilver Messenger Service Shady Grove". Select. p. 132.