Guitarist John Cipollina is best known as a founding member of, and lead guitarist for Quicksilver Messenger Service, one of the leading bands of the late-1960s San Francisco psychedelic-rock explosion that included the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. Cipollina brought his blues roots, imaginative guitar playing, and flawless technique to a handful of QMS albums before leaving the band in 1970, foremost among them the 1969 psychedelic classic Happy Trails.
Life After Quicksilver
After splitting from Quicksilver, Cipollina would spend nearly 20 years trying to duplicate the modest success enjoyed by QMS, forming hard rock and boogie bands like John Cipollina's Raven and Copperhead, or hooking up with established outfits like Terry & the Pirates or British prog-rockers Man. Part of the reason for the talented Cipollina's relative obscurity is that while he could play guitar like nobody's business, he wasn't a singer or songwriter, and his onstage presence was entirely based around his instrument.
By contrast, singer, songwriter, and blues guitarist Nick Gravenites was a natural bandleader, a charismatic singer of some skill, an excellent songwriter (his "Born In Chicago," a hit for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, would become a blues standard), and a fair-to-middlin' rhythm guitarist. The two men met when Gravenites produced Quicksilver's debut album, and they continued to collaborate musically almost until Cipollina's death in 1989. The chemistry that developed between Cipollina and Gravenites was magical, not unlike that of Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, the sort of artistic collaboration that comes along only once in a blue moon.
John Cipollina & Nick Gravenites West Coat Legends
Credited to the John Cipollina/Nick Gravenites Band, West Coast Legends, Vol. 1 is part of a series of CD and DVD releases on the German SPV label that document notable performances from the legendary German television program Rockpalast (translated as "Rock Palace"). First aired in 1974 and continuing to this day, Rockpalast has broadcast performances from, literally, hundreds of rock, blues, jazz and other artists.
West Coast Legends, Vol. 1 captures a lively November 1980 performance from the two guitarists, the Cipollina/Gravenites Band rounded out by bassist Al Staehely from Spirit, and drummer Marcus David of Clover. The four men knock out an inspired mix of psychedelic-tinged hard rock and Chicago blues-inspired blues-rock; the songs are mostly penned by Gravenites, but the six-string pyrotechnics are definitely provided by Cipollina.
Southside
West Coast Legends, Vol. 1 kicks off with Gravenites' fond reminiscence of the Windy City, "Southside" a rollicking blues-infused number that exhibits a funky groove, a sassy attitude, and Gravenites' throaty vocals. While the band delivers a fluid rhythm, Cipollina carves out a little space for himself with a sharp-edged and bluesy solo. The outfit really finds its footing with the slick, slippery "Junkyard In Malibu" from Gravenites' 1980 album Bluestar. Gravenites' vocals are gruff and fairly fast-paced, but Cipollina's scorching leads couldn't have lit up the stage brighter if he'd been shooting tracer bullets from the barrel of an M-16 rifle.
"Signs of Life" is a Staehely original, a boogie-rocker sounding not unlike another Spirit alum's band, Jo Jo Gunne. With rollicking fretwork and a locomotive drumbeat, Staehely's vocals are unremarkable but the lyrics are OK, and Gravenites' spry rhythm guitar and Cipollina's serpentine lead breathes fire into the performance. Another Staehely original, "Hot Rods And Cool Women," is a greasy lil' slice o' Texas boogie, a mid-1970s throwback with sizzling fretwork, a nasty backbeat, and a bar-b-q grin.
Buried Alive In The Blues
Gravenites' "Buried Alive In The Blues" was scheduled to be recorded by Janis Joplin for her landmark Pearl album, her tragic death resulting in that album's instrumental rendition. Here the song is delivered at full-throttle by Gravenites, the band delivering a massive groove that is equal parts Southern twang and Southside Chicago blues. Cipollina's nimble guitarplay displays a different dimension to his talent, while Gravenites' soulful vocals are propelled by a hearty bass line and galloping drumbeats.
Bo Diddley's classic "Who Do You Love," which had received the full Quicksilver treatment back in '69, is revisited on West Coast Legends, Vol. 1 with a vengeance, the band kicking out the jams with an eleven-minute instrumental blues-rock work-out. With Staehely and David re-creating the infamous Diddley beat, and Gravenites pounding out a heavy rhythm above hoarse vocals, Cipollina embroiders the song with his white-hot lead guitarwork. The unusual arrangement throws in plenty of light and dark, with guitars jabbing out of the silence, drumbeats working against the bass line, scraps of noisy feedback and the odd sound recreating the uncertainty of an Avalon Ballroom acid trip circa '68.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
John Cipollina never recorded a proper solo album throughout his lengthy, albeit tragically-shortened career, and it's unlikely that he could have created something as special as West Coast, Legends Vol. 1 if he had eventually ventured into the studio. The guitarist always felt more at home on stage anyway, and provided the canvas primed for him by Gravenites' excellent and open-ended songs, Cipollina delivers a stunning tour de force of sound and sonics. While Cipollina and Gravenites would collaborate together on a handful of wonderful and overlooked albums of psychedelic blues-rock, this live document is a near-perfect representation of both underrated artists' talents. (SPV Records, released December 31, 2010)
