Either You Know or You Don't
socrates17 | New Jersey/Tanelorn 2008/9 | 03/24/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you're a fan of John Cipollina (and if you ever saw him play live or listened to one of his CDs, then you are a fan - no exceptions,) then you already have half of this CD under the title of Silverado Trail.
If you're a fan of John Cipollina, then you know that it is well worth spending $24.99 for a new CD's worth of material that has been appended to the original CD. Therefore, you have probably already put this in your cart before going on to read my one, lonely review.
If you've had no contact with John, then what are you doing on this page? However fate brought you here, you now have a chance to rectify a great wrong that has been done to you. Order this, listen to it, and like Paul on the road to Tarsus, your life will be changed forever. You will turn into an obsessive, tracking down what little there is generally, commercially available. Amazon has John's Raven (buy the one with the colorful cover as that also has extra tracks) and 1 copy of Problem Child. The easiest stuff to get will be the first 3 Quicksilver Messenger Service CDs: self-titled, Happy Trails, and Shady Grove. There's 1 decent track each in the next two then nothing worthwhile until Solid Silver and an old live show called Lost Gold and Silver. Under The Dinosaurs get Friends of Extinction.
Fate won't bring you here, though, unless your Karma is particularly good. If you're on this page you already own everything I've mentioned. Just in case, though, be prepared for your husband or your wife to start wondering why you are spending all of your time scouring the internet for things nobody else ever heard of. Why you suddenly discovered peer-to-peer downloading. Why your right hand starts vibrating back and forth when playing air guitar, rather than up and down holding an imaginary pick.
How do we get people to link to this? John was the living, breathing essence of Rock and Roll incarnarted in a human. I turned that into a tag and I'm sticking it on everything relevant.
You. You. Who do not know. Your eyes will never see but your ears can still hear. If you don't have problems breathing after it sinks in what you are hearing, then you have no feeling for Rock.
Apologies to Terry and Nick who are great, criminally underappreciated songwriters who gave John some of his best material to work with. And to Nicky, Link, Greg, Gregg, Doug, Roger, Al, and all of the great musicians - especially the criminally underrated Gary Duncan - who supported John in his reach for the stars.
John, who didn't seem to have an ego, always pointed out his co-players to me and he sincerely admired their work. As well he should have. While he did play occasional sets with some less than stellar friends as favors (did I mention what a flat-out NICE person he was?) he also gathered around him the best of the best.
John, John, John, I Miss You SO Much. Dinosaurs/Friends of ExtinctionHappy TrailsQuicksilver Messenger ServiceUnreleased Quicksilver: Lost Gold and SilverHappy TrailsShady GroveSolid SilverSolid SilverIt's Not My FaultRaven"
Good Old Fashioned American Rock and Roll
M. C. Smith | San Francisco | 04/11/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I saw Terry and the Pirates play at the old Winterland in San Francisco and I was mesmerized. Later I learned that the band was composed of guys from other bands like Quicksilver, Van Morrison, Steve Miller & more who got together for the pure love of the music thus the name - Pirates, behind the songwriter Terry Dolan. The band has a disticntly Western American sound - but NOT country - this is pure Rock And Roll at it's best. Check it out."
Sixties/Seventies Rock and Roll at its Best!!!
J. R Sategna | Martinez, California United States | 09/17/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This 2 cd set is pretty good, lots of Cipolina guitar and good singing but a lot of it has already been released on other albums if you are a Cipolina fan like me. It is a nice collection and has alot of live cuts. The sound is the only problem. It is muffled in a few places and the stereo is weak in others. I saw Cipolina with Quicksilver at the Fillmore many times in the late sixties and early seventies and this album reminds me of Quicksilver alot. I have all the Terry and the Pirates albums on CD and on vinyl and I am glad I was able to add this one to my collection. I wonder if it is available in vinyl. If anyone knows let me know. Ride on Cipolina--wish you were still on earth--"