Musically, there is little to delineate the fifth long-player from Quicksilver Messenger Service,
What About Me, from their previous effort,
Just for Love. Not surprisingly, material for both was initiated during a prolific two-month retreat to the Opaelua Lodge in Haleiwa, HI, during May and June of 1970. The quartet version of Quicksilver Messenger Service -- which had yielded the band's first two LPs -- expanded once again to include
Dino Valenti (aka
Chester A. Powers,
Chet Powers, and most notably on this album,
Jesse Oris Farrow) as well as British session keyboardist
Nicky Hopkins. The additional talents of
Mark Naftalin (keyboards) were incorporated when
Hopkins was unavailable. This began his short stint with Quicksilver Messenger Service, which lasted through their sixth LP,
Quicksilver (1972). The most apparent change in Quicksilver Messenger Service's sound can be directly attributed to the return of
Valenti. The group has departed the long, free-flowing improvisations that prevailed on both their self-titled debut and follow-up,
Happy Trails. The songs are now shorter and more notably structured, with an added emphasis on
Valenti's compositions. The title track, "What About Me," became an ethical and sociological anthem with challenging and direct lyrical references to the political and social instability of the early '70s.
Valenti, whose songwriting credits on this disc are both numerous and attributed to his
Farrow persona, also comes up with some passable introspective love songs, such as "Baby Baby" and "Long Haired Lady," as well as a couple of interesting collaborations with
Gary Duncan (bass/vocals). The psychedelic samba "All in My Mind" also highlights the often overlooked percussive contributions from
Jose Reyes. Two of the more distinguished entries on
What About Me are
John Cipollina's raunchy blues instrumental "Local Color" -- replete with a driving backbeat reminiscent of their take on the
Robert Johnson standard "Walkin' Blues" -- as well as
Nicky Hopkins' emotive "Spindrifter."
AMG Review by Lindsay Planer
With the return of Gary Duncan and the recording debut of founder Dino Valenti, Just for Love, Quicksilver's fourth album, marked their debut as the band they were intended to be. The ironic thing about that is that, led by singer/songwriter Valenti, they were a much more pop-oriented band than their fans had come to expect. On Just for Love, Quicksilver finally was Valenti's backup group (he wrote all but one of the songs), and while this gave them greater coherence and accessibility, as well as their only Top 50 single in "Fresh Air," it also made them less the boogie band they had been. And it meant the band's days were numbered.
