John Cipollina

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Undetermined Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on John Cipollina Similar Undetermined Music Search Artistopia

Biography

John Cipollina (August 24, 1943 - May 29, 1989) was a guitarist best known for his role as a founder and the lead guitar ist of the prominent San Francisco, California|San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service . After leaving Quicksilver he formed the band Copperhead and then later played with numerous other bands.

Early Years

Born in Berkeley, California , in 1943, John Cipollina attended Tamalpais High School , in Mill Valley, California (as did his brother, Mario Cipollina , born 1954). His mother Evelyn, and godfather José Iturbi , were concert pianists and John showed great promise as a classic al pianist in his youth, but his father gave him a guitar when he was 12 and this quickly became his primary instrument.

Equipment and technique

Cipollina had a unique guitar sound, mixing solid state (electronics)|solid state and tube amplifier|valve amplifiers as early as 1965. He is considered one of the fathers of the San Francisco Bay Area|San Francisco psychedelic rock San Francisco Sound|sound .

"I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top."

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|Fender Twin Reverb and a Fender Showman|Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns.

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 SG s, but in the late '70s and into the '80s could also be seen playing a Carvin Corporation|Carvin DC150, which was similar to a double-cutaway Gibson Les Paul|Les Paul , but with more modern factory installed electronics. He played with Plectrum|finger pick s, thumb picks, and used a whammy bar extensively which, he explained to Jerry Garcia , was to make up for his weak left hand.

Career After Quicksilver Messenger Service

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 (Rod Stewart album)|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 .bayareabands.comwww.bonnieraitt.com/bio_hutch.php

Experience with Man

In 1975, the Welsh psychedelic band Man (band)|Man toured the United States, towards the end of which, they played two gigs at the San Francisco Winterland (March 21 & 22) which were such a success, that promoter Bill Graham (promoter)|Bill Graham paid them a bonus, and rebooked them. Whilst waiting for the additional gigs, the band met and rehearsed with Cipollina, who played with them at Winterland in April 1975. After this, Cipollina agreed to play a UK tour which took place in May 1975, during which their "Roundhouse gig" was recorded. 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. Even so, the album eventually reached #25 in the UK album charts.

Death

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 West|Fillmore Auditorium which featured Nicky Hopkins , David Freiberg , and John's brother Mario Cipollina|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.

In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #32 of their list of Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarists of all time|the 100 greatest guitarists of all time .

Discography

With Quicksilver Messenger Service

Quicksilver Messenger Service (album)|Quicksilver Messenger Service

Happy Trails (album)|Happy Trails

Shady Grove (Quicksilver Messenger Service album)|Shady Grove

Just for Love

What About Me (Quicksilver Messenger Service album)|What About Me

Solid Silver

Copperhead

Dinosaurs

Raven

Man

Maximum Darkness

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 (drummer)|Terry Williams , John Cipollina
Recorded at The Roundhouse , Chalk Farm , 26 May 1975

Merrell Fankhauser

Dr. Fankhauser

Freelight

Nick Gravenites

1980: Blue Star (Gravenites album)|Blue Star (Line Records)

1982: Monkey Medicine "The Nick Gravenites John Cipollina Band" (Line Records)

1991: Live At Rodon "Nick Gravenites and John Cipollina" (Music Box)

Terry and the Pirates

1979 Too Close For Comfort (album)|Too Close For Comfort (Wild Bunch)

1980 Doubtful Handshake (Line Records)

1981 Wind Dancer (Rag Baby, Line Records)

1982 Rising of the Moon (Rag Baby, Line Records)

1987 Acoustic Rangers (Sawdust Records)

1990 Silverado Trail (Big Beat Records)

Zero

Here Goes Nothin, Go Hear Nothin (Live)

With other artists

1972: With Mickey Hart : Rolling Thunder (album)|Rolling Thunder

Videos

Dino's Song

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: John Cipollina

Undetermined Music Artists