154. Quicksilver Messenger Service — Happy Trails (1969)

1. Who’s got two thumbs and had no idea George Thoroughgood’s “Who Do You Love” is a cover? This guy! While his is clearly an improvement on what the Quicksilver Messenger Service puts together here, the pure quality of the songwriting really shines through on this record. It’s a bit more rambling, off the cuff, setting up the rest of this heavily jam band-y album.
2. “Who Do You Love” is followed by “What Do You Love,” “When Do You Love,” “How Do You Love,” and “Which Do You Love,” a sequence of extended jams that call to mind classic Allman Brothers tunes. I was quite disappointed to find that this naming convention did not carry over through the entire album, eventually giving way to more milquetoast song titles such as “X”. In reality, it seems as though QMS wanted to record a single, 25 minute jam for “Who Do You Love?” but — perhaps at the beckoning of their producer, or record label — agreed to break it up into chunks. The trick worked on me, as I kept expecting major changes from song to song and hung on every note; without breaking up the track, I may have dreaded diving into such a long song. Instead, the jam works; I look forward to the day I return and listen through to parse the subtle differences and journey from one track to the next.
3. The second half of the album is strong, but can’t live up to the “Love” suite. That said, it doesn’t have to; Quicksilver Messenger Service had already delivered the goods.

Next up: Led Zeppelin land on the list at last.

One Essential Song:

Listen on Spotify: