Quicksilver Part 7: David Freiberg Reveals The Full Story Behind Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Shady Grove, Just For Love, & What About Me (Interview Part 4) (Ep. 279B)

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. The Crazy Tale of Quicksilver Messenger Service is an audio documentary series that was crafted to act as the ultimate assemblage of fact and opinion on one of the greatest bands to ever walk the face of the earth. This 8-episode series is built around a 2 1/2 hour interview with The Patti Smith Group’s Lenny Kaye, and the main event: an unprecedentedly detailed five-hour interview with last man standing David Freiberg, a very special experience that—regardless of how you feel about the group—will absolutely blow your mind with its unique twists and turns. There’s in-depth commentary on their history, a slew of endlessly wild stories, and star ratings for every release.

This is Part 7 of the series—and part 4 of my discussion with David—in which we cover the time period during which Nicky Hopkins & Dino Valenti joined the band, and they recorded Shady Grove, Just For Love, & What About Me.

Here are just a few of the many things that David discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast:

The stylistic hard left taken by the band after Gary Duncan split;

His relationship with the legendary Girl Freiberg;

Dino joins the band;

His experience relocating to Hawaii to record two albums at a Boy Scout camp that didn’t even have electricity;

The big falling-out that happened out there;

Cipollina’s departure and his post-Quicksilver musical activity;

One of the craziest arrest stories I’ve ever heard;

And an in-depth, track-by-track deep dive on every song off Shady Grove, Just For Love, & What About Me.