Quicksilver Part 1: Lenny Kaye Celebrates Quicksilver Messenger Service (The Crazy Tale of Quicksilver Messenger Service Series) (Ep. 274)

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. Prepare yourselves: Lenny Kaye’s the wind up, and David Freiberg is very much the pitch.

This is Part 1 of the series, a free-flowing rap session featuring Lenny Kaye and I celebrating the eternal greatness of Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the late Sixties San Francisco scene as a whole.

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

How the San Francisco scene of the late Sixties changed his life and allowed him to become the man and musician he was meant to be;

How the hippie ballroom style wound up informing Patti Smith’s music, and the rest of the early punk scene;

And an exploration of Quicksilver’s early career.