Quicksilver Part 8: David Freiberg Reveals The Full Story Behind Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Quicksilver, Comin’ Thru, and Solid Silver (Interview Part 5) (Ep. 280)

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 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 8 of the series—and the final part of my discussion with David—in which we cover the time period during which Dino flies the plane into the side of a mountain, and the band recorded their final three records: Quicksilver, Comin’ Thru, & Solid Silver.

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

A peek into the making of Baron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun with Grace Slick & Paul Kantner;

Dino’s hard left in remaking Quicksilver into a brass-backed groove outfit before it flamed out;

The wild turnstile of personnel changes that shuffled the band’s deck before the original gang reunited for Solid Silver;

Whatever happened to the founding members of Quicksilver in their post-breakup years;

An in-depth, track-by-track deep dive on every song off Quicksilver, Comin’ Thru, & Solid Silver;

And an appended epilogue addressing the death of Greg Elmore, which happened seven days after our main interview and made David the last man standing.