''Shady Grove'' is a 1969 studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

Quicksilver Messenger Service Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band achieved wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, ...

Recording

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

, the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

pianist who appears on albums by

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, all four of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and Steve Miller, joined the group for this album. Hopkins' influence is felt throughout ''Shady Grove'', and his contributions pushed the group in new directions. However, David Freiberg's vocal presence makes the Quicksilver sound of the first two albums still apparent. Hopkins re-recorded the closing track, "Edward", on his solo album ''

The Tin Man Was a Dreamer * ''The Tin Man Was a Dreamer'' is a studio album by English musician Nicky Hopkins, released in 1973 on Columbia Records. While Hopkins had long been well known for his distinctive, melodic style on piano and Wurlitzer electric piano, the al ...

'', which features members of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. (“Edward” was a nickname for Nicky Hopkins, made up by Brian Jones during a 1967 session at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

in London. The story goes that Jones was tuning his guitar and asked Hopkins to give him an E on the piano; with other noise interfering and Nicky unable to hear what he was saying, Brian eventually shouted out: "Give me an E, like in Edward!")Baron Wolman, Rocks Off: The Nicky Hopkins Website, http://rocksoff.org/nicky-solo.htm (retrieved 13 February 2012). "Joseph's Coat", co-written by

John Cipollina John Cipollina (August 24, 1943 – May 29, 1989) was a guitarist best known for his role as a founder and the lead guitarist of the prominent San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service. After leaving Quicksilver he formed the ban ...

and

Nick Gravenites Nicholas George Gravenites (; born October 2, 1938) is an American blues, rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his work with Electric Flag (as their lead singer), Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield and several influentia ...

, also appears on

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...

's album ''

Be a Brother ''Be a Brother'' is the third album by Big Brother and the Holding Company, released in October 1970. It was their first album after Janis Joplin's departure. Recruited in her place were guitarist David Shallock and singer-songwriters Nick Gra ...

'', which featured Gravenites on vocals. Original guitarist

Gary Duncan Gary Duncan (born Eugene Duncan, Jr., adopted at birth and named Gary Ray Grubb, September 4, 1946 – June 29, 2019) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was guitarist with The Brogues, then most notably with Quicksilver M ...

does not appear on this album, having quit the band for a time. The cover was designed by George Hunter's Global Propaganda and featured a slightly edited version of a work by painter L.K. Hollister, of otherwise unknown personal information.

Critical reception

In his review of the album, for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, Lindsay Planer writes: "This somewhat uneven effort would sadly foreshadow QMS's journey from psychedelia and into a much more pop-oriented sound on their follow-up, Just for Love (1970). However, enthusiasts of those albums will find much more to revisit on Shady Grove than those who favored the first two records."

Track listing

Personnel

;Quicksilver Messenger Service *

– guitar, vocals *

– piano, organ, celeste, harpsichord, cello * David Freiberg – bass, vocals, guitar, viola *

Greg Elmore Gregory Dale Elmore (born September 4, 1946, in the Coronado Naval Air Station, California) is an American drummer, formerly with The Brogues and the San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service Quicksilver Messenger Service is an ...

– drums, percussion

Production

*Engineer – Dan Healy, Robert Shumaker, David Brown, Michael Leary *Mixing – Dan Healy, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Snarly Grumble *Executive producer – John Palladino *Mixed at Pacific High Recorders

Charts

; Album

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(United States)

References

{{Authority control Quicksilver Messenger Service albums 1969 albums Capitol Records albums Albums recorded at Wally Heider Studios