John Cipollina and Friends All images on this page are copyrighted and may not be reproduced or distributed without permission. These are low-resolution, 72dpi images. Hi-res images are available on request.

John Cipollina, iconic member of Quicksilver Messenger Service and a fixture of the San Francisco music scene from it's very beginning until his untimely death in 1989, was my friend. John was one of my guitar idols as a young musician and the day I met him in 1966 was a memorable high point in my life. We spent many years working together or just hanging out and I was fortunate enough to have not only called him a close friend, but to have recorded many of these moments for posterity. JC, as many of his friends referred to him, never had a bad word to say about anyone, possessed a delightful appreciation for the macabre and would rather put together a collection of disparate talented musicians to jam with than just about anything else. John, by his own admission, would have died much sooner if not for his signature habit of wedging his cigarette in between the strings on the peg head of his SG while he played. I recorded Freelight at Bear West Studios and produced their promo shots around the same time. This band was a unique departure for John into jazz and it was a remarkable session, with Pam Tillis nailing every track the first time through. The very talented Jarrett Washington (on keyboards) died only a few years ago (2006, as I recall) and loved to "butcher Bach" as he would say while launching into some very impressive improvisational riffs. If John had an idol it was Link Wray and he spoke enthusiastically of him to anyone who would listen. The John Cipollina Discography The John Cipollina Memorial Page All of this material was scanned and digitized from the original 35mm film. This is a "work in progress" as I am still processing images from these events. Time has taken its toll on many of the originals and the cleanup and restoration process can be time-consuming. Your life was too short, John. We all miss you. If you came to this page directly, this is my home page link

Updated: Sunday, August 23, 2009 2:55 PM

Updated Sunday, August 23, 2009 2:55 PM
	Never a collector of autographs during all my years (decades) in the entertainment industry, I prevailed upon John to autograph a couple of albums one day when we were working on a recording in the editing suite at my home in Lucas Valley. John was gracious enough to personalize two of my favorite albums: the 1st (black) Quicksilver album and Happy Trails.
John Cipollina (Quicksilver Messenger Service, Freelight, Raven, Terry and the Pirates)
	Mario Cipollina John Cipollina Greg Douglass
Mario Cipollina and John Cipollina
	Mario Cipollina
	John Cipollina Mario Cipollina Day on the Brown February, 1976
	John Cipollina Greg Douglass Bill Gibson Day on the Brown February, 1976   John Cipollina Mario Cipollina Day on the Brown February, 1976
Freelight
John Cipollina and Freelight Pam Tillis Tim Timmermans Jarrett Washington Marin County, CA 1977
	John Cipollina August, 1977
John Cipollina Pam Tillis Freelight at The Old Mill 1977
	Pam Tillis Freelight 1977
	Jarrett Washington Freelight 1977
Jarrett Washington Tim Timmermans 1977
	Freelight Promo Shots Marin County Fairgrounds 1977
John Cipollina Jarrett Washington Freelight rehearsal 1977
	John Cipollina fooling around in his rehearsal studio "Snorting" Coke... then being "ashamed" Terra Linda, CA 1977

© Copyright Warren Paul Harris 2007-2009