John Cipollina was a good friend of mine.

He was an amazing guitarist and an overall nice guy.

He died May 29, 1989.

I spoke with him for the last time 3 days before that.

I will always miss him.

John Cipollina played in Quicksilver Messenger Service, Raven, The Dinosaurs, Freelight, Copperhead, Terry and the Pirates to name only a few.  Everyone loved John.  He would do anything for you and I will always feel fortunate to have known him all those years from 1965 to 1989. Chairman Meow, the most gorgeous Lilac Point Himalayan cat you have ever seen, was my constant companion and the last cat from John’s cat’s last litter. I was the last person to ride in John Cipollina‘s gorgeous blue Mercedes. He drove me home from a recording session in San Francisco one night and totaled the Mercedes on his way home. This was sometime in 1977. Probably during the Freelight recording session at Bear West Studio.

One day when John was at my house so I could edit a master tape for him, I took the opportunity to have him autograph a couple of my Quicksilver albums.  They are included in this gallery. I still have the heavily modified Teac 7030 tape deck I used for that edit sitting in a closet.

A huge tribute celebration was held in San Francisco shortly after John died.  I was handed the task of creating an interface so John’s recorded guitar solo would play through his famous amplifier stack along with the tribute band on stage.  The unique amplifier stack seen here in his Terra Linda rehearsal studio can be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

John’s technique when switching on the brass horns atop his rig was to stomp the switch and then back up underneath the horns before picking the first note. This way the harsh midrange from the horns would not blast his eardrums out.  He probably figured that out right after the first time he stomped that switch. They really cut through the crowd and added a cool look to the already impressive rig.

This gallery is a celebration of our time together.

Some of these images are available on a variety of merch through my fulfillment site.

RIP my old pardner.

All images Copyright Warren Paul Harris

These may not be reused or duplicated without written permission.