Mobius Strip

This Spring 1966 poster by Wes Wilson was the first time he experimented with clashing colors – one of the trademarks of psychedelic design. The dates are enclosed in the pink mouth of this…giant clam-like shape. The two bands represented are The Final Solution and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Quicksilver went on to become a huge success, but the ironically titled Final Solution played only this single gig before fading into obscurity.

Though not as commercially successful as contemporaries Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service was integral to the psychedelic Sound coming out of San Francisco. With their jazz and classical influences and a strong folk background, the band created an individual, innovative sound anchored around long jams as opposed to singles. Music historian Colin Larkin wrote: "Of all the bands that came out of the San Francisco area during the late '60s, Quicksilver typified most of the style, attitude and sound of that era.

The band initially held back from committing to a record deal but eventually signed to Capitol Records in late 1967, becoming the last of the top-ranked San Francisco bands to join a major label. Capitol was the only company that had missed out on signing a San Francisco "hippie" band during the first flurry of record company interest and, consequently, Quicksilver Messenger Service was able to negotiate a better deal than many of their peers.

As for the name? John Cipollina recalled:

Jim Murray and David Freiberg came up with the name. Me and Freiberg were born on the same day, and Gary Duncan and Greg Elmore were born on the same day, we were all Virgos and Jim Murray was a Gemini. And Virgos and Geminis are all ruled by the planet Mercury. Another name for Mercury is Quicksilver. And then, Quicksilver is the messenger of the Gods, and Virgo is the servant, so Freiberg says "Oh, Quicksilver Messenger Service".