San Francisco psych legends Quicksilver Messenger Service are one of the greatest and most underappreciated OG psych bands. This second album remains the most influential and essential. It’s an excellent record of the band’s original quartet lineup and early repertoire. Beyond it, the band itself deserved to be remembered as one of the all time greats and the whole discography is worth exploring.

“Happy Trails” is almost entirely a live record and almost entirely covers of blues musician Bo Diddly. Some of the tracks, like the 27 minute Who Do You Love opener, are live in concert at the West (SF) and East (NYC) locations of The Fillmore. Others are just cut live in a studio with (and occasionally without) overdub, and range between carefully composed and almost entirely jammed out.

I’ve heard that the band considered this a more or less average snapshot of their live act at the time, and didn’t fully understand the hype. I agree on the first point. Other live stuff by QSM is consistently at least this good and occasionally much more interesting. Many of my favorite tracks, including most of their more jazz informed work, are missing from this record.

On the second point I must disagree- an average night with QSM was one of the most electric shows on the planet at the time. This set is deeply satisfying to any rock fan seeking the elusive perfect mix between rootsy music that stirs the heart and soul and innovative new sounds that stimulate the imagination and mind.

“Happy Trails” is an essential psych album and if you haven’t heard it, listening will change your understanding of the 60s San Francisco psychedelic rock scene.