Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesFounding Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist/singer Gary Duncan died Saturday at the age of 72, BestClassicBands.com reports.
The website says that, according to confirmed reports from people close to Duncan, the musician passed away in Woodland, California, after suffering a seizure and falling into a coma.
Born Gary Grubb in San Diego, Duncan played in a Bay Area garage-rock band called The Brogues in 1965, along with drummer Greg Elmore. Both then joined Quicksilver Messenger Service that same year. The San Francisco-based psychedelic band also featured singer/songwriter Dino Valenti, guitarist John Cipollina and bassist/singer David Freiberg.
Quicksilver played at the famous Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967, and released its self-titled debut album the following year. It featured three songs co-written by Duncan. The band’s most successful album was its critically acclaimed sophomore effort, 1969’s Happy Trails, which sold 500,000 copies in the U.S.
While the group never scored any major hit singles, a number of its songs became rock radio staples, including 1970’s “Fresh Air” and 1971’s “What About Me,” both of which were written by Valenti.
Duncan briefly left Quicksilver in 1969, but after re-joining the band the same year, he remained a member until its breakup in 1979.
Gary subsequently led his own version of the group. In 2006, he and Freiberg, who also is a longtime Jefferson Starship member, reformed Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the two bands played concerts together for a number of years.
“I’ve always thought of Gary as the engine of the original four-piece group,” Freiberg told Rolling Stone. “I felt he was always underrated as a guitarist. His solos with QMS were some of the finest ever.”
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