Wednesday, May 04, 2022

Songs I Loved But Had Forgotten Ever Existed (An Occasional Feature)

From 1973, please enjoy the great John Cippolina, doing business as the frontman of Copperhead, and their eponymous album's opening track "Roller Derby Star."

Copperhead was the (short-lived) band Cippolina formed after his exit from Quicksilver Messenger Service, and when their album crossed my desk at the old Stereo Review, I remember laughing my posterior off at the song, and playing it obsessively (the fact that I had been a huge Quicksilver fan probably had something to do with it). In any case, in the intervening years I forgot all about the track.

Until the other day, when for some reason I was thinkig about Cippolina's slightly surreal custom built amplifier stack, which I had marvelled at a few years ago when I saw it at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland --

--- and suddenly the song popped into my head. Kind of Proustian, when you think of it, but a lot louder than Proust would have enjoyed.

In any event, I haven't heard the album in decades, but I am pleased to report that it is available in multiple formats over at Amazon HERE.

You're welcome very much.

4 comments:

getawaygoober said...

Thanks. Always liked JC.

dorethyroad@aol.com said...

Sammy Hagar just interviewed Mickey Hart / Dead. He had a horn setup very similar to Cippolinas.

Anonymous said...

Could someone knowledgeable about the pictured Cippolina amp set up please explain to me how it works?


Doctored Captain Al

steve simels said...

Im not completely clear on it, but his guitar had two pickups -- bass and treble. The bottom amps were Standells, the amp on top was a Fender, and those horns are god know what. Apparently, he got really cool sounds by switching back and forth or combining them. Who the fuck knows? It sure looks amazing, though.