Gary Duncan Dead: Quicksilver Messenger Service Guitarist Dies at 72

Photo via Eric Brenner

Gary Duncan, the guitarist with the Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Brogues, has died at the age of 72. Duncan suffered a seizure and fell into a coma before sadly passing away on June 29 in Woodland, California.

San Francisco-based rock aficionado Professor Poster was the first to announced Duncan’s death in a Facebook post. The post read, “It is with sadness that I share the passing of one of San Francisco’s fine guitarists and notable musicians that go back to the beginnings….. Gary Duncan. Once guitarist with The Brogues, then most notably with Quicksilver Messenger Service, where the complex interplay between himself and fellow-guitarist John Cipollina did much to define the unique contributions that made up the San Francisco Sound and based band. Rest in Peace you old Guitar Slinger…. You will be remembered with fondness by ALL of us that saw and heard you play over the many years.”

Who Do You Love? (1973 B&W) – Quicksilver Messenger ServiceWho do you Love? (Bo Diddley) video of live performance by Quicksilver Messenger Service at Winterland in 1973. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute…2011-02-28T07:06:33.000Z

Duncan was born Gary Grubb in San Diego in 1946. His first band was the locally-based The Brogues alongside Greg Elmore. The band split when the pair were offered a role in John Cipollina and Dino Valenti’s group, Quicksilver Messenger Service. The band’s name comes from the fact that all four members had the Virgo astrological sign, which is ruled by the planet Mercury, which is also known as Quicksilver.