Live Broadcast

Copperhead

July 1, 1973 · Record Plant Sausalito

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John Cipollina formed Copperhead in 1971 after leaving Quicksilver Messenger Service, and by 1973 the band had one album out on Columbia. They closed the Record Plant's 72-Hour Concert marathon on Sunday, July 1, sharing the night's bill with the Chambers Brothers, the Pointer Sisters, and Malo. Donahue's schedule notebook places the band in that Sunday lineup, confirming both the date and the Record Plant Sausalito venue. The lineup that night: Cipollina on lead and Hawaiian guitar, Pete Sears on bass and keyboards, Gary Philipps on vocals and guitar, Jim Murray on harmonica, David Weber on drums. Sears would go on to join Jefferson Starship; Cipollina died in 1989, ranked by Rolling Stone among rock's 100 greatest guitarists.

Session
Type
Live Broadcast
Date Recorded
July 1, 1973
Date Broadcast
July 1, 1973
Archive note

KSAN 95 FM broadcast. Tom Donahue series. 72-Hour Concert marathon, Sunday July 1, 1973 close. Date/studio resolved 2026-08-10: Donahue's schedule notebook (photo on file) shows Copperhead in the Sunday column of the 72-Hour Concert weekend (Fri 6/29-Sun 7/1/1973), second slot after Chambers Bros., before Pointer Sisters and Malo — all three independently confirmed elsewhere in the archive as the July 1, 1973 marathon close, corroborating this date. Studio independently confirmed via archive.org listing (https://archive.org/details/copperheadrecordplantksanfm1973), which explicitly states "at the Record Plant in Sausalito" and lists the full lineup: John Cipollina (lead/Hawaiian guitar), Pete Sears (bass/keyboards), Gary Philipps (vocals/guitar), Jim Murray (harmonica/vocals), David Weber (drums), introduced by Tom Donahue. Previously flagged as date/studio unconfirmed — that flag is now resolved. Site copy in ksanBroadcasts.ts still carries the old "date and studio aren't yet confirmed" language and needs a text update to match.

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