Duncan grew up in Ceres, California where (as "Gary Grubb") he played guitar for "The RATZ" until they finished their performance itinerary as an opening act for "The Byrds" and the "Rolling Stones" at the War Memorial Auditorium in San Jose, California. It was in 1965 when (as Gary Cole) he joined The Brogues, in Merced, California, and met future Quicksilver Messenger Service drummer Greg Elmore. It was with The Brogues that he adopted the stage name Gary Duncan. He stayed with them until they broke up in 1965.\n', '

In late 1965 Duncan received a call from John Cippolina offering an audition for himself and fellow Brogues member Greg Elmore to join Quicksilver Messenger Service. The group first performed in December 1965 at The Matrix. The complex guitar interplay between Duncan and John Cippolina had a big influence on the sound of psychedelic rock. In early 1969, after recording two albums, Duncan left Quicksilver and as he describes it, "I left for a year and rode motorcycles and lived in New York City and Los Angeles and just kind of went crazy for about a year."[citation needed]\n', '

By the beginning of 1970 Duncan rejoined Quicksilver Messenger Service along with singer/guitarist Dino Valenti which pushed the group toward a more folk rock sound.[citation needed] By 1971 the original group had splintered with Cippolina, David Freiberg and Nicky Hopkins all leaving while Duncan, Elmore and Valenti continued to perform as Quicksilver Messenger Service until the end of the 1970s.\n', '

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