Paul Revere and The Raiders- The Action years 1965-1967

Any fans here of this lineup of the Raiders ? I grew with up with the ABC-tv series of "Where the Action is" from
1965 to 1967. Although very primitive by today's standards, as a kid i thought it was the coolest show going. I would watch it after school and it was on Monday thru Friday, so practically they were on tv almost 5 times a week. The hit songs " Steppin Out", "Just like Me", "Kicks", "Hungry" and "Good Thing" and 4 albums were recorded during this time with the lineup of Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere, Drake Levin, Mike "Smitty" Smith, Phil "Fang" Volk and Jim "Harpo" Valley. Back then, i didn't keep up with 16 magazine or Tiger Beat, but sometimes bought Hit Parader and i didn't find out about the lineup change till the end of '67, when Mark Lindsay and Paul Revere brought out the latest version of The Raiders on "Happening" on ABC and i was shocked to find out that Harpo, Smitty and Fang were no longer there. I lost interest in The Raiders after that after being so familar with the "Action" lineup for 2 years straight, 5 times a week.

 

Same here. If I recall, "Where The Action Is" was back to back with "Dark Shadows", so you'd go from people doing the swim on the beach to "Steppin' Out" to Barnabas Collins getting all gothic in the afternoon. Loved it.

 

I wasn't around during the '60s, and have only fully gotten into the Raiders during the last decade, but I have noticed I've never seen any of those TV shows and wish they were easily available to watch, like the Monkees shows are.

 

That was a great era for them. A question about the "Action" tv show: I have a memory of watching that show in the morning before heading out to school--maybe around 7:30AM. Does this sound right to anyone? Was this a syndicated show that could air at the discretion of the local affiliate? I think I watched it after school for a while but that it might have switched slots at some point. I think the first album I had from them was Greatest Hits from '67, what a great bunch of songs.

 

If you do a search of Paul Revere and the Raiders, you will find a number of threads discussing this great group and its classic lineup of Paul, Mark, Drake, Fang and Smitty. As I recall, Where the Action Is was a syndicated ABC show that aired in the afternoon (right after school!). Essential Ride is a Columbia CD package of all the best stuff!

 

I've read somewhere that some local affiliates had different time slots for the show, but i seem to remember in my neck of the woods ( WZZM-tv Channel 13 Grand Rapids, Mich.) that the show came on at 4:30 pm right after Dark Shadows, so i really do not think it was a syndicated show. I think it was part of the regular ABC afternoon lineup. I tried to get some information from the company that now owns Dick Clark Productions about a year ago, but they never answered my email. The question i have though is, did the show actually stop in March of '67 and continued with reruns till September of that year or was the time slot given to the local affilates right away in March ? If it did continue in re-runs till Septemeber, that probably was why i was confused on the Raiders lineup change.

 

I like the Raiders pretty much all the way through, although they definitely hit their creative stride between 1965-70.

 

There are a number of Where The Action Is performances on YouTube.

 

Of course that's the classic lineup of Paul Revere and the Raiders, and they made a lot of truly great records.

I know there've been a lot of threads about them through the years, but has anyone definitively established which of their hits The Raiders themselves played on, and at what point studio musicians started appearing?

I'm pretty certain "Steppin' Out" and "Just Like Me" are all Raiders, but what about after that? There's no doubt the band could cut the mustard themselves, but did the producers start displacing them in time?

 

I believe that under Terry Melcher's and later Mark Lindsay's production, it was always a mix of the two. I know that "I had a Dream" is the first single without any Raiders playing, but they seemed to have done most of the playing in the Weller/Allison era (Paul usually didn't play, but there weren't many keys anyway). There are people who post here that know all the details.

 

As far as i know, there were no studio musicians till "The Spirit of '67."
Harpo in an interview claims he plays guitar on the album, along with Jerry Cole and Drake Levin. Van Dyke Parks was a guest. Also, Keith Allison was a guest on Midnight Ride , The spirit of '67 and Revolution. The liner notes to Revolution mention session musicians but Drake Levin is on a couple of cuts (maybe more), but Fang claims to have played Bass on half the album, but he goes uncredited on the now sounds cd liner notes, so who knows. I've heard Paul Revere does not play any keyboards on Midnight, Spirit and Revolution but that it is Keith Allison.

 

On the back cover of 1969's Hard & Heavy With Marshmallow, every member is credited with an assortment of odd, eclectic instruments, although I don't know how much of that is false information.


As for "I Had A Dream," that organ player is way too soulful to be Paul Revere, who had a very stiff ragtime sound on the keyboards.

 

I know that Keith plays every instrument on "Time After Time" save the drums.

 

I also forgot to add that Hal Blaine plays the drums on the singles Kicks, Hungry, Good Thing, Ups and Downs and Him or Me ( along with Jim Gordon )

 

Ry Cooder is all over Revolution.

 

Love this period! For me their golden period started with 'Sometimes' which was a B-side in early '65 that came out before 'Just Like Me'. Almost all of their A sides from this period (Just Like Me through Him Or Me) are exceptional. Their 3 lp's from the period (Midnight Ride, Spirit Of '67, Revolution) have a lot a great album tracks and of course some forgettable clunkers. I was in 5th grade back in '66 when they were at their peak. I didn't know anyone who watched Action after school or ever talked about the Raiders but they certainly were in almost every issue of magazines like 16. The TV show brought them popularity and fame but was ultimately their doom especially after the Monkees came along. They were never considered a serious group (despite a couple of great attempts like the later Happening and Collage lp's). It's likely their hit Indian Reservation would have never made #1 without the name change shortened to 'The Raiders', according to Mark Lindsay in an article in Ugly Things magazine.

 

And he's credited on the back of Hard & Heavy ("Ryland Cooder").

 

When their first album came out (when I was 15) it blew me away. Since it was Columbia,
the stereo studio tracks sounded simply amazing. (They were the first rock group signed to
Columbia, since prior to that A & R boss Mitch Miller hated rock and roll).
And the second side was all live. And it showed just how great of a rock and roll band
they really were. It blew me away.

And Sundazed issued an expanded 2 disc version of it some years back
with additional tracks called "Mojo Workout", a simply remarkable release.

 

Quick question for Raiders experts:
Have the Spanish versions of "I Had A Dream" and "Mo'reen" had an official digital release?

 

definitely NOT the first album---check the Sande or Gardena LPs

 

I know for sure that Mo'reen hasn't. Not sure if I Had a Dream turned up somewhere.

 

That line-up was my first rock concert ever! It was a very "Vegas-y" type show that seemed like their set lasted about 40 minutes!

 

50 years ago (1965) Paul Revere & The Raiders Debut on WTAI Pilot (unaired)