The Spirit of 67 (Paul Revere) What a GREAT LP !!!

I bought this when it was released back in 67'. It has always been one of my favorite albums. I also bought the CD as soon as it was released. I love every single song on the album, which is unusual for me. But I have been disappointed with the way "Louise" sounds in stereo. I recently found a copy of the LP in mono on Ebay. It was not sealed, but the seller said that it sight graded at NM. I took a chance and bought it. The vinyl is so quiet between tracks. I transferred it to CD and did practically no de-clicking. It sound GREAT !!!! LOUISE really kicks it. GOOD THING, The GREAT AIPLANE STRIKE, HUNGRY, and UNDECIDED MAN all sound awesome. If you have never heard this album by all means - get one. Get the CD, hunt up an old LP, but GET ONE.

 

It's unfortunate The Raiders don't have the respect they deserve because they are a true treasure trove of 60's music. I think the 'tights' might have stifled them a bit and when they ditched the colonial outfits it was too late. I hate to see them labeled as a novelty act because they are SO GOOD! It's amazing how many hits they had and are almost completely forgotten on radio, and as a result, the public.

 

I bought a near mint copy of the stereo LP recently and love it. Apart from the hits I like 'Undecided Man' and '1001 Arabian Nights'. Great album!

 

It is a great album, but I may like Revolution even better. I'm lucky to have both in stereo and mono. I play the monos most.

 

It's hard to imagine that the Raiders were the big thing for a few years. Great run of singles, great lps, and really great live band. I saw them in 64 opening for the Beach Boys, and again in 65 headlining. Now they are all but forgotten. It was a gas to see Fang sit in with the Loons at the LV Grind a few years back. He looks exactly the same as he did in 65!

 

Note:the first Sundazed CD pressings of "The Spirit of '67" & "Revolution contained breakup distortion,and Sundazed corrected this on the next pressings.I obtained the corrected copies from them.
One thing that cost The Raiders credibility is what happened after "The Spirit of '67"(actually released in '66).Starting in 1967,the new system was that Revere would run the business of the touring band,while Mark Lindsay would make the records with Whomever he wished,whether that meant some,all or none of the Raiders.It is likely that "Ain't Nobody Can Do It Like Leslie Can"(a 1966 B-side with a rare vocal by Revere,later included on the album "Revolution") is likely Revere's last ever performance on a Raiders recording.
"Revolution" was otherwise a Mark Lindsay/Terry Melcher album(Melcher even did part of the lead vocal on "Tighter"),with no input from the three new Raiders pictured on the album cover,though ex-Raider Drake Levin plays as a sessionman."Goin' To Memphis" is a Lindsay solo album(excepting the one Terry Melcher-produced track,which MAY have Raiders involvement),and "Something Happening" was likely another Lindsay solo effort.Lindsay persisted in issuing solo or nearly solo albums,in which he was the only participating member,even after the Monkees scandal broke.It was a foolhardy move,even if many of the recordings were actually good records.The true group sound was lost.Columbia Records seemed to find it quite acceptable to release Mark+Sessionmen efforts under the group name.
Some of the people who appeared on Raiders album covers may have had very little(if any)involvement in the recording sessions,particularly Jim "Harpo" Valley & Charlie Coe.
Involvement by Sessionmen began on several tracks from "The Spirit of '67".Even when Jim "Harpo" Valley was in the group,the group continued to use Drake Levin in the studio(whenever the National Guard could spare him),but if Levin wasn't available,they snubbed Valley,and used sessionman Jerry Kole instead(though there's the possibility that Valley may have contributed some rhythm guitar).Also,the middle section of "Hungry" was originally recorded without drums,but when the group re-worked that section to add drums,the drumming for that edit piece was played by Hal Blaine.(the rest of the song has the group's drummer Mike"Smitty" Smith).
Lindsay's intent to record almost entirely with sessionmen on the next album is what caused Phil "Fang" Volk,Mike "Smitty" Smith & Drake Levin to quit(Levin had by then gotten out of the National Guard,and rejoined,replacing Valley,who quit when the group refused to let him contribute to the songwriting)
The albums with little or no group involvement caused the loss of a true group sound.Lindsay started letting group members play on the sessions again when Keith Allison replaced Charlie Coe for the album "Hard & Heavy(with Marshmallow)",but it seems doubtful that Revere himself ever again participated,even though he started the group.Why didn't Revere care?

 

Sometimes I when I listen to this period of the Raiders I think they sound a bit like the Stones. The image of the band may be dated, but a lot of those songs sound great.

 

Great analogy.

The classic mid-60s Raiders were fantastic, tough, garage band in spirit, and even a little "dirty" lyrically like the Stones.

I know some Stones fans will take exception, but when I was 13 in 1966, my two favorite bands were the Stones and Raiders...precisely because they had that "sound"

 

They were America's answer to the Stones. Then it seemed they evolved into the answer to Herman's Hermits. Either way, they are great and I love Melcher's production. This is my favorite album by them for sure, and Fang's "Why Why Why" is an underrated pinkfloydalabarrettian gem. I'm lucky to have this in mono and then a reissued stereo version retitled Good Thing, but lacking "Why Why Why."

Funny that this thread popped up too, I just made one on the Raiders myself around this time asking about the Mono albums.

The Sundazed reissue sounds fantastic as well. This is one of a few albums where I pick up all the different versions I can obtain. The reissue has a cool alt version of "Hungry" and the 45 version of "The Great Airplane Strike." I understand there is a longer version of this track on some compilation, but I forget which and have never seen it.

 

Sundazed's Mojo Workout, a 2 CD of pre-fame, pre-sessionmen live and studio cuts, BY the Raiders, is a revelation. These guys could really play before the money started rolling in. The photo on the back of Spirit of '67 of Revere, as I recall, clutching a briefcase with money hanging out, was prophetic. By the next album, all but he and Lindsay were gone, the remaining "Raiders" a revolving group of bit players to fill in during the concerts, leaving the heavy lifting in the studio to Lindsay, Melcher and the cream of LA's studio pros.
Mojo Workout shows why the Raiders from Here They Come through Good Thing were pretty amazing.

 

Cool band. "Just Like Me" an all-time favorite track. I got into the band years ago via "Revolution" and the Greatest Hits on vinyl. I'm sure "Spirit" and "Just Like Us" are great, too.

This thread inspired me to do a forum search to find, as per usual, that I can do better sound-wise than my Legend comp on CD.

 

I saw both the Stones and the Raiders in the summer of '66. The Raiders out-rocked the Stones and, as for as showmanship, there was no comparison. The Raiders synchronized high stepping footwork, while playing and singing, was awesome. Mark Lindsey had the girls rushing the stage screaming. I still think their uniforms were very cool but I guess to people who weren't around at the time it seems hokey. It was the best rock and roll show ever. They belong in the Hall Of Fame. 'Kicks' is one of the best records of the 60's IMO.

 

Yeah, they were trying to get that sound... and did it pretty well. They just never had the street cred. And as I said before, they were good, not to take anything away from them. They had a top producer, and great song writers. I sure liked them a lot more than the Monkees. I still play the records on my radio show, and they always sound fresh. Their image made them popular, and a million garage bands copied them, but it will also always taint them with the gimmick angle.

People must remember they came from the same scene as the Sonics, Wailers, Kingsmen, Don and the Goodtimes etc. Those bands all retain a certain credibility, while the Raiders don't. The thing that bothers me is that radio, and the media have abandon them. Sure they were way more pro than these other bands, but what is the problem with that?

I don't want to get started about what I saw and how things seemed then compaired to how they are remembered now.... crazy, innit?

 

I allways thought 'Him Or Me' sounded just like the Stones.

 

Spirit of '67 is the only Sundazed PR&R CD I haven't got around to buying yet.

I'll move it to the top of my wish list.

It's doubtful I'll get a bad one at this stage but where does this break-up distortion appear, just so I can check and make sure?
Same thing with Revolution....I don't recall hearing anything nasty but I'd like to double check.

 

On the defective first run of "The Spirit of '67" on Sundazed,the distortion is most apparent on "Hungry".

 

Agreed!


A couple of mix and sound quality questions:

Do the tracks on the Mono "Greatest Hits" LP sound as good as the their counterparts on the original Mono LPs?

And is the old, original "Greatest Hits" CD (cat # CK 35593) mono or stereo (or a mixture)?

 

The Raiders are to me, THE single most underrated band/act of the 1960's. Great stage presence, fantastic singles, and some excellent long players: Midnight Ride , Spirit Of '67, & Revolution.

Their Hall Of Fame snub is much more distressing than The Monkees, and this statement comes from a huge Monkees fan.

- Dan

 

The uniforms criticism has always been kind of questionable to me because there were still dozens of "uniformed" bands out there '66 - '68...in particular I can remember the union army uniforms (wait a minute...were those uniforms gray?) on an old Gary Puckett and The Union Gap lp I had long ago...

I think the tv presence may have done more damage...but again, I wonder why? They made great records, reports from people there in the day say they were great live.

The people comparing their sound to The Stones are right, but with Terry Melcher you got a layer of Beach Boys/California sound around the gritty Mark Lindsey vocal core.

Spirit of '67 is great, but Midnight Ride is my favorite LP of theirs. A fantastic, consistent slice of '66 with jangling guitars, gritty vocals, contemporary raga, folk-rock sensibilities, those great post-surf Terry Melcher background vocals, and even a nostalgic nod with the sax instro.

And doesn't Kicks have one of the all time best intro riffs? When the bass kicks in it's just killer.

Dale

 

Is there a good DVD of the Raiders performing live, in their heyday? I didn't get to see it at the time.

 

Yeah, I really love those songs too. They are true 60's camp! (tongue in cheek). And then there's WHY WHY WHY (is it so hard). For all I know however, Mark may have been singing them with a straight face! I like the mono mix of The Great Airplane Strike too!

 

Midnight Ride > Spirit of '67 > Revolution

All three are great albums. The Columbia monos are the way to go, though the wide stereo is fun to listen to.

I've noticed that some of the Sundazed tracks are remixes (Good Thing, Him Or Me, Kicks) where no previous stereo mix existed.

 

Are you sure about this? I have the stereo lp's too, unfortunately not at my disposal. There must have been stereo mixes for these songs I would think.

 

I had the chance to see Mark Lindsay at one of the New York Cavestomps, 8 or so years ago. The Chesterfield Kings backed him. I don't like the C.K.'s material, but they did a fantastic job recreating the Raiders tunage for Mark to croon to. Mark was great and a super nice guy, too. He hung out and gabbed with folks. Glad I got to see that show. Sky Saxon and ? and The Mysterians played too!

 

the three tracks I mentioned were all fake stereo on the original Columbia releases.