Paul Revere and The Raiders

Damn...how do I miss all these Kevin Gray remasters?! I want that one, but the thing is I have multiple original copies of that album...

 

That would be good to know...but not a deal breaker either way. What I would like to know is how did Good Thing and Ups And Downs come out? On the original stereo presses those were fake stereo, along with maybe Melody For An Unknown Girl...if memory serves. Would be great if they were restored to straight mono or mixed to true stereo...

 

I own this LP and play it all the time. I should have said after this album instead of "that time forward". It also has my favorite Raiders tune on it Him or Me. After that it is probably Let Me, Ups and Downs, Good Thing, Mr. Sun, I Had a Dream, Kicks, I could go on but will refrain.

 

And when you look at their output 1965 ~ 1967, they were firing on all cylinders. Real contenders if you ask me. Certainly 'second tier' in comparison with The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones...but in comparison with the bands that would have been part of their cohort, IMO they stand out.

 

Where The Action Is/Was!

 

I know it's...who was it? Ry Cooder I seem to recall, but anyway that lead guitar intro to Him Or Me (What's It Gonna Be?) is flat one of the coolest bits in any rock 'n roll record ever. It's always surprised me how (among others) that's another '60s great that has gone almost completely forgotten. In fact by the mid-70s Paul Revere and The Raiders had basically been forgotten. A one off was The Flamin' Groovies who covered Him Or Me in 1973 or so, but that was an obscure record itself.

Note: the Flamin' Grooves also covered Ups And Downs too good effect on their Now! album in 1978 and a latter, kind of fakey lineup of the band covered Kicks in the mid or late '80s. Clearly someone in the band remembered.

 

Nice rhythm section.

 

My favorite album is Hard 'N' Heavy (With Marshmallow). Love those fuzz guitars on "Time After Time". The Dutton Vocalion quad mix with Indian Reservation is pretty great.

 

I know they really weren't the band anymore, But Him or Me and The Airplane Strike are killer rockers

Now what was the Crisco Party all about?

 

Just listened to Flamin' Groovies Ups and Downs, not a bad cover. And I agree with your assessment of the intro to Him Or Me, as expected I guess since I just said it was my favorite of their tunes. Was it Cooder or Glen Campbell? Paul Revere and The Raiders probably, as you say, had been almost forgotten except for a few of us, until a few years ago. I was in total shock watching Once Upon A Time in Hollywood and all the Raiders tunes. The placement of Hungry and that whole scene surely set a tone for everyone who knew what really happened.

 

Best version of Freeborn Man by The Outlaws. Their live album. Freddie Salem was great on vocals.

 

Paul Revere passed away. They carried on as Paul Reveres Raiders for awhile. Looked it up, they did their farewell show last April.

 

well put and someone said what a great "singles band" they were. agreed.

But I have not seen this GEM mentioned. so here it is!

 

Gem it is. The best version if you ask me.

 

Midnight Ride is my favorite album by the band. Here's another gem from the LP:



So cool it amazes me it hasn't been covered to death. Well, David Bowie covered the original sax driven version in 1964, but this revamped for '66 guitar riff take is just great.

 

Actually, the bigger problem for Drake, Phil and Mike was that Paul Revere started using outside musicians on The Spirit of '67 because he didn't want to pull the band off the road to record. So they weren't playing on their records any more. Fang (Phil Volk) was quite a bass player, but they all felt unappreciated and got fed up with Revere's treatment of them. It was after they left that "featuring Mark Lindsey"was tagged on to the name. And it was also after they left what the band's music started losing its edge.

 

agreed. my favorite version as well. They were without doubt one of the best singles groups of the 60's. Overshadowed as you say by those other "LP" acts.

I just read this and remembered my father was in the army actor corps Korea era with Frank Gorshin who was The Riddler?? if memory serves and his best friend and associate Terry Melcher produced all the amazing Raiders hits. Small world - or it was..

another recollection spurred by the thread. Jim Valley left the raiders and asked my pop to manage his solo career.

Not a good move lol

 

Did band members write the songs?

 

Frank Gorshin was indeed the Riddler. He was also a great impersonator:

 

I think that the singles were mostly by outside writers, but some of the members like Fang did write some of the album material.

 

Mark Lindsay and Terry Melcher wrote quite a bit together. Mark speaks of his friendship with Terry a lot on Facebook too.

 

They were very good. I have all their albums on cd. I have 2 single collections. Their Christmas album is one of the best.

Several years ago on a Disney Vacation they were playing in Epcot at the World Showcase…well it was Paul Revere and a new Raiders band. They put on an excellent show.

 

Tarentino's Once Upon A Time.. has a scene where Sharon Tate drops the needle on a Raider's song (Good Thing maybe) and her roommate starts dancing. She says something like "Are you afraid your friends will see you dancing to Paul Revere" meaning it was unhip to like Paul Revere at the time. And yeah, it was the uniforms that made them uncool but the music was still great.

 

I picked up this NM mono 2 eye (because I'm a sucker for 2 eyes) and was surprised how rockin' it is. I forgot about them since back in the day and yes the costumes were corny

 

The hits were really good songs. I liked the band, but not the schtick.
Melcher sure is an interesting fella tho.