Paul Revere and The Raiders

Paul Revere & the Raiders
An American rock band that saw considerable U.S. mainstream success
in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s with hits such as "Kicks"

Formed:

1960 (Portland, OR)

Genres:

Rock and Roll, Garage Rock, Pop-Rock, Psychedelia

Original Members:

Paul Revere (b. Paul Revere Dick, January 7, 1938, Harvard, NE): organ
Mark Lindsay (b. March 9, 1942, Eugene, OR): lead vocals
Drake Levin (b. Drake Maxwell Levinshefski, August 17, 1946, Chicago, IL): lead guitar
Phil "Fang" Volk (b. October 25, 1945, Nampa, ID): bass guitar
Mike "Smitty" Smith" (b. Michael LeRoy Smith, March 27, 1942, Beaverton, OR; d. March 5th, 2001, Kona, HI): drums

Contributions to music:

• Instrumental in helping popularize the Pacific Northwest garage rock scene of the mid-Sixties
• With their Revolutionary War outfits, styled as America's answer to the British Invasion
• The most consistently popular garage-rock band of the decade
• Notable for a hilarious and convoluted stage show unlike anything else at the time
• A major influence on mod British bands of the era and their later punk brethren
• The first rock band to be given a weekly gig as a "house band" on a major television series (Dick Clark's Where The Action Is, 1965-1967 and also Happening '68, both on ABC)

Early years:

Although a big fan of both Spike Jones and Jerry Lee Lewis, the young Paul Dick was a 19-year-old who made most of his money with the barber shop and drive-in he owned in his hometown of Caldwell, Idaho. (Yes, owned; the young Dick was also a master barber!) He'd formed an instrumental rock band called the Downbeats in order to promote the restaurant; while gigging one night, a 16-year-old saxophonist named Mark Lindsay asked to sing on stage with them, and the two founding fathers of the Raiders struck up a fast friendship. By the early Sixties the newly-rechristened band had scored a few hits in Boise.

Success:

In 1961, the group -- still instrumentalists, primarily -- finally struck gold with "Like, Long Hair," a novelty which melded classical and boogie-woogie in the style of B. Bumble and the Stingers' "Nut Rocker." Revere's draft notice soon put an end to that success, but after serving his two-year stint, he and Lindsay reconvened in Portland, Oregon, taking the band in a new direction by covering an old Richard Perry R&B hit called "Louie, Louie." They attracted so much attention in their new garage-rock guise that Columbia soon signed them; they soon became the pre-eminent American rock band of the era (1965-1967).

Later years:

Using the name, Lindsay scored what was essentially a solo hit in 1971 with the massive smash "Indian Reservation," but the Raiders' brand of goodtime garage had faded by the early Seventies, although the group continued to hone its stage act and tour the oldies circuit. Lindsay -- who'd scored a solo hit for real in 1971 with "Arizona" -- left for his own career in 1975. Revere continues to tour with an updated version of the Raiders to this day, and still dabbles in the restaurant business; original drummer Mike Smith died in 2001.

Other facts:

• Other Raiders members have included: Jim "Harpo" Valley (guitar, 1966-1967), Charlie Coe (bass, guitar, 1963, 1967-1968), Freddy Weller (guitar), Joe Correrro (drums), Keith Allison (bass)
• Paul found Mark the day after his first stage appearance, working in a bakery Revere was picking up hamburger buns from
• Leon Russell played piano in an early version of the Raiders
• Revere was a Conscientious Objector during his Army stint, due to his Mennonite upbringing
• Recorded "Louie Louie" at the same studio the Kingsmen cut their hit version, at around the same time
• Producer Terry Melcher was a member of the Rip Chords

Awards/Honors:

• Oregon Music Hall of Fame (2007)

Recorded work:

#1 hits:
Pop:

• "Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)" (1971)

Top 10 hits:
Pop:

• "Hungry" (1966)
• "Kicks" (1966)
• "Good Thing" (1967)
• "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" (1967)

Top 10 albums:
Pop:

• Just Like Us! (1966)
• Midnight Ride (1966)
• Greatest Hits (1967)
• Revolution! (1967)
• A Christmas Present...And Past (1967)
• The Spirit Of '67 (1967)

Other popular recordings: "Like, Long Hair," "Steppin' Out," "Just Like Me," "The Great Airplane Strike," "I Had A Dream," "Ups And Downs," "Don't Take It So Hard," "Too Much Talk," "Let Me!" "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon," "Birds Of A Feather," "Louie, Louie," "Louie, Go Home," "Action," "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," "Ballad Of A Useless Man," "Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard)," "Louise," "Mo'reen," "Gone - Movin' On," "Tighter," "Peace Of Mind," "Too Much Talk," "Cinderella Sunshine," "Just Seventeen," "Country Wine," "Powder Blue Mercedes Queen"

Covered by: The Who, Pat Benatar, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Monkees, The Flamin' Groovies, Sammy Hagar, Leif Garrett, The Nazz, Del Shannon

Appears in the movies: Paul Revere: "Operation Thanksgiving" (2005)