1. Listen to these two Raiders tracks -- the first (the venerable "Money") recorded live, and the second their (self-penned) finest hour in the studio (in an amazing stereo remix).
Some people do not agree with the proposition that the Raiders, at their peak, were one of the absolute best American rock bands of the 1960s. Are those people large idiots, or what?
Discuss.
28 comments:
What a run they had..Just Like Me..
Kicks..Hungry..Good Thing..Ups and Down..etc...
I couldn't agree more. They rocked. I'm actually surprised at the audio quality of the live recording. It sounds great. I have a buddy who sheepishly admits to having an elementary school age man-crush on Mark Lindsay. But even as kids, we all knew the band was killer, and if you couldn't be a Beatle or a Stone, you could be a Raider.
So, what is the background singer actually singing in "Him or Me..."
I've never been able to decipher that...
They rocked.
Their costumes were pretty cool until 1969. After that not so much.
And Mike Smith was a great drummer--listen to his cymbal work on "Money".....,
They definitely rocked. Too bad about their costumes.
M_Sharp said...
They definitely rocked. Too bad about their costumes.
Not as bad as the Little Rascals original costumes.
It was a fad that a lot of bands went through.
The costumes were part of their charm..they would have looked a little silly doing the high step dance in regular clothes
What Wayne said.
Gives the lie to the notion that the Northwest is just mellow dudes.
"Him or Me..." always sounded to me like the Byrds mating with the Monkees. And that is a compliment.
I can't tell you how wonderful they were live. Along with The Kingsmen, the northwest had two great bar bands that also produced fantastic records.
Dave F
I actually posted this comment/question last week when the news came of Paul Revere's death, but I think it bears repeating: I think Revere's death is made just a bit sadder by the fact that he did not live to see his band be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. And, unless something unexpected happens, they're not going to get in at the next ceremony; the 2015 nominees were announced just a few days ago, and Paul Revere & the Raiders are not on the list. Time for an on-line petition, perhaps? Or a storming of Jann Wenner's office?...
J. Lag
They might work out. Or watch their diets. But, otherwise, yes, they're idiots. These guys were awesome. I prefer the early hits to the later ones just because they're rawer and Lindsay's more snarly. (Listen to him in "Steppin' Out" just Tell. You. What.) But I love 'em all.
Him Or Me sounds on my computer speakers the way it did on my transistor radio when it first came out, which is the say the way it was produced to sound.
I loved these guys. They were damn good musicians. They could play.
Maybe one of you folks can answer this question. Were there any other rock bands -- full bands, and not single performers -- PRIOR TO Paul Revere and the Raiders that wore theme-based costumes on stage?
For the record, I particularly liked JUST LIKE ME, which was included on the album JUST LIKE US! And on JUST LIKE US! I recall that the band did a cover of Donovan's CATCH THE WIND, which on the album label was attributed to D. Leitch, which is how I came to know that Donovan did in fact possess a surname.
Screaming Lord Sutch?
Also --the Spotniks?
Re: Money: Drake Levin saves the day with a vicious stabber of a guitar solo. He was the best guitarist they ever had. Few guys in that time frame knew how to stick it to you like that. Oooh baby, c'mon and pierce me.
Re: Him Or Me: Great tune! But I don't think Harpo played any of the cool guitar parts. The hired guns were Ry Cooder, Jerry Cole and ex-Raider Drake Levin. It could very well be Van Dyke Parks on keys, or maybe Melcher. Either Jim Gordon or Hal Blaine on drums.
Regarding costumes: The Raiders may have been one of the US pioneers. As an awful example of the concept, the Golliwogs anyone? We had some local bands that did this like William Penn and His Pals. And there are the fictitious Jolly Green Giants from a Monkees episode. Also, the Rascals had the good sense to lose the costumes well before the Raiders gave them up.
Saw the Raiders in 1967 and can testify they kicked ass even if they were girdling their fleshly endowments.
Good morning. Wanna roller skate after steak and eggs?
Vickie Rock - Powder Blue Mercedes Queen
I'm surprised how many folks don't cotton to the notion that the Revolutionary War costumes were an answer to the 'British Invasion.' Their later stuff is not bad at all,especially 'Let Me.' And 'Indian Reservation' is a killer tune, even if its topical lyric is forced a la 'Eve of Destruction.'
But they were wearing the costumes before the British Invasion.
Speaking of British Invasion and costumes, anyone remember The Snobs on Red Skelton?:-)
Vickie Rock -
Or the Redcoats [Chad & Jeremy] on Dick Van Dyke?
Vickie Rock
I agree, Steve. Paul Revere and the band are the absolute best. Paul Simon said that every generation throws a hero up the pop charts. Why not throw up on the 1960s?
Back in 1978 I was tooling around in Malibu with Sean Tyla, who at the time was seeing a sorority sister of mine, Royelle, a sharpie I called Roy, for Roy Rogers, because she was always hot on the Trigger, when Sean introduced me to Deke Leonard, then on one of his Iceberg tours. Deke, whose real name is Roger, and whose friends called him Lil, but everyone knew him as Nanu Nanu, because of his fondness for Pam Dawber, showed me a test pressing copy of the Paul Revere’s Country Wine album, signed by Paul and Mark and the rest of the band, which I offered to buy from Deke for 6 ounces of high-quality Hawaiian dooba-dooba. While we were negotiating we wandered over to the Sandcastle, a bar run by Randy California’s uncle, Randy Wolfe, where we proceeded to drink ourselves under the table, and where Deke confessed to me his undying love (Oh, Deke, you rascal!), and that his former band, Man, consisted of hash eating interstellar travelers from the Ford Galaxy.
http://media.photobucket.com/user/crisskaotic/media/64FordGalaxiew.jpg.html?filters[term]=64%20ford%20galaxy%20500%20ss&filters[primary]=images&filters[secondary]=videos&sort=1&o=2
I left Deke under the table, which was a fabulous laminated teak number with mother-of-pearl inserts that matched the earrings worn by an old roommate of mine, Debbie, who you Steve may know from a number of big budget action based soft porn musicals from the 70s (you may recall Debbie Does Gershwin), and who acted under the name Dubbie, which she pronounced Debbie, but others thought was spoken as Dubby. Debbie and I had a routine where we would go to any one of a number of Malibu bars, including my favorite among them, The Hangout, where I would often find Darryl Hickman, Dwayne’s brother, and where I would refer to Debbie as Dubbie, and she would then purse her lips, cross her arms beneath her breasts, put one leg up over her head in an Durvasanana yoga pose, and then angrily correct my pronunciation of her name ….. while I walked around whichever bar we were in and picked the pockets of male patrons while Debbie, who possessed the best legs this side of the Colorado, held the attention of everyone in the bar, as well as her pose, for however long it took to pick up a few hundred bucks of partying cash.
Oh ….. such sweet times! We were soooooooo hungry for those good times!
http://media.photobucket.com/user/__xOMFGitsauto/media/Picture016.jpg.html?filters[term]=leg%20over%20head&filters[primary]=images&sort=1&o=47
http://media.photobucket.com/user/twotypes22/media/lecture/PaulRevereTheRaiderssearaid.jpg.html?filters[term]=mark%20lindsay%20-%20paul%20revere%20and%20the%20raiders&filters[primary]=images&filters[secondary]=videos&sort=1&o=15
Brian Wilson, you’re my real God! And God Only Knows Why!
http://media.photobucket.com/user/jpjrocks/media/BrianWilsonBrianinfurjacket.jpg.html?filters[term]=Brian%20Wilson&filters[primary]=images&filters[secondary]=videos&sort=1&o=7
- - Penny Podium
Attending the Coppertone Regatta in Santa Barbara, named after the early Eastern Orthodox martyr, Barbara, who lived in third century Nicomedia. Known lovingly as the patron saint of sailing, she was one sexy martyr, and my type of gal.
Just Like Me by Paul Revere and the Raiders
Just Like Me by Paramour
Just Like Me by Jamie Foxx
A Girl Like Me by Rihanna
God Gave Rock and Roll To Me by Kiss
Old Man River Me by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein
Old Man by Neil Young and Oscar Hammerstein
Where Is My Man by Eartha Kitt
Any Man Can Be A Fool by Rare Eartha Kitt
Penny,
Bravo. Well-done. :-)
p.s. Not to mention "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by Eartha Kitt, Wind and Fire
The Raiders biggest failing was not being critical darlings. Their mainstream success, esp the way they did it with Dick Clark and Co cost them. It's a pity.
Kinda makes you wanna kick a critic or two.
actually "Indian Reservation" was first cut in 1959 by Marvin Rainwater as "Pale Faced Indian." The Raiders jumped on the Wounded Knee/Native American rights movement and scored a Number One.
Got to see Paul and the boys in April with the New Colony Six opening in THEIR frilly costumes and boots.
Saw a Mark Lindsay show on the day Miles Davis died. He gave him a shout out while his band noodled a "Jazz Odyssey" number ala Spinal Tap. Oh well, I thought to myself, they WERE label-mates.....
Paul Revere and the Raiders were for a couple of years 66-67 the best American band and one of the top 3-4 bands period. Midnight Ride could easily be the best album of 1966, and the only contenders would be the Beatles and Beach Boys. They could have continued if the Raiders had been given more input as to what was being put on the albums, but for whatever reason Drake Levin, Phil Volk and Mike Smith were not allowed input after Midnight Ride and Spirit of 67 although they had demonstrated both song writing ability and musicianship on par with anybody of the era. As a result the Raiders all left and were replaced by musicians who were competent but silent and compliant.
The new Raiders made a lot of good music as they still had Mark Lindsay who was a good songwriter and great singer, but I don't think they were a real band anymore. The albums never approached the quality of the original bands and the style of music seemed to drift around with no real direction. The loss of Terry Melcher as producer was also a huge loss.
Most people don't take the Raider seriously. If you haven't done so get a copy of Midnight Ride and compare it to other albums of the time. They should have been taken seriously and could have had a much greater legacy if they had smart enough to keep the original band together.
Post a Comment