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Paul Revere & The Raiders
Paul Revere started out as a barber, but with long hair becoming stylish, he switched to operating a fast food restaurant. It was there that he met Mark Lindsey who delivered the bread. They recruited other members and started playing throughout the northwest as a heavy duty R&B band. As a gag they went to a costume shop a got Revolutionary War outfits. The gag stuck.
PR&R were the first Rock act signed to Columbia Records. Columbia was late to the party to say the least. And this may have set PR&R back. Along with probably every other Northwest band, they cut a version of "Louie, Louie." Their rendition was vastly superior to the Kingsmen's version but since Columbia didn't really know what it was doing, the Kingsmen's version won.
Under the production of Doris Day's son Terry Melcher, the R & B sound was dropped, much to Revere's displeasure, and a more pop/Rock approach was adopted. It was successful with hits "Good Thing" and "Kicks" among others. "Kicks" was originally submitted to the Animals but they passed on it feeling it was too pop. Eventually, Melcher departed and Lindsey became the creative leader. In the short term, it worked with another set of hits including "Too Much Talk" and "Let Me." Already dismissed as a teenybopper band their following "hits" ("Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon" and "Cinderella Sunshine") seemed designed specifically for that market.
Turning away from pop, they dropped Revere's name and the "featuring Mark Lindsey" tag, simply becoming The Raiders, in an effort to be taken seriously. Didn't make much difference. Shortly thereafter, Lindsey embarked on a MOR solo career. Revere recruited yet another set of Raiders, placed his name back out front and hit the oldies circuit.
Paul Revere & The Raiders' debut "Here They Come!" has a live version of "Louie, Louie" and R&B covers. Revere claims this was his favorite period.
As a cross between the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones, PR&R produced a series of Rock 'n' Roll gems including "Steppin' Out," "Hungry," "Kicks" and "Good Thing." These songs are rounded up on "Paul Revere & The Raiders' Greatest Hits." Individual RR&R albums are generally solid, if unexceptional. The two best are "Spirit of '67" and "Revolution."
After releasing bubble-gum fodder, the group produced the Rockin' "Collage." The album is far from great but give the Raiders credit for attempting a change. It contains hard-edged/jailbait "Just Seventeen" and Laura Nyro's "Save The Country."
Surprisingly, when they reached the end of the road they had their biggest hit with a remake of Don Fardon's "Indian Reservation," selling three million copies.
There are two exceptional PR&R compilations. "The Legend of Paul Revere" and "The Essential Ride 1963-67" have the group's hits plus tracks from their R&B period.