Actors - Paul Revere & the Raiders

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	Actors - Paul Revere & the Raiders

Paul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw enormous mainstream success in the 1960s, best-known for hits like "Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)" (1971), "Steppin' Out", "Kicks", "Let Me" (1969) and "Hungry" (1966).

The band, initially located in Boise, Idaho, started as an instrumental rock outfit led by organist Paul Revere, named in honor of the Revolutionary War hero, who in his early twenties already owned several restaurants in Portland, Oregon. Singer Mark Lindsay joined in 1958. Originally called The Downbeats, their name was changed to Paul Revere & The Raiders in 1960 on the eve of their first record release for Gardena Records. The band scored their first Pacific Northwest regional hit in 1961 with "Like Long Hair", an instrumental. Revere was drafted, became a conscientious objector and worked at a mental institution for a year and half of defered service. After reforming the band, they attracted national attention again with a cover of "Louie Louie", which was picked up by Columbia Records although beaten in the charts by The Kingsmen's version.

They would maintain a huge level of popularity in the mid-1960s beginning with "Just Like Me" (1965), which marked the beginning of a string of garage rock classics. The Raiders, under the guidance of producer Terry Melcher, increasingly emulated the sounds of British Invasion bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Animals albeit with an American R&B feel.

The band appeared regularly on national television, especially on Dick Clark's Where the Action Is, Happening '68, and It's Happening, the latter two of which were co-hosted by Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay. Here they were presented as the American response to the British Invasion. The group wore American Revolutionary War soldier uniforms and performed slapstick comedy and synchronized dance steps while the ponytailed Lindsay lip synched to their music. This farcical, cartoonish image obscured the proto-hard rock sound that their music often took.

Their hits from the mid-60's included "Kicks" (Billboard Pop Chart #4), "Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" (#7), "Good Thing" (#5), "Hungry" (#5), and "Great Airplane Strike" (#20). Of these, "Kicks" became their best-known song, an anti-drug message written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil that was especially akin to The Animals.

In mid-1967, with three gold albums to their credit, they were Columbia Records' top-selling rock band; their Greatest Hits album was one of two releases selected by Clive Davis to try out a higher list price for albums expected to be particularly popular, along with Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits.

Changing tastes in the late 1960s rendered the group unfashionable, but they still continued to have hits through the rest of the decade, "I Had A Dream" (1967 - #20), "Too Much Talk" (1968 - #18, and an illustration of their tendency towards Beatles imitations), and "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon" (1969 - #18). Tensions between Lindsay and Revere increased during this time; Lindsay wanted to go more in the direction of hard rock acts like Led Zeppelin or the James Gang, while Revere sought a bubblegum pop direction. Lindsay's vision for the Raiders was represented on songs such as "Let Me" (1969 - #20 - Gold Single), "Powder Blue Mercedes Queen" (1972 - #54) and "Just Seventeen" (1970 - #70) and the 1970 album Collage. By the time of the release of Collage the band's name was officially shortened to The Raiders. "Freeborn Man", written by Lindsay and bassist Keith Allison, has since gone on to be a Country Rock standard, covered by The Outlaws, Junior Brown, and Glen Campbell amongst many others.

Ironically, their single release, "Indian Reservation" (1971 - #1 - Platinum single), would be their biggest hit of all, after about a year and a half or so of no hits.

In 1972 The Raiders made one last attempt at a pop album with Country Wine but Columbia was sinking money into other acts, such as Mott The Hoople and Aerosmith, and Country Wine and The Raiders sank in the resulting quagmire.

Lindsay left the band in 1975 to continue his solo career as a country star of sorts, landing a hit single with Kenny Young's "Arizona". Country music was also the choice of short-lived member Freddy Weller, who had more success in this market. Revere continued to put together Raiders lineups with some success, but Lindsay had clearly been the star of the band.

The punk rock and New Wave eras would see a wave of interest in the Raiders' music; "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" was covered by The Sex Pistols and Liverpool band The Farm (although The Monkees' cover version was more well known than the Raiders' original), and later "Just Like Me" would be covered by The Circle Jerks (as well as by more mainstream figures like Joan Jett and Pat Benatar). "Hungry" was also covered by Sammy Hagar. The Paisley Underground, garage rock revival, and grunge movements would all acknowledge the Raiders' influence.

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