special introductory
paragraph!
Like, Long Hair
Paul Revere & The Raiders
Here They Come!
Just Like Us!
Midnight Ride
The Spirit Of '67
Revolution!
A Christmas Present..And Past
Goin' To Memphis
Something Happening
Hard 'N' Heavy (With Marshmallow)
Alias Pink Puzz
Collage
Indian Reservation
Country Wine
The Legend Of Paul Revere
The Great Raider Reunion
When I was but a wee lad, I used to listen to The Spirit Of '67 over and over again and pretend that my little Lego men were Paul Revere & The Raiders and I was Mark Lindsay. Can you imagine???? ME as Mark Lindsay???? As if I could ever be that adorable, pony-tailed and multi-talented???? Unconscionable. Regardless, let's discuss the Raiders. They were basically an "entertainment!" band for the kids, like The Monkees but slightly less fake. They had a TV show called Action! or something like that and they put out popular albums full of great pop rock tunes ("Kicks," "Just Like Me," "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?") written by themselves and other talented musicians. They kind of petered out in the late '60s though and everybody thought their bubblegum crap was stupid. But what does everybody know? Everybody knows nothing about life.
When Paul Revere & The Raiders began their storied career, they didn't sound a bit like the band that would one day record "Police Story" for the infamous Punk & Disorderly compilation. This makes perfect sense because that band was The Partisans.
But even less unexpectedly, The 1961 Raiders didn't sound a whit like the band that would hit it big with "Just Like Me" five years later. Instead, they were an instrumental frat party band playing a selection of standard 12-bar boogie-woogie, r&b;, blues, surf and rock and roll hits on their piano, organ, saxophone, guitar and what-have-you. This low-fidelity debut features covers of Bo Diddley, The Wailers, The Gamblers, George Gershwin, Moe Koffman and Isham Jones, as well as a few originals (the guitar-driven "Orbit" beats The Ventures In Space at its own game!) and two hit reinterpretations of classic material: the Rachmaninoff-gone-r'n'r title track and adorable Chopsticks speed-boogie "Beatnik Sticks" (which also quotes Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts"). Unfortunately, nearly half the album is as boring and awful as a newspaper. Fuck you, newspaper!
Between the generic 12-bar boogie of "Groovey," generic 12-bar blues of "The Last Mile," generic surf of "Moon Dawg," pig-bleating saxophone of "Summertime," women who sound like idiots of "All Night Long" (BY ALL MEANS A LIONEL RICHIE COVER) and the shitty boogie-woogie original "Sharon," it's no wonder that you wind up feeling like you're reading a regularly scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. And I don't care how much "Wabash Blues" sounds like "Sweet Little Sixteen" and therefore "Surfin' USA"; the whole album sounds like it was printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper.
It's getting pretty hard to find a copy of this record (the CD is 200 dollars on Amazon!), so here's the track listing just so you have it:
"Like, Long Hair"
My fiance just interrupted an important conversation to remark, "I really hate this stupid music." So there's your introduction to Saul Revere And The Gayders' second album, another LP that adds absolutely nothing to the world of rock and roll. It's a bunch of predictable straightforward covers of early rock and roll hits like "Honky Tonk," "Shake Rattle & Roll," "So Fine" and "Work With Me Annie." Mark "Prindle" Lindsay was playing the saxophone and the rest of the band was playing exactly what you'd expect from an uninnovative early '60s rock band. It's honestly impossible to give this album any grade other than a 5. It's perfectly, immaculately average. Now my fiance is telling me that we should smoke pot together, but that we would need a bong, because that's the only way she likes it. Whatever. She smoked pot like twice in college, and now she's acting like she's Little Miss Druggie or something. Is pot any good? I've never shot up the joint weed.
As for this album, I've never heard it. Why listen to Paul Revere and the
Raiders when you can listen to the Sonics? I did hear their later hit about
the Cherokee people or whatever. Grim.
Still all covers, but played with much more excitement! Mark Lindsay's voice has already developed into the sexy ponytailed baritone, alto, tenor, soprano, falsetto or whatever that the chicks all dig and the band actually puts their own stamp on hits of the day like "Time Is On My Side," "Louie Louie," "Money," "Do You Love Me" and "You Can't Sit Down" instead of just playing them straight through. Except "Time Is On My Side," which they play straight through. But camdarm, the saxophones in certain other tunes make you rear your head back and say, "Why don't other popular bands, such as Creed and Limp Bizkit, employ the saxophone (or 'poopbowl flute') in their popular dance music?" The answer is simple: Those bands are already so good that there is no way that any change could possibly improve their musical output. Recording notes: Side one of this album is recorded live with screaming teenagers high on mescaline in the Mojave Desert, side two is recorded in studio at the popular Burning Man Festival with Trent Reznor producing (that's him playing the Ass Dildo during "These Are Bad Times For Me And My Baby") and side three is recorded on a tape recorder covered in Farrah Fawcett's shit and thrown out the window of a speeding car.
*It was a cart of their third album, "Good Morning Starshine."
Let me explain something impotent here - these first few Paul Revere & The Raiders albums were not full of the catchy guitar pop bubblegum rock on which they built their reputation. They began as a soul/r'n'b cover band (which explains the saxophone, I suppose). But these songs are all so well known as early ROCK AND ROLL songs that it's difficult to remember that stuff like "I'm Cryin'," "New Orleans" and "Baby, Please Don't Go" began as black people's music, and this bunch of white boys from Oregon dressed in silly Revolutionary War outfits best keep their faces out of Harlem until they're through with this phase if they don't want to wake up in the morning to find their asses kicked down the street several yards away from their bodies. Having stated that, let me add that their first rock and roll classic, "Just Like Me" can be found on here. It sure isn't a race record! Throbbing '60s organ, inverted "Louie Louie" riff, wailin' guitar solo, yowlin' vocals, thumb-dumbin' rhythm guitar - it could be an early Rolling Stones song if it didn't sound so much like an Ice Cream Truck! Another song that could be an early Rolling Stones song is "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," with its "Satisfaction"-esque fuzz guitar and Mick Jagger-like lyrics about not being able to get any satisfaction. Similarly, a song that could be a Byrds cover of a Bob Dylan song is their Byrds-ripoff cover of Donovan's Bob Dylan ripoff "Catch The Wind." And another thing! Ooof
Hitting their stride with a muthafuckin' vengeance, the Raiders slam on the gas and propel the listener into a seemyingly endless parade of pop rock classics most of which were penned BY THE BAND MEMBERS THEMSELVES!!!! This was the key difference between the Monkees and the Raiders - YES, it's true that both had a TV show and YES it's true that both did their darnedest to imitate more highly-respected bands to cash in on previously established sounds and believe it or not, it's even true that during their heyday, the Raiders DIDN'T play the majority of the instruments on their records (according to the vast amounts of literature that I've read on the band, which included a review in one book and the liner notes to a compilation that I skimmed in the car once). But they DID write killer tunes, man. On this album, they imitate the harmonious ringing guitar sound of The Byrds, the propelling rhythms of early electric Dylan, a bit of Beach Boys relaxation whimsy, a tad of George Harrisony fakey Indian ridiculousness, and -- well, they do a cover of "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," so let's go out on a happy limb and assume that the Monkees were an influence as well. Either that or Minor Threat. Forget what the critics try to tell you about the Raiders being a mistake, a worthless, disposable embarrassment and a bunch of child molesters out on bail -- Midnight Ride is a really good, fun, uptempo rainbow smile of a record. SHORT, yes, but you have to remember that this was the 60s, long before such technological advancements as compact discs and microphones. In fact, this incarnation of the band is still in the studio right now, waiting to perform the songs for any listener who happens to slip the "album" (nothing is actually on it) on their turntable. If you dig mainstream mid-60s music at all, this is a not-half-bad-to-own. From the amazing anti-drug classic "Kicks" to the heartcockling saxophone solo "Melody For An Unknown Girl" that closes the record, this is a bastard-rucking, ear-licking collection of splendid, perfect bubblegummish (though much harder than fluff like "Sugar Sugar") rock and roll. Disposable? Of course it is, but so is Abbey Road for christ's sake. It's all just pop music - nobody is saving lives here. Nobody - not even Mark Lindsay - was able to save the life of Willie Stargell.
I'm a little too close to this album to give it the straightforward, purely objective review that you're used to seeing on my site, but I will, as always, give it the old college tie. This was the first album that I truly, achingly adored with all of my heart. I guess I was about four years old when I started listening to my Dad's copy all the time and fantasizing that I was Mark Lindsay. Age hasn't made it suck though! Kind of like what a Monkees album might sound like if it was ALL the Micky Dolenz-sung hard rockin' and creepy melancholy tunes, this is by far the most diverse and fully realized Paul Revere & The Raiders album, as well as one of the most consistently entertaining, impressive "bubblegum" rock records that was ever created by ANYBODY. And that includes Merrill Fankheuser And His HMS Bounty!!!!! "Good Thing" starts with a descending guitar/bass intro and "Ssss-ipp-ahh!" vocal suck that are among the finest intros that this world has ever known, especially including all classical music, jazz and rock and roll. The song continues with a poppy, catchy melody best left to geniuses like Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere and producer Terry Melcher. The piano rollicks, the guitars bubble, the lyrics refer to a female orgasm and the vocal harmonies are so perfect you want to lick your own asshole just to clean out the sugar that has passed into your ears and through your intestinal tract. This is the greatest song ever written. "All About Her" is a serious song. I think they're playing guitars but it's hard to tell - it almost sounds like an autoharp or something, it's so plunky, cold and arty. Very eerie song about the absolute mind-destroying darkness that comes with rejection. Mark's vocals sound like he's about to fall apart - it's quivery, weak, questioning, confused - "She was laughing at me. all the time..". No drums in this song - there's just no place for them. This is the best song ever written. "In My Community" has the sort of galloping, lumpy bass line that you'd expect to hear in a Mark Prindle song. The keyboard break is kind of dopey, but the song itself rides very cutely on aforementioned bass line, leading into a catchy, multi-vocal-singed chorus. A nice, happy respite after the previous pain gun of notes. This song is by bassist Phillip Volk, which is why the bass line is so damned cute that you want to kiss it and compare it to that phenomenal bass line in Aerosmih's "Walk This Way" that you hardly notice because the song is so great. This song isn't perfect, but the bass line is the greatest bass line ever written. "Louise" wasn't written by the band, but it sounds like it was. Descending, uptempo Monkees-style riff and bass-happy singalong harmonious chorus. A little mean and vicious, a little cheery and bawdy. Vocals, as always, are perfect and should be studied by scholars for generations to come. This is the greatest song ever recorded. "Why? Why? Why?" is another one written by bassist Volk, but it's not bass-driven like his other one. This is a up-and-down note-driven, dark, guilty song about leaving the girl who loves him way too much. The verse is neat and jittery, but the chorus is just perfect. Especially at the end of the song when it keeps repeating over and over. These guys were SUCH great vocalists - like Beach Boy great. The chorus is the epitome of sonic questioning and the verse is right up there too. There has never been a song written by anybody that was as good as this one. "Oh! To Be A Man" is the kind of song you'd expect from Procol Harum or The Kinks or something. EXTREMELY depressing and icy, the song rides on minor-key piano soloing and dead bass thumps and presents haughtily, emotionless vocals expressing the way that parents punish, berate and ultimately destroy their children's souls and creativity. When I was a child, I thought that this was written and sung by Paul Revere telling me that I should act like a man - I considered him the "bad" member of the band because the back picture shows him dressed as a ruthless businessman without a smile on his face. In fact, you can still see on my copy of the album that next to his picture, I wrote "Boo Boo Boo." (Mark Lindsay's picture, of course, got a pink crayoned "yay.") Now that I'm older and understand what the lyrics mean and why the song is presented this way, I have to admit that this is the greatest song ever written. "Hungry" wasn't written by the band but it sounds like it was. It starts with a cool drum-roll driven little intro, then smashes into the actual song, which is a herky-jerky, thump-thump-thump-thump production riding on a melody somewhat reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys' "Let's Lynch The Landlord" until the keyboard-driven chorus brings you back to reality and the post-chorus, fuzz bass thub thub thub has you grabbin' your acid lamp of love and wiggin' until the "ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah" part that is identical to a part in "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," a Boyce/Hart song of the same era, but I'm not sure who ripped off who. This is the greatest non-rolling rock song ever recorded. "Undecided Man" is a violin song. At first, it seems too much like an "Eleanor Rigby" copy, but the vocal melody is innovative and interesting, especially as it is repeated on strings later in the song, and the middle part with megaphoned vocals and booming bass drum makes it all worthwhile. This isn't the greatest song ever recorded. It's decent though. The weakest song on the record, I think. Still good though, and the middle part is the greatest middle part ever recorded. "Our Candidate" is a goodtime rock and roll song. Catchy and actually countryish! You feel like you're driving in a pickup through the rural south, going to that Shoals place with all the mud and seeing that redneck woman's car with the big band-aid on it and playing with the grease gun and trying not to step in horse manure. Fantastic recreation of that mood, reminding me of the GOOD parts of the south instead of all the really, really bad parts (of which there were many). I can't figure out what the hell the lyrics are about, but hey it was written and sung by the drummer! Terrific vocal twang - out of place? No! This is the most wonderfully fun song ever recorded by anybody in the history of time. "1001 Arabian Nights" is the band's attempt to be Eastern and Indian like George Harrison and "Paint It Black." It would be laughable if the vocal melody weren't such a draw, the guitar tone such a hypnotic treat and the 2nd/4th line vocal harmonies so perfectly, wonderfully overdone. The little gong-driven break is stupid, though, especially since you can tell that the "drone" noise is just a member of the band making a dumb noise with his mouth. Although this break is really humiliating to both band and listener, the song itself is a definite keeper with, once again, vocals so haunting that you just want to package them in a box and sell them on Halloween to some asshole. If I were going to name a "Great Indian-Sounding Song of the Century," this would be it. "The Great Airplane Strike" is one of the greatest songs I've ever heard. I'm not joking. I listen to this song over and over and over and still can't get enough. It's got one of those guitar riffs like "Psychotic Reaction" that you just want GLUED ON YOUR HEAD so you can share it with the entire world during important board meetings. The drumbeat is upbeat, personable and head-bobbingly choppity-doppy and the lyrics are so damn funny and exhausting, you feel like you're right there alongside Mr. Lindsay as he races to the airport, discovers that his airline is on strike, races to the Budget Airline, is told he can buy a seat on the wing, gets excited but then is told that the wing space has been sold, goes into the bathroom and starts a fire, upsets the janitor until he explains his situation (at which point the janitor understands), spends the night, decides to go home in a cab, waits 14 hours for an open one to come by, finds one, hops in and is told that the taxi is out of gas before finally deciding to let the LA Flyway become his permanent home. Hee! Did I mention that it is the catchiest song that any plant, person or animal has ever even considered jotting down on paper? So you see - I have no choice but to give the album a 10. But my life is different from yours. This is the point in the review where I want you to share with me and all the other readers what YOUR first favorite album was, the memories it holds for you and how it sounds to you now, in the year 2001 when you're 27 years old.
As a pleasant side effect, when I next went to the URL line to type in your site, as I was accustomed, I typed "www.mark" and then expected your site to appear. However Mark Lindsay's, not Mark Prindle's, site appeared, and continues to appear as I try to wean myself from that habit. So while you may never again be as pony-tailed as your childhood hero, your existences are inextricably intertwined in my web-life.
(My childhood hero was Freddie Mercury, and I often played with legos in my third grade room, imaging faces to go with all those voices in Bohemian Rhapsody. I didn't know he was gay until he died of AIDS in 1992 (I was 22!). Go figure. Maybe I should post this to your Spiderland review as well.)
Poised to take the world by storm and make it forget about such non-entities as the "Beatles" and the "Five Americans," Paul Revere & The Raiders suddenly hit a roadblock when -- ahhh, well, 60% of the band hit the road. They formed a band called Brotherhood, who seem like they may have been pretty good judging from the one time I listened to that one album I have by them. So anyway, Paul and Mark replaced them with some country/western-minded guys, dragging the Monkees analogy from Micky Dolenz guitar rock to Mike Nesmith twang-a-thon. Which reminds me - did you contribute to the Mike Nesmith Twang-A-Thon this year? He needs more money because he's a piece of shit fucking prick selfish conceited arrogant asshole douchebag who never thinks about anybody but himself and sells his own fucking autograph online for $50 because apparently the billion-dollar inheritance he got from his liquid paper-inventing mother isn't enough to pay for all his important bills, including those he gets for sitting on his ass recording like one album every ten years and bashing the other Monkees even though they are the ONLY reason that anybody even knows his name. Strangely, I like Mike Nesmith. Let's continue. As you perhaps could have surmised on your own, Revolution doesn't sound all that much like the previous Raiders records. The songs are slower and lazier with twangy countrified guitarwork, which makes it all the more surprising that the songwriting itself is still incredibly catchy and vocal-harmony driven. They aren't setting out to become pioneers of country rock like Mike "Prick" Nesmith (who I like) - they just happen to have grabbed a country-twangin' guitarist to help present their bubblegum pop in a slightly different manner. The two hits off the record represent, in my mind, the absolute best and worst that this band had to offer. "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" is '60s rock perfection, with a driving beat and angelically soaring vocal harmony in the chorus that makes me play the darn thing over and over again and sing it in the shower and reminisce about all the times I saw the clip of them lip-synching to the song on that Dick Clark music show that he did when he wasn't busy with his true passion, America's Funniest Bloopers And Practical Jokes Starring Ed McMahon, not to be confused, of course, with Foul-Ups, Bleeps And Blunders Starring Don Rickles and Steve Lawrence. And the other hit was "I Had A Dream," a drunken, lurching, novelty stupidass music hall sounding thingamajig that's every bit as rotten to the tooth as the Monkees' soundalike "D.W. Washburn." The rest of the album falls somewhere in between and thankfully doesn't sound at all like "I Had A Dream" (except for the absolutely RANCID country joke song "Ain't Nobody Who Can Do It Like Leslie Can"). Which reminds me - isn't Rancid an incredibly appropriate name for that punk band? Do you think there's any way we can get Blink 182 to change their name to Piece Of Shit?
Singlehandedly setting the Christian religion back about 400 years (if only they'd gone a little further and completely deleted it from existence), Paul and the gang belch forth the stupidest bunch of moronic bouncy happy original Christmas songs imaginable, sounding more like late-period Monkees (after Mike and Peter had quit) than the clever, tight rock band responsible for "Him Or Me" and "Good Thing." Not even catchy, this silliness goes beyond the pleasantries of bubblegum to a level of sickeningly sweet nonsense I almost want to call Pixie Stix or something. I always hated Pixie Stix. Stupid powder shit always ended up all over the bottom of my Halloween bag, shitting up the rest of the good candy. If I wanted powder, I'd snort nose candy (i.e. Pixie Stix) thanx. There are a couple of honestly really good Raider-style songs on here ("Rain, Sleet, Snow," "Valley Forge" and the somber instrumental "Peace") and Paul's goofy album introduction honestly is a hoot, but the rest of the record - hoo boy. To give you some indication of how rotten these tunes get, when I told my fiance I was giving the record a 4, she replied, "Yeah, there were about four seconds of silence in the middle that sounded pretty good." Not even holiday play can save this turkey produced by hams to make money for pigs.
Do you like good music? That sweet soul music? Then stay the hell away from this piece of crap. I have to admit that I don't go out of my way to purchase records in the "soul/r'n'b" genre. And this goes doubly the truth when said "soul/r'n'b" is performed by a bunch of studio musicians and released under the name "Paul Revere and the Raiders." This is a Mark Lindsay solo album. He wanted to make a soul album, presumably to cash in on the success of bands like Booker T & The MGs and The Box Tops, so he fled to Memphis, shacked up with a leading Memphis soul revue and recorded a bunch of phenomenally weak attempts at white-boy soul. The songs show the occasional spirit, but no innovation or melodic ingenuity at all. And there's a cover of "Soul Man," for the love of God. Didn't anybody learn ANYTHING from the untimely career of James Belushi?
Paul Revere and the Raiders cover of "Soul Man" was well over a decade ahead of Belushi and Aykroyd's cover of it. If you're to criticize, at least have your chronology correct!
I'm going to read your review of "Something Happening" now. I hope you flush it like the pretentious, condescending straight-edge/druggie piece of shit it is.
I know I haven't stood up for them before now, but I'm going to stamp my foot down right here and take offense to all those people who call Paul Revere & The Raiders a "bubblegum" group. Their music was poppy and catchy, but MUCH harder-edged and guitar-oriented than most people give them credit for. This album, however, is bubblegum. Hippie-dippy soft, bouncy, over-stringed and over-horned bubblegum fluff music. It's a good bubblegum album though! Certainly the boys borrow a bit too much from the popular hits of the day ("Too Much Talk"? More like "Too Much Paperback, Writer!" "Communication"? More like "An Incredibly Famous Soul Song Whose Identity Is Escaping Me At The Moment"!), but they add enough of their own jigmarole to keep the tunes as fresh and alive as a cigarette ("Too Much Talk" to my ears is MUCH more memorable a tune than "Paperback Writer," though I realize that's not much consolation, and "Communication" gets stuck on this super-hypnotic up-and-down groove thing for the last couple of minutes that are noticeably absent from whatever that famous soul song is that they're ripping of). Plus, as poppy, la-la-la and sweet-as-rotton-randy as the album is, several of the songs keep screwing you 'round with chords you just aren't expecting - one song even has a funny rhythm break that you're not expecting! Isn't the treat of all seasons? Weird how the country vibe is completely missing from this record even though it's the same bassist and guitarist that played on Revolution. Maybe the songs used to be countryish before Mark brought in his orchestras and turned the album into The Soft Parade and/or Magical Mystery Tour and/or A Vanilla Fudge Album. Did I mention how much my fiance cracks me up? Here are two examples from just the last couple of days for you: Situation #1: We're walking through Central Park with our puppy dog Henry off the leash. This is illegal, but he's a good boy and always comes back when called. Suddenly, Henry sees a father and his two songs kicking a soccer ball back and forth. Henry, who LOVES to chase a nice ball, makes a mad dash for the soccer ball. Doesn't even approach the children, you understand. Just runs down and chases the ball. We call him, he returns to us. As he returns, the Father becomes distraught for no reason whatsoever. Let's join the action... Situation #2: She's jogging through Central Park with Henry, our aforementioned adorable puppy dog. Both become overheated and stop for a drink from a water fountain. She drinks first and then lets Henry drink from the water stream. An agitated jogger happens by. Let's join the action... Hee! Best of luck to you in your search for a woman even a smidgen as entertaining.
"Something Happening" is the man! I'd take a few stars off ''Alias Pink
Puzz" and give it to that album instead. BLOWS away anything like their
contemporaries the Monkees (who I like as well) ever laid onto wax,
except maybe the 'Head' soundtrack...nah, it blows that away as well.
I'm officially starting the "Something Happening" is 'a
great-undiscovered-album of the 60's - and you should give it a chance,
oh great unwashed masses' rumour right here, right now.
James Bond (I can REALLY relate to Paul Revere)
Something Happening was a day-glo afterglow morning following a heavy stone night before masterpiece. I think you all drink too much coffee.
This album is best enjoyed with enough 'cid to make a leash on oneself a necessity to law and order!
This album is fluffy and marshmallowy, but with slightly harder, heavier instrumentation than you would normally expect from melodic pop sissy music. Hit singles included such classics you've never heard as "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon" and "Cinderella Sunshine." This album definitely doesn't feature the uptempo dizzying thrills of a "Kicks" or a "Good Thing," but the songs are super melodious as if Paul McCartney wrote them, and consistently so - with only, to my ears, one honestly bland, ugly track ("Where You Goin' Girl"). Just don't expect more energy than you can shake a shoe at, because you won't find it here. They sound like they're trying to appeal to old people or stuffed animals or something - the songs are cheery, inoffensive, nice! Not at all like the hardcore death metal that we're used to hearing from Paul Revere & The Raiders. Plus, as an added bonus, the band members each have silly little parts to themselves (Paul jams on the piano and makes hysterical laughing noises, Mark knocks on a door and attempts to introduce himself before you hear the door being suddenly slammed in his face, etc) to better your understanding of what it was to be part of a once-huge band whose popularity was shrinking away at an earth-shattering pace. It's not even necessarily that the band got WORSE - it's just that this music isn't hyper or in-your-face enough to appeal to kids. It's, again, very pleasantly constructed hummable midtempo pop music. Like something you might hear by the Raspberries or Todd Rundgren, but not abominably shitty like both of those artists' entire back catalogs. Which reminds me, do you think I'll get a lot of extra traffic to this page from all the people searching for nude pictures of Harrison Ford? Huh? No no, not because of the Raiders movies; I mean because I used the term "Harrison Ford's Sweaty Cock" as my meta-tag for this page?
Don't worry about the album title. I'm not here to explain album titles. This one is a lot grungier, filthier and scratchier than most of the other Raiders albums, or maybe it just seems that way to me because some jerk sold me a copy on ebay that came complete with a huge coating of wax covering most of side one, so I had to spend half an hour scraping at it with a knife and rubbing fingernail polish remover and soap all over it until it became even remotely listenable. Even AFTER a majority of the wax was removed, howe'er, say, my space bar makes an annoying squeaky noise every time I push it and it's giving me a headache. Would you mind if I ceased pushing it for the duration of at least this one album review? Thank you for your considerationship. AsIwassayingevenafteryouremoveallthewaxthisalbumstillsoundsgrungeybecausetheguyswroteabunchofswampysleazycountrysickriffsandguitartwang I can't do it. In my brain, it just doesn't feel right to NOT push the space bar. DAMNED BRIAN! You've heard The Ventures' album Swamp Rock, right? Oh what am I saying of course you have, everybody has. That's like asking if you've heard your mother's voice. Anyway, this album is to Goin' To Memphis as The Ventures' The Horse LP is to Swamp Rock. Which is a pretty darn long, unnecessary way of saying that the songs on here sound like swamp rock songs. Mainly because of that damned twangy redneck bendy note guitar sound and the inclusion of a few upchuckingly smelly shitbootcountry songs ("Louisiana Redbone," "The Original Handy Man" and "Freeborn Man," none of which I can sit through without very unpleasant memories of childhood trips to Maysville, GA coursing through my breins). It's by no means a bad record though. About half of it is really solid, catchy Raiders pop rock, just played a bit more Southern (you know, like Revolution!): most notably, "Down In Amsterdam" is a funny, energetic comedy of errors reminiscent of "The Great Airplane Strike," "Here Comes The Pain" is soul-clutchingly mature & gorgeous and the title track, "Let Me!" is one of their hardest rocking and best known tunes! You may have even seen it on MTV! I have! Feel free to up the grade a point if you happen to live in Louisiana and can stand listening to swampy-sounding music. Say, did I ever stop to mention why this got a 6, the last one got an 8 and the one before that one got a 7? I didn't? Good. I like a little mystery in my Web site.
Not nearly as offensively grungey as the last record, Collage allows guitarist Keith Allison to express his Southern-born guitar-playing stylings, but in the context of solid early 70s rock songs, instead of that slompy moop. Released by a band going by the bizarre moniker of simply "Raiders," this is the same sort of bloozy rock tuneage you may have been listening to in the early '70s by other hugely successful and timeless acts as Free and Spooky Tooth. But it's NOT heavy - aside from having a large bass presence, the songs are straight midtempo rock with slight southern leanings cuzza the guitar twang. Mark Lindsay is not one to forego sing-songingness, however, and does not do so here either. So don't worry your gorgeous Latina heritage over that. The other band members may be closing their eyes and swaying their heads to and fro while making their marijuana-influenced drug instruments sing the Eric Clapton blues, but Mark Lindsay is still singing to the pretty little girls out there in the audience - and he WROTE the songs, so he should know what makes them scream (even if he doesn't, and completely misjudged their taste for about the fifth time in a row). This is much more an album for boys in their late teens than the earlier catchy stuff. A lot of this is still catchy as a Funky Winkerbean comic strip, guaranteed to make you smile with a feeling of warmth and nostalgic delight at that hilarious guy with the afro, but it's replete with soul trumpets and shit, and no chick digs a soul trumpet. Not to mention a bunch of offensive songs about gucking underaged girls and leaving them to cry ("Think Twice," "To Be Forgotten," "Dr. Fine," "Just Seventeen," - shit man, it's like every song on here is about using bitches and kickin' 'em in the sweet sweetasssssss's badback song!). But for some reason they re-recorded two old Raiders hits, which I consider cheating but who do I know in the hitmaking field?
In your review of 'Collage' you seem to categorize Mark Lindsay as a Gary Glitter-pedophile-type,screwing underage girls.While the album does diminish his teen-idol image, in the songs you mention only one mentions sex with an under-aged girl--"Just Seventeen." "Think Twice" is about considering a career as a rock musician.He mentions groupies,but no age is revealed..In "Interlude(To Be Forgotten)" he describes an "angel" in his bed ,but no age is given.In 'Dr. Fine" Mark clearly states he's talking to a "woman" .The album has a hard-edged 'live' feel to it, and the musical chemistry is amazing. This was Mark & co. at their most blazing and bold,but the "under-aged" carnality you label it as is inaccurate. I met Mark a few months ago and in all honesty he is a gentleman.He signed my albums,posed for a picture with me ,and THANKED ME for asking him to do so!! I like the way you genui
Nine cover tunes and "The Turkey"? Let's assume they didn't put a whole halibut lot of effort into the Native American Reservation LP. I would be happy to opine that this was because Mark Lindsay was contributing all his original material to his Arizona solo album of the period, but that album is all cover tunes too! Ask Jeeves indeed! Disregardingly, there are definitely some garbage tunes on here, but the band more than makes up for it by including the ludicrously outdated (and enjoyable for kitsch value alone) period pieces "Indian Reservation," "Shape of Things To Come" and "Eve Of Destruction" - plus, they do an EASYBEATS song! Nobody besides Michael Hutchence and some band or another can make that claim!
Don't let your preconceptions deceive you! This is not a "country" album at all! Nor is the vinyl made out of "wine"! Shows you what I
know (everything! Especially about eating pussy! God I am the KING at eating pussy! I lick all inside, outside, around the edges, getting every
last tasty morsel of... oh hang on Oh I'm sorry. Did I say "pussy"? I of course meant "pudding!" I am a GOD at eating pudding! I lick all
inside, outside, around the edges, awww MAN it's like I got Bill Cosby's FINGER up my ass, I'm eatin' that fuckin shit so good! The recording
starts off on a high note, with two really cool songs featuring that patent pending blend of genuine dirty rock and bubblegum pop that we all love
'em for, but then the record takes a turn for the (liver)worst, with some weak but passable blue-eyed soul and a COMPLETE triage of toot on side
2 (the downside -- yep, it's another one of those stupid albums where they put all the fast songs on side one and the slow ones on side 2), which
begins with three corny Sesame Street-level "message" ballads shoving their musical toothbrushes down your throat in an attempt to induce
vomiting. "Where Are Your Children"? "The American Family Is Dying"? WHO CARES!?!?!? Luckily, the album ends good, with a pretty
ballad and a spooky Xmas bell jingling echoey poem probably about death. Also please note the neat arrangement of "Take A Stand," if you
would. The song itself isn't that hot, but check out how they separate the slide guitar, cook keyboard break, dual guitar solo, wild percussion bit --
it keeps you taped to your speakers even though the melody sounds like a guy running down the street trying to catch a bus! This is the
lowest possible six you've ever seen in your life, but I figured between the two great tracks at the beginning, the two great tracks at the end, the
neat arrangement of "Take A Stand," and Mark Lindsay's uproarious mustache on the cover, a 5 would simply be too low. This was the final
Raiders album until Paul Revere pulled together a substitute band in the 80s. So until then, as the back cover
says, "Have a nice life." Wait - you don't think they meant it ironically, do you? I'LL FUCKING KILL THE MOTHERF
They make this look like the ultimate Raiders double-CD compilation (55 tracks!), but they weigh it so heavily towards the generic r'n'b they were playing before anybody had ever heard of them (the first 19 tracks are almost interchangeable!) that it makes a really, really shitty introduction to the band. Plus, if you're in it for the rarities (of which there are several), where the hell is "B.F.D.R.F. Blues"? Can you imagine how alive and dancing around Amadou Diallou would be if "B.F.D.R.F. Blues" was on this album? Yes! Oh, I know! That's what I said!
You know, I sat here reading your reviews thinking, "No, just let it go
- obviously it's a simple case of someone exploring their web design
skills." But no, there's more going on here than meets the brain. What
IS obvious is that you like Paul Revere & The Raiders enough to devote
one HELL of a lot of time and energy to researching their chronology and
discography, and rather accurately at that. Kudos!
What may not be as obvious to you is that many of your reviews are
equally accurate, though others. . . But facts are facts, and among
those facts are a number of gold albums in a time when competition for a
kids' hard-earned allowance of $3.95 was fierce, innumerable sell-out
concerts, a history that spans over 45 years, and a list of hits that
MORE than qualifies them for even your respect. Commercial success does
not, in and of itself, make legends - but the fact that a lot of people
continue to buy the recordings of PR & R's halcyon days certainly
suggests there is more than marketing going on. They gave the people
what they wanted, and more.
And in conclusion - As a professional musician of over 40 years, and a
technical fan of PR & R (from '61 though about 69 or 70), I went to see
the 'new' band about 10 years ago at a charity function - by this time,
the new band was well over twenty-five years old, but still not a hit to
their name - and I can say with reservation (Indian or otherwise) that,
despite the totally unlikeability of the Mark Lindsay impressionist
(who I swear was full-blooded Cherokee or something), they were the
tightest band I had ever seen. NOBODY could touch them, and I mean
nobody. These cats were taking care of business. They can only be
better now.
So keep up the good work of spreading the news. As with The Beatles,
the sum of the original Raiders was greater than their parts, and
continues to be.
I tried to listen to this twice tonight to review it, but I'm so high and drunk that I can't concentrate on it (my fiance got me to try the pot and I hate it). It's Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere and a bunch of no-names with silly mustaches in 1983 playing re-recordings of old classics. As expected, most of the songs are excellent, but the recording seems a bit wussier than the originals. Maybe because the principals are 45 years old?
No no, I mean the principals of your high school. They guest starred on this record and really loused it up if you ask me. Tomorrow when you get to school, call them a bunch of fucks. If they threaten to suspend you, tell them you're going to follow them home and urinate their entire family.
Paul Revere and the Raiders have their first studio produced CD out in 20
years on Rhino Records, called "Ride to the Wall"...see
Http://www.ridetothewall.org. This is a wonderful cause, and it would be
certainly worth writing about. It is not only awesome but excellent.
And by the way, Paul Revere and his band only lent their faces to the "Great
Raider Reunion" LP....not one of them is in the grooves.....including Paul
Revere. Mark Lindsay and some K-TEL group did it.....
Thanks for existing, and have a nice day!
Another blow to Mark's reputation for accuracy!
Don't you think it's odd that out of five guys in the band, three of
them had "nicknames"?
Your review of these albums sucks, but is still fun to read. Some of your most exaggerated points are the most accurate.
You're problem is that you're somebody that couldn't get into this industry because you have nothing to get you at the level needed...or wanted by others, that you try to write reviews to at least be associated with it.
Keep up the sucking! You're still going nowhere. Thanks for the free cheap entertainment!
Oh, yeah, the PRR reviews, what do you have against that group? Is it that as a teen you realized that you aren't Mark Lindsay but "cool" Mark Prindle? Just answer the first question.
Cheers
Consider that the Raiders recorded "Louie Louie" one week before The Kingsmen. Add that one to the following litany of hits: "Like Long Hair","Steppin' Out", "Just Like Me", "Kicks", "Hungry", "The Great Airplane Strike", "Good Thing", "Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be", "Peace of Mind", "I Had a Dream", "Mr Sun Mr Moon", the forgotten "Let Me", the unfortunately unforgettable "Indian Reservation", and Lindsay's "Arizona". These guys put out more good rock & roll records in six years than The Grateful Dead managed in an entire career.
Which begs the question why the group is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Certainly, being the houseband for that TV show diminished their credentials over the long haul. Or maybe those goofy revolutionary war outfits simply offended the sensibilities of young Jann S Wenner. (The "S" is for "Starfucker".)
Grandmaster Flash, The Ronettes, Queen, The Rascals, Gene Pitney, even Aerosmith. All in the HOF, all well and good. But I figure several others (PR & R, The Monkees, perhaps ELO, The Spinners are just as worthy.)
The Sex Pistols - inducted in recent years - responded to the news of the honor by calling the HOF a "piss stain."
Thanks for the good reviews.
"All Night Long"
"Newspapertime"
"Tall Uncool Newspaper"
"Wabash Blues, Due To A Shitty Newspaper"
"Concert In 'F' Sharp, And The 'F' Stands For "Fuck You, Newspaper'"
"Beatnik Sticks"
"Swinging Shepherd Newspaper"
"Groovey (And Obviously I'm Not Talking About A Newspaper)"
"The Last Newspaper"
"Newspaper Newspaper"
"Eat An Ass Lollipop, Newspaper!"
"One Time A Newspaper Grabbed My Dick And Jammed It Into A Cash Register. Why Did You Do That, Newspaper? Now Everybody Calls Me Names Like 'Cash Register Dick' And 'Guy Who Stuck His Dick In A Cash Register And Keeps Saying A Newspaper Did It.' Don't You Have A Soul, Newspaper!?"
"Sharon"
Asking if pot is any good is kind of like asking if broccoli is delicious.
Some people like broccoli, some people abhor it. Some people like a
marijuana high, others prefer to inject speedballs into their penis. For the
sake of experience, if you're really curious, you should try it at least
twice - twice because your first experience is almost never indicative of
what your subsequent experiences will be like. That is one festering turd of
a sentence. And bongs are good because the water cools the smoke, which is
less harmful to your lungs (though certainly not good for them) and it
usually leads to less hacking. Unless you inhale too deeply, in which case
you'll hack as soon as the smoke expands. In short, don't try to clear the
bowl or you'll cough up all the smoke and wonder why the hell anyone smokes
pot. I hope these comments are informative.
Whatever dude. If there ever is another Seaside Riot (circa 62, 63, 64) may the Raiders show up to redirect the energy. May Drake Levin, Doc Holiday, Smitty, Mark and Paul play for the graduation parties where we are all going to end up. Long live the double-neck guitar. Ooo Poo Pah Doo to you too Prindle!
Paul Revere and the Raiders!!!! Excitement is the story of an energetic young man..... with an unbelievable name..... Paul Revere! However, unlike the Paul Revere that hailed from Boston..... and rode a horse, this one hails from Portland, Oregon and rides a piano. Paul Revere and the Raiders in a short period of time have endeared themselves to millions of record and dance fans throughout the world. They continuously break attendance records wherever they go and their path is getting wider and wider. This pied piper from Portland, and his musical minutemen seem headed for a long tenure at stardom. Their albums, about twelve different ones, always make the best selling lists, four of which have earned the group gold records. So sit back and take a musical journey with Paul Revere and the Raiders.
You forgot to specify that the speeding car was a 1967 AMC Marlin (the bigger one, made for one year only) painted in lime green candy-flake sparkle paint and outfitted with a Muntz 4-track cartridge player (long since stopped working, with a Strawberry Alarm Clock 4-track cartridge permanently stuck in the machine*).
Peace.
It's a fact that Paul Revere & The Raiders recorded "Stepping Stone" BEFORE The Monkees did it.Thus,they were not "a threat."They also released their version of "Louie,Louie" at the SAME TIME The Kingsmen did theirs.Plus,you can understand the words from Lindsay's vocal.They also wrote and recorded"Louie-Go Home"-which was ripped off by THE WHO in their version"Lubie-Go Home".Daltrey even steals Lindsay's raspy vocal and ad-lib at the end.Years later Lindsay said he was flattered,but they never(as usual) get credit for brilliance.Also:David Bowie recorded"Louie-Go Home" while he was still David Jones.I like your praises.Just thought you'd like to know the facts,is all.*A Raiders fan 4ever! *
I know virtually nothing about this band, other than a fleeting childhood memory of seeing them perform on the old 'Batman' show (replete with Revolutionary War uniforms). I've made several unsuccessful, admittedly half-assed attempts to locate this album, to no avail. Is it available on CD?
This album rules like a mother. The only other Raiders I've heard is Just Like
Us, which wasn't great but did have the great "Just Like Me" and a really nifty
cover of "Catch The Wind". But Spirit of '67 is what great old-time rock'n'roll
is all about, good catchy tunes that'll stick into your head and give you a
goddam good time while listening to them. If you like rock as a concept at all,
you should give these dudes a chance. Prindle's not that biased - it kicks all
sorts of moose. "Good Thing", "Hungry", "Louise", the other songs I can't
remember that well other'n that they're cool - American rock'n'roll doesn't get
any better. Unless it's the 13th Floor Elevators.
After reading your reviews of these albums, and, more specifically, your description of Mark Lindsay as "adorable, pony-tailed and multi-talented," I had to see for myself. A quick Google search lead me to www.marklindsay.com, where I was able to confirm that he was indeed adorable and pony-tailed. "Spirit of 76" is on my list, as with most of your "10s."
I live in the Shoals! It's a nice place to live, not as much mud as you'd think.
Hey, Asshole:
I agree! You're such a douche, Mark!
I was actually listening to this record when I read your review. "Soul Man" IS kind of dull, but it gets better with listenings. My Way, Peace of Mind, and I'm a loser too KICK ASS. And, yes, knowing that Mark was the only one in Memphis makes all those people praising them on the liner notes fucking hilarious, like when Isaac Hayes says there are "...12 straight hits on the album. We know because we sat here and listened to every one of them." I'm left wondering what Paul Revere would think if he ever listened to the album.
Father: "Is that your dog? You should keep your dog on a leash!"
My fiance: "You should keep your children on a leash, asshole!"
Father: "Fuck you!"
My fiance: "Fuck you!"
Jogger: "You shouldn't let your dog drink out of that fountain! People drink out of there!
My fiance: "His mouth is cleaner than yours, asshole!"
Well, I may not agree with ALL your reviews, but I DO like your lady very much, and think that children should be kept on leashes, too.
Paul Revere and the Raiders were my favourite band as a teenager - and
I grew up in the 80's (it also took a long time for 'Reaganomics' to
trickle down my way too).
Man you people are brutal!
Freddy Weller plays lead guitar on here. Keith Allison played bass.
Hi, Mark -
I enjoyed your page on Paul Revere and the Raiders to no end. As a long time
fan, I thought a lot of the stuff they put out, was a waste of wax, and with
the reissues coming out on Sundazed, it just adds more insult to injury.
Some of the die hard fans, the ones that cannot function without an early
morning jolt of "Something Happening" in their CD player, worry me. I bought
the CD, listened to it twice, and discovered other uses for CDS I dislike!!
They make excellent cheese cutters!!!
Heard the Great Raider Reunion, is actually Mark Lindsay with a Nashville
studio players. Paul Revere and the Raiders had nothing to do with the
project, other than having their photo on the cover.
i guess maybe you figured that it was unlikely that
anyone would give enough of a shit about paul revere
and the raiders to read your reviews, but that was funny
A couple minor points: they're from Idaho, not Oregon, and according to
some other liner notes I read, their version of "Stepping Stone"
pre-dated the Monkees'.
Actually, all 5 of the original members of PR&R; had nicknames, and that doesn't count Jim Valley. It was what added fan identity to the band. Sort of like GJP&R;, everyone could call them by name.
You don't even have to read your so called reviews to know that you suck at writing reviews. You can't even get facts correct. Even in other reviews I read.
In my humble opinion: Paul Revere was a GREAT businessman for a lot of
years - I mean, two years in the entertainment industry is a lot of
years, but he did extremely well for a lot of people for over 40 years -
but given that much time, everyone's going to make a mistake, and
allowing the original Raiders to depart was his. Not that he didn't
replace them with excellent studio musicians (which goes to your comment
about the same guys playing completely different styles on different
albums) - they just had none of what anyone wanted in a live show, which
is really what PR & R was always about. They had two (and sometimes
three) totally different things going on all the time; recording and
live performance (and TV for awhile). The new guys just didn't have the
appeal, despite infinitely more elaborate costumes and production.
Until Paul cut Freddy, Joe and Charlie (whom I've played with, by the
way - bloody incredible guitarist) loose (mistake #2), they were still
creating hits. And didn't Lindsay have a Grammy awarded to him for
something? Not that that really means anything, but. . .
Dear Mark - I've been out of the loop for a while, unaware of your
fame, but just discovered your Raiders page and loved it. It made me
laugh very hard. The Turtles one did too. Brilliant! Thanks very much
First of all Paul Reeve was from Bosie Idaho. The Beach Boys, AND Paul Revere and the Raiders played a concert at the Idaho State Fair in 1969. I attended the concert, and Loved It. Mark Lindsey, and Freddie Weller both cut Albums of their Own. I belive the title of Freddie Weller's was " Games People Play", and Mark Linsey's was "Arizona", At one time I had both albumns, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I lost both of them, and I am hoping to find either: Arizona by Mark Lindsey, or Freddie Weller's album that I said I belive the title was "Game People Play". I would also like to know where Mark Linsey is now, and what he is doing, and the same for Freddie Weller. Can anyone POLITLY tell me any/all information I'm looking for?
PR & the R were an archetypal frat rock/garage band that released good to great singles, grungy with a nice pop sheen thanks to Terry Melcher. They were an obvious influence on punk and hard rock. There's a definite line of continuity from their 1966 singles to Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" to American heavy metal. Lindsay is a better rock singer than Steven Tyler, although less obnoxious.
Buy American! Purchase Paul Revere & The Raiders CDs for the entire family right here! AMERICANLY!