Send "Paul Revere and The Raiders " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Classicrockrevisited |
 Most people do not realize just how huge this band was in the 1960’s. They were the first group to be signed to Columbia Records in 1963 and had 23 consecutive charting hit singles. Sure, they were silly looking as they pranced around stage looking like the logo on the ‘70’s era New England Patriots football helmets but America seemed to love them. During their streak of 23 charting hit singles America was introduced to songs like “Kicks,” “Indian Reservation,” “Steppin’ Out,” “Just Like Me,” “Good Thing,” “Ups and Downs,” “Him or Me – What’s It Gonna Be?” “The Great Airplane Strike,” “Like Long Hair” and “I Had a Dream.” Who can forget their 1963 version of “Louie Louie” or the songs “My Wife Can’t Cook” and “Ride your Pony.”? I must admit this review is starting to sound like a late night infomercial but the truth is that Paul Revere and the Raiders, however, silly and contrived, were, at one time, a big deal around here. The Essential Paul Revere & the Raiders, by Legacy Recordings has done a great job reminding us of just how fun this music can be with this double-disc release....full text |
| Musicconduit |
| The recover of The Essential Paul Revere The Raiders begs a question, does a universe need another gathering manuscript by this band. Their gathering releases began on vinyl during a mid-1960s and has continued on cassettes, 8-tracks, MP3 downloads, and CD’s. The central gathering manuscript sum is now somewhere between 15 and 20. Paul Revere The Raiders constructed some of a improved songs to live a American singles charts, 1965-1973. For tough core fans, they did have a tip 40 strike during 1961 with...full text |
| Popmatters |
| Though sometimes obscured by the Revolutionary War get-ups, frequent line-up changes and a late-career, non-representative No. 1 hit, Paul Revere and the Raiders were, from 1963-1967, one of the top rock acts on either side of the Atlantic—a half-step behind the Holy Foursome of the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys and Who, but easily on par with the Kinks, Animals and Dave Clark Five (and boy, when those are an era’s second tier acts, that’s one helluva fertile music scene). The Raiders’ career trajectory also provides a textbook case for how quickly the cultural sand was shifting beneath the feet of ‘60s bands. With frequent appearances on the Billboard charts in the early-to-mid ‘60s, not to mention daily national television gigs as the house band for ABC’s Where The Action Is!, the Raiders were the top-selling rock band on Columbia by 1967. (They had been signed on the strength of their version of “Louie, Louie”—which, incidentally was recorded within weeks of the Kingsmen’s definitive take, at the very same studio in Portland, OR: Northwestern, Inc., Motion Pictures and Recording, a strong contender for Garage Rock Ground Zero.) Their peak-era singles—“Steppin’ Out”, “Just Like Me”, “Kicks”, “Hungry”, “Him or Me - What’s It Gonna Be?”—are songs that any band would kill for, and its because of the very capable hands of Paul Revere (yes, that’s his real name) and Mark Lindsay (and a whole bunch of other worthy musicians cycling through the ranks) that we’re talking about—and reveling in—Paul Revere and the Raiders’ work 40-plus years later. This generous two-disc set, with 36 tracks in all, does a fine job updating 2005’s Kicks: The Anthology as Essential boasts 11 tracks not found on Kicks, while the latter has only four not on the former (notably the Boyce/Hart-penned “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone”). And the songs themselves sound great, offered in their original mono or stereo. If you’re looking to replace your old copy of Kicks, Essential is worth the upgrade. Hell, if you’re just curious about the Raiders, this is a great place to start. (If you’re serious about the band, though, you’ve probably already shelled out for Sundazed’s pristine reissues of the band’s key albums.) Disc 1 chronicles the band’s fast rise, capturing all the aforementioned classic singles and reminds listeners how truly kick-ass these guys in goofy get-ups could be. Guitarist Drake Levin (1963-67) never quite got his recognition as a West Coast Dave Davies, but the swaggering tone on “Steppin’ Out”, the double-tracked solo on “Just Like Me” and the truly freaked-out-as-all-hell lead slithering underneath “Kicks” certainly make a very strong case for that title. And speaking of “Kicks”, Domenic Priore’s liner notes mention that the song was about Gerry Goffin’s (of the Goffin/Carole King songwriting team) burgeoning drug habit, a fact I’m embarrassed I didn’t already know. Fun fact (not provided by Priore): “Kicks” fell into the Raiders’ laps only when Eric Burdon and the Animals turned it down. Peaking at No. 4, it deservedly became the Raiders’ second-highest charting single. Elsewhere on disc one, a few lesser-known jangly singles—‘66’s “The Great Airplane Strike” and ‘67’s “Ups and Downs”—firmly place the band as neighbors to fellow-Angelos the Byrds; and the pleading “Him or Me - What’s It Gonna Be?” gets my vote for the Raiders’ best song—seriously, they just knock it out of the park. Meanwhile, a few “originally unissued” party jams prove that the band knew their way around hard-edged white-boy R&B better than anyone save the early Stones....full text |
Paul Revere and The Raiders lyrics
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