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Finnegan’s Wake
What happens when a dearly loved Irishman passes on? Well, it’s time to celebrate his wake. This song is dedicated, no doubt, to the Irishman’s love of funerals and whiskey, “Finnegan’s Wake” supplied the theme for James Joyce’s famous novel of the same name.
The Unicorn Song
This “Irish song” is not really Irish at all, but the Irish Rovers found it and turned it into a St. Patrick’s Day classic.
Whiskey in the Jar
Metallica tried to turn it into a rock song, but it will always be a classic Irish tale of love and betrayal with a great chorus!
ABOUT:
Saint Patrick is believed to have been born in the late fourth century, and is often confused with Palladius, a bishop who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431 to be the first bishop to the Irish believers in Christ.
Saint Patrick was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing christianity to Ireland. Most of what is known about him comes from his two works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistola, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish christians. Saint Patrick described himself as a “most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God.”
Saint Patrick is most known for driving the snakes from Ireland. It is true there are no snakes in Ireland, but there probably never have been – the island was separated from the rest of the continent at the end of the Ice Age. As in many old pagan religions, serpent symbols were common and often worshipped. Driving the snakes from Ireland was probably symbolic of putting an end to that pagan practice. While not the first to bring christianity to Ireland, it is Patrick who is said to have encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rites. The story holds that he converted the warrior chiefs and princes, baptizing them and thousands of their subjects in the “Holy Wells” that still bear this name.
There are several accounts of Saint Patrick’s death. One says that Patrick died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, on March 17, 460 A.D. His jawbone was preserved in a silver shrine and was often requested in times of childbirth, epileptic fits, and as a preservative against the “evil eye.” Another account says that St. Patrick ended his days at Glastonbury, England and was buried there. The Chapel of St. Patrick still exists as part of Glastonbury Abbey. Today, many Catholic places of worship all around the world are named after St. Patrick, including cathedrals in New York and Dublin city
Why Saint Patrick’s Day?
Saint Patrick’s Day has come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick’s Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide.
So, why is it celebrated on March 17th? One theory is that that is the day that St. Patrick died. Since the holiday began in Ireland, it is believed that as the Irish spread out around the world, they took with them their history and celebrations. The biggest observance of all is, of course, in Ireland. With the exception of restaurants and pubs, almost all businesses close on March 17th. Being a religious holiday as well, many Irish attend mass, where March 17th is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins.
In American cities with a large Irish population, St. Patrick’s Day is a very big deal. Big cities and small towns alike celebrate with parades, “wearing of the green,” music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green!
1911 – Robert Johnson is born this day in rock history. You remember the movie Crossroads… that was his song!
Robert Johnson, born Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. Considered by some to be the “Grandfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones, Paul Butterfield, The Band, Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson “the most important blues musician who ever lived”. He was also ranked fifth in Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Life and career
Johnson’s life is not well documented, and the variety of legends that have surrounded him for decades have made scholarship difficult. Serious research was not undertaken until the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably by researchers Mack McCormick and Stephen LaVere. Most of the information on his life has come from the decades-old recollections of surviving family and associates. The two known images of Johnson were located in 1973, in the possession of the musician’s half-sister Carrie Thompson, and were not widely published until the late 1980s.
Five significant dates from his career are documented: Monday, Thursday and Friday, November 23, 26, and 27, 1936 at a recording session in San Antonio, Texas. Seven months later, on Saturday and Sunday, June 19–20, 1937, he was in Dallas, Texas at another session. His death certificate was discovered in 1968, and lists the date and location of his death. Two marriage licenses for Johnson have also been located in county records offices. Other facts about him are less well established. Director Martin Scorsese says in his foreword to Alan Greenberg’s filmscript Love In Vain: A Vision of Robert Johnson, “The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. He was pure legend.”
Scarcely anything was known of Johnson’s origins until Mack McCormick traced and interviewed members of his family. The research has still not been published, so the biography is based entirely on trust. Such is McCormick’s reputation among his peers that no blues scholar seriously doubts his findings. Eventually, McCormick pemitted Peter Guralnick to publish a summary in Living Blues (1982), later reprinted in book form as Searching for Robert Johnson.
Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi sometime around May 8, 1911, the 11th child of Julia Major Dodds, who had previously borne ten children to husband Charles Dodds. Born out of wedlock, Johnson did not take the Dodds name.
Twenty two-year-old Charles Dodds had married Julia Major in Hazlehurst, Mississippi—about 35 miles (56 km) south of Jackson—in 1889. Charles Dodds owned land and made wicker furniture; his family was well off until he was forced out of Hazlehurst around 1909 by a lynch mob following an argument with some of the more prosperous townsfolk. (There was a family legend that Dodds escaped from Hazlehurst dressed in women’s clothing.) Over the next two years, Julia Dodds sent their children one at a time to live with their father in Memphis, where Charles Dodds had adopted the name of Charles Spencer. Julia stayed behind in Hazlehurst with two daughters, until she was evicted for nonpayment of taxes.
By that time she had given birth to a son, Robert, who was fathered by a field worker named Noah Johnson. Unwelcome in Charles Dodds’ home, Julia Dodds became an itinerant field worker, picking cotton and living in camps as she moved among plantations. While she worked in the fields, her eight-year-old daughter took care of Johnson. Over the next ten years, Julia Dodds would make repeated attempts to reunite the family, but Charles Dodds never stopped resenting her infidelity. Although Charles Dodds would eventually accept Johnson, he never would forgive his wife for giving birth to him.
Around 1914, Robert Johnson moved in with Charles Dodds’ family, which by that time included all of Dodds’ children by Julia Dodds, as well as Dodds’ mistress from Hazlehurst and their two children. Johnson would then spend the next several years in Memphis, and it was reportedly about this time that he began playing the guitar under his older half-brother’s tutelage.
Johnson did not rejoin his mother until she had remarried several years later. By the end of the decade, he was back in the Mississippi Delta living with his mother and her new husband, Dusty Willis. Johnson and his stepfather, who had little tolerance for music, did not get along, and Johnson had to slip out of the house to join his musician friends.
In the course of these these years, he was known by various names: Robert Dodds and Robert Spencer (his first stepfather’s real name and pseudonym), and Little Robert Dusty (after his second stepfather’s nickname). Finally he chose to use his birth name Robert Johnson after his natural father. He may also have wished to be associated with the great guitarist Lonnie Johnson. These changes of name largely explain the inability of researchers before McCormack to obtain information.
There are conflicting accounts of whether Johnson attended school or not. Later accounts portray him as illiterate or possessing beautiful handwriting. The question was settled with the discovery by Gayle Dean Wardlow of marriage certificates bearing the clear and attractive signature of Robert L Johnson.
In any case, everyone agrees that music was Johnson’s first interest, and that he had his start playing the Jew’s harp and harmonica in addition to guitar.
Son House recalled Johnson as a boy had followed him around and tried very unsuccessfully to copy him. He then left the Robbinsville area, but later reappeared with a miraculous guitar technique. His boast is entirely credible. Johnson later recorded versions of Preaching the Blues and Walking Blues in House’s vocal and guitar style. However, Son’s chronology is questioned by Guralnick. When House moved to Robbinsville in 1930, Johnson was a young adult, already married and widowed. The following year, he was living near Hazelhurst, where he married for the second time. From this base Johnson began travelling up and down the Delta as an itinerant musician.
Legend
According to a legend known to modern Blues fans, Robert Johnson was a young black man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi. Branded with a burning desire to become a great blues musician, he was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery’s plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the Devil) who took the guitar from Johnson, tuned the guitar so that he could play anything that he wanted, and handed it back to him in return for his soul. Within less than a year’s time, in exchange for his everlasting soul, Robert Johnson became the king of the Delta blues singers, able to play, sing, and create the greatest blues anyone had ever heard.
This legend was developed over time, and has been chronicled by Gayle Dean Wardlow, Edward Komara and Elijah Wald. Folk tales of bargains with the Devil have long existed in African American and White traditions, and were adapted into literature by Washington Irving in “The Devil and Tom Walker” in 1824, and by and Stephen Vincent Benet in “The Devil and Daniel Webster” in 1936. In the 1930s the folklorist Harry Middleton Hart recorded many tales of banjo players, violinists, card sharps and dice sharks selling their souls at the crossroads, along with guitarists and one accordionist. The folklorist Alan Lomax considered that every African American secular musician was “in the opinion of of both himself and his peers, a child of the devil, a consequence of the black view of the European dance embrace as sinful in the extreme”.
Johnson seems to have claimed occasionally that he had sold his soul to the Devil, but it is not clear that he meant it seriously. Son House once told the story to Pete Welding as an explanation of Johnson’s astonishingly rapid mastery of the guitar. Welding reported it as a serious belief in a widely read article in Down Beat in 1966. However, other interviewers failed to elicit any confirmation from House. Moreover, there were fully two years between House’s observation of Robert as first a novice and then a master. In 1982, Guralnick unintentionally added the crossroads details to the legend. He quoted the account given by Ledell Johnson to David Evans of how his brother Tommy Johnson (no relation to Robert) sold his soul to a large black man at a crossroads. Although Guralnick made it clear that the details belonged to the Tommy Johnson story, casual readers failed to notice, and the crossroads association passed into oral tradition, and then into popular written accounts. The myth was established in mass consciousness in 1986 by the film “Crossroads’. There are now tourist attractions claiming to be “The Crossroads” at Clarksdale and in Memphis.
Itinerant career
When Johnson arrived in a new town, he would play for tips on street corners or in front of the local barbershop or a restaurant. He played what his audience asked for — not necessarily his own compositions, and not necessarily blues. With an ability to pick up tunes at first hearing, Johnson had no trouble giving his audiences what they wanted, and certain of his contemporaries, most notably Johnny Shines, later remarked on Johnson’s interest in jazz and country. (Many giants of the blues, including Muddy Waters, were not averse to playing the hit songs of the day.) Johnson also had an uncanny ability to establish a rapport with his audience — in every town in which he stopped, Johnson would establish ties to the local community that would serve him well when he passed through again a month or a year later.
Fellow musician Johnny Shines was 17 when he met Johnson in 1933. He estimated that Johnson was maybe a year older than himself. In Samuel Charters’ Robert Johnson, the author quotes Shines as saying:
“Robert was a very friendly person, even though he was sulky at times, you know. And I hung around Robert for quite a while. One evening he disappeared. He was kind of peculiar fellow. Robert’d be standing up playing some place, playing like nobody’s business. At about that time it was a hustle with him as well as a pleasure. And money’d be coming from all directions. But Robert’d just pick up and walk off and leave you standing there playing. And you wouldn’t see Robert no more maybe in two or three weeks…. So Robert and I, we began journeying off. I was just, matter of fact, tagging along.”
During this time Johnson established what would be a relatively long-term relationship with Estella Coleman, a woman who was about fifteen years his elder and the mother of musician Robert Lockwood, Jr.. Johnson, however, reportedly also cultivated a woman to look after him in each town he played in. Johnson supposedly asked homely young women living in the country with their families whether he could go home with them, and in most cases the answer was yes—until a boyfriend arrived or Johnson was ready to move on.
Recording sessions
Around 1936, Johnson sought out H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi, who ran a general store and doubled as a talent scout. Speir, who helped the careers of many blues players, put Johnson in touch with Ernie Oertle, who offered to record the young musician in San Antonio, Texas. At the recording session, held on November 23, 1936 in rooms at the landmark Gunter Hotel which Brunswick Records had set up as a temporary studio, Johnson reportedly performed facing the wall. This has been cited as evidence he was a shy man and reserved performer, a conclusion played up in the inaccurate liner notes of the 1961 album King of the Delta Blues Singers. Johnson probably was nervous and intimidated at his first time in a makeshift recording studio (a new and alien environment for the musician), but in truth he was probably focusing on the demands of his emotive performances. In addition, playing into the corner of a wall was a sound-enhancing technique that simulated the acoustical booths of better-equipped studios. In the ensuing three-day session, Johnson played 16 selections, and recorded alternate takes for most of these. When the recording session was over, Johnson presumably returned home with cash in his pocket; probably more money than he’d ever had at one time in his life.
Among the songs Johnson recorded in San Antonio were “Come On In My Kitchen”, “Kind Hearted Woman Blues”, “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom”, and “Cross Road Blues”. “Come on in My Kitchen” included the lines: “The woman I love took from my best friend/Some joker got lucky, stole her back again,/You better come on in my kitchen, it’s going to be rainin’ outdoors.” In “Crossroad Blues”, another of his songs, he sang: “I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees./I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees./I asked the Lord above, have mercy, save poor Bob if you please./Uumb, standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride./Standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride./Ain’t nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by.”
When his records began appearing, Johnson made the rounds to his relatives and the various children he had fathered to bring them the records himself. The first songs to appear were “Terraplane Blues” and “Last Fair Deal Gone Down”, probably the only recordings of his that he would live to hear. “Terraplane Blues” became a moderate regional hit, selling 5,000 copies.
In 1937, Johnson traveled to Dallas, Texas, for another recording session in a makeshift studio at the Brunswick Record Building, 508 Park Avenue. Eleven records from this session would be released within the following year. Among them were the three songs that would largely contribute to Johnson’s posthumous fame: “Stones in My Passway”, “Me and the Devil”, and “Hellhound On My Trail”. “Stones In My Passway” and “Me And The Devil” are both about betrayal, a recurrent theme in country blues. The terrifying “Hell Hound On My Trail”—utilising another common theme of fear of the Devil—is often considered to be the crowning achievement of blues-style music. Other themes in Johnson’s music include impotence (“Dead Shrimp Blues” and “Phonograph Blues”) and infidelity (“Terraplane Blues”, “If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day” and “Love in Vain”).
Six of Johnson’s blues songs mention the devil or some form of the supernatural. In “Me And The Devil” he began, “Early this morning when you knocked upon my door,/Early this morning, umb, when you knocked upon my door,/And I said, ‘ Hello, Satan, I believe it’s time to go,’” before leading into “You may bury my body down by the highway side,/ You may bury my body, uumh, down by the highway side,/So my old evil spirit can get on a Greyhound bus and ride.”
It has been suggested that the Devil in these songs does not solely refer to the Christian model of Satan, but equally to the African trickster god, Legba.
Death
One of Robert Johnson’s three tombstonesIn the last year of his life, Johnson is believed to have traveled to St. Louis and possibly Illinois, and then to some states in the East. He spent some time in Memphis and traveled through the Mississippi Delta and Arkansas. By the time he died, at least six of his records had been released in the South as race records.
His death occurred on August 16, 1938, at the age of twenty-seven at a country crossroads near Greenwood, Mississippi. He had been playing for a few weeks at a country dance in a town about 15 miles (24 km) from Greenwood.
There are a number of accounts and theories regarding the events preceding Johnson’s death. One of these is that one evening Johnson began flirting with a woman at a dance. One version of this rumor says she was the wife of the juke joint owner who unknowingly provided Johnson with a bottle of poisoned whiskey from her husband, while another suggests she was a married woman he had been secretly seeing. Researcher Mack McCormick claims to have interviewed Johnson’s alleged poisoner in the 1970s, and obtained a tacit admission of guilt from the man. When Johnson was offered an open bottle of whiskey, his friend and fellow blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked the bottle out of his hand, informing him that he should never drink from an offered bottle that has already been opened. Johnson allegedly said, “don’t ever knock a bottle out of my hand”. Soon after, he was offered another open bottle of whiskey and accepted it, and it was that bottle that was laced with strychnine. Johnson is reported to have started to feel ill into the evening after drinking from the bottle and had to be helped back to his room in the early morning hours. Over the next three days, his condition steadily worsened and witnesses reported that he died in a convulsive state of severe pain – symptoms which are consistent with strychnine poisoning. Strychnine was readily available at the time as it was a common pesticide, and although it is a very bitter-tasting substance it is extremely toxic, and a small quantity dissolved in a harsh-tasting solution such as whiskey could possibly have gone unnoticed, but (over a period of days due to the reduced dosage) still produced the symptoms and eventual death that Johnson experienced.
The precise location of his grave remains a source of ongoing controversy, and three different markers have been erected at supposed burial sites outside of Greenwood. Research in the 1980s and 1990s strongly suggests Johnson was buried in the graveyard of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist church near Morgan City, Mississippi, not far from Greenwood, in an unmarked grave. A cenotaph memorial was placed at this location in 1990 paid for by Columbia Records and numerous smaller contributions made through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund. More recent research by Stephen LaVere (including statements from Rosie Eskridge, the wife of the supposed gravedigger) indicates that the actual grave site is under a big pecan tree in the cemetery of the Little Zion Church north of Greenwood along Money Road. Sony Music has placed a marker at this site.
In 1938, Columbia Records producer John Hammond, who owned some of Johnson’s records, sought him out to book him for the first “From Spirituals to Swing” concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. On learning of Johnson’s death, Hammond replaced him with Big Bill Broonzy, but still played two of Johnson’s records from the stage. Robert Johnson has a son, Claude Johnson, and grandchildren who currently reside in a town near Hazlehurst, Mississippi.
Discography
Eleven Johnson 78s were released on the Vocalion label during his lifetime, with a twelfth issued posthumously. All songs copyrighted to Robert Johnson, and his estate.
2007 – Stu Sweatman begins prototyping the idea for “THIS DAY IN ROCK” website, where you can find many facts about musicians and what happend on a given day in history!
He joined forces with John Myer’s to create the information base you see. Although the site contains facts from all genres, we tried to focus in on Rock in all forms.
2000 – it was announced that after 74 years the UK rock weekly Melody Maker was to close down. The Christmas edition would be the last one then it would merge with the NME creating a more sizeable broad-based magazine.
1993 – Bandleader Billy Eckstein dies in Pittsburgh of complications from a stroke. He was the first Black singer to achieve lasting success in mainstream pop.
1938 – Paul Revere of the Raiders is born in Boise, Idaho.
Paul Revere and the Raiders is an American rock band that saw enormous mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and earlier 1970s, best-known for hits like “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)” (1971), “Steppin’ Out” & “Just Like Me” (1965), “Kicks” (1966) (ranked #400 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) , “Let Me” (1969), and “Hungry” (1966).
History
Early years
Initially located in Boise, Idaho, the Raiders started as an instrumental rock outfit led by organist Paul Revere (born Paul Revere Dick on January 7, 1938)..
By the summer of 1962, Revere and Lindsay were working together again in Oregon with a version of the Raiders that featured drummer Mike “Smitty” Smith, who would spend two long periods with the band .
Hit Making Period / The “Action” Era
(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, The Dave Clark Five, and The Animals, albeit with an American, R&B feel. Their second major national hit, “Just Like Me” (1965 – #11) was one of the first rock records to feature a distinctive, double-tracked guitar solo (by guitarist Drake Levin) .
The band appeared regularly on national television, most notably 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. Playing on Paul Revere’s name, 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. The Raiders were endorsed by the Vox Amplifier company (Revere used their Vox Continental combo organ, bassist Phil Volk was seen on television playing their “coffin bass”—with “FANG” in masking tape letters on the backside—and everyone played through Vox Super Beatle amplifiers). Levin left the group in 1966 to join the National Guard, and was replaced by Jim Valley, another Northwest musician the Raiders had met and come to admire during their days playing the Portland and Seattle circuit. Valley was dubbed “Harpo” by the other Raiders due to a vague resemblance to the famous Marx brother
In mid-1967, with three gold albums to their credit, the Raiders were Columbia Records’ top-selling rock group; their Greatest Hits album was one of two releases selected by Clive Davis to test a higher list price for albums expected to be particularly popular, along with Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits .
At the height of their popularity, the Raiders power trio left the group. Disenchanted that the band was prevented from evolving into a more egalitarian creative team, miffed at being replaced by studio musicians in the studio, and unhappy with the band’s continued teen-oriented direction while a more serious rock and roll style was emerging, bassist Phil Volk and drummer Mike Smith rejoined guitarist Drake Levin to form a band called The Brotherhood, while Jim Valley embarked on a solo career .
The “Happening” Era
Changing tastes in the late 1960s rendered the group unfashionable, but they still continued to have hits through the rest of the decade, such as “I Had A Dream” (1967 – #20), “Too Much Talk” (1968 – #18, #11 in Cashbox), “Don’t Take it So Hard” (1968 – #27), “Cinderella Sunshine”, and “Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon” (1969 – #18). On January 6, 1968, just four months after the cancellation of Where The Action Is, Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay returned to the airwaves as hosts of a new Dick Clark-produced show in which the Raiders made several appearances, Happening ’68 (later shortened to Happening). This weekly series was joined from July to September that year by a daily (and another Clark-produced) series It’s Happening, also hosted by Revere and Lindsay. The band at this point included guitarist Freddy Weller, drummer Joe Correro and bassist Charlie Coe, who was replaced in August 1968 by former Action heartthrob Keith Allison. According to author Derek Taylor, the Raiders were seen as “irrelevances. . . . Nervous citizens felt reassured that some good safe things never changed.”
Mark Lindsay took more control of the band during this time. He produced all the records beginning with Too Much Talk in 1968, and the psychedelic album Something Happening. Lindsay’s vision for the Raiders was represented on songs such as “Let Me” (1969 – #20 – Gold Single), and albums Hard ‘N’ Heavy (with marshmallow) and Alias Pink Puzz. The success of “Let Me” allowed Paul Revere and the Raiders to tour Europe with the Beach Boys in the spring of 1969 (they also recorded two songs for the long running German music program Beat Club at this time). Later that autumn, Happening ended its run on TV.
The “Raiders” 70′s Era
In an effort to change the bands’ sound and image, the name was officially shortened to The Raiders. Collage was an attempt to move the Raiders into another direction. Despite a glowing review in Rolling Stone magazine (critic Lenny Kaye praised the album’s production and remarked, “Mark Lindsay never fails to give the impression that he knows what he’s doing. Almost single-handedly, he’s brought the Raiders to a stronger position than they’ve occupied in years.” .
“Freeborn Man”, a song 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 among many others.
Ironically, The Raiders biggest hit, “Indian Reservation” (1971 – #1 – Gold single), was recorded as a Mark Lindsay solo session “Indian Reservation” was Columbia Records biggest selling single for almost a decade, clearing over 6 million units. They followed this success with a top 20 album (Indian Reservation) and the #24 hit “Birds of a Feather.” The Raiders expanded to include drummer Omar Martinez and keyboardist Bob Wooley.
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 Blue Öyster Cult and Aerosmith, and Country Wine sank in the resulting quagmire. They did continue to release singles for Columbia until their contract expired in 1975. Their last hits were “Country Wine” (1972 – #52), “Powder Blue Mercedes Queen” (1972 – #54), “Song Seller” (1972 – #96), “Love Music” (1973 – #97) and “All Over You” (1973 – did not chart)
After Mark Lindsay
Lineup changes ensued in 1975, with Mark Lindsay departing the band after a gig at Knott’s Berry Farm. Lindsay continued his solo career, having previously landed a hit single in late 1969 with Kenny Young’s “Arizona”. After two final singles for Warner Bros. records in 1977, Mark turned his attentions to film scoring and commercials. He was also head of A&R (artists & repertoire) for United Artists Records in the 70s. Keith Allison departed in April 1975, to be replaced by current Raider bassist Ron Foos.”
Country music was the choice of former guitarist Freddy Weller, who had much success on the country charts before, starting with his country version of Joe South’s “Games People Play” in 1969 reaching #2 on the country charts as well as recording albums, (his first two solo albums were produced by Mark Lindsay), and Top 10 singles on the country singles charts such as his covers of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land”, The Cowsills’ “Indian Lake”, as well as “These Are Not My People” and “Another Night of Love” for Columbia during this time while with the Raiders, as well as after leaving the Raiders (Freddy’s stint was 1967-1973). In a memorable event, Revere married for the second time on the 4th of July, Bicentennial Year 1976 on stage at a Raiders show .” Revere announced his retirement from the music business at the end of 1976, but was back on the road by 1978 with a new cast of Raiders.
The quintet of Paul Revere, Mark Lindsay, Drake Levin, Phil Volk and Mike Smith reunited for Dick Clark on national television in 1979 doing a medley of their biggest hits.
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, Minor Threat, and Liverpool band The Farm (although The Monkees’ cover version was better known than the Raiders’ original), and later “Just Like Me” would be covered by The Circle Jerks, Joan Jett and Pat Benatar). David Bowie covered “Louie, Go Home” and The Who took that song and changed the title and lyrics to “Lubie, Go Home”. “Hungry” was also covered by Sammy Hagar and the new waver David Edwards did a cover of “Kicks.” The Flamin’ Groovies tackled two Raiders songs (“Him or Me, What’s it Gonna Be?” and “Ups and Downs”) and The Morrells did a country-tinged arrangement of “Ups and Downs” as well. The Paisley Underground, garage rock revival, and grunge movements would all acknowledge the Raiders’ influence. “Kicks” was also covered by Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork of the Monkees as one of three new recordings included on their 1986 compilation Then & Now… The Best of The Monkees.
Revere continued with a relatively stable lineup through the 80′s and 90′s, featuring longtime members Omar Martinez (drums and vocals since 1972), Doug Heath (guitarist for the Raiders since 1973), and Ron Foos (Allison’s replacement in 1975). Occasional new record releases included the self-produced “Special Edition” in 1983, with Bradley on vocals, and “Paul Revere Rides Again”, released in 1983 through Radio Shack stores. They even recorded a home video for MCA Universal in 1996 titled “The Last Madman of Rock ‘N’ Roll”. Revere’s son Jamie joined the band on guitar for several years in the 90′s (featured on “Generic Rock & Roll” (1992) and “Generic Rock 2″ (1996). In 2001, the Raiders released “Ride to the Wall”, featuring several new songs, along with their versions of 60′s hits, with proceeds going to help veterans of the Vietnam War. They performed at Rolling Thunder’s Memorial Day event in Washington D.C. in 2001 for POW-MIA’s of the Vietnam era. A steady touring schedule kept Paul and his “new Raiders” in the public eye.
In 1997, the group’s classic 1966 Midnight Ride lineup (singer Mark Lindsay, guitarist Drake Levin, bassist Phil “Fang” Volk and drummer Mike “Smitty” Smith) reunited in full costume (though without Revere himself) for a 30th anniversary performance in Portland. Smith died four years later, in 2001, at the age of 59.
in 2000 Sundazed Records released a two CD package entitled Mojo Workout that focused on the R&B and soul sounds from early in the Raiders’ Columbia career.
Original bassist Phil “Fang” Volk currently tours with his own band, “Fang and the Gang.” Guitarist Drake Levin also performs on occasion in the San Francisco Bay Area.
After leaving the Raiders in 1967, Jim Valley continued to perform and hone his songwriting skills in a variety of acts. In the early 1980s he was encouraged by educational professionals to use his musical talent to help inspire school kids. He is now an acclaimed and award-winning children’s music artist and educator, traveling the world as an emissary of the “Rainbow Planet”. Now living back in his native Pacific Northwest, Valley also continues to write and record his own albums.
On October 13, 2007 Paul Revere & the Raiders were officially inducted, along with their Manager Roger Hart, into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. In attendance were Mark Lindsay, Phil “Fang” Volk, and Roger Hart to accept their awards.
* Beatnik Sticks / Orbit (The Spy) (Gardena 106) 1960
* Paul Revere’s Ride / Unfinished Fifth (Gardena 115) 1961
* Like, Long Hair (BB #38, CB #30) / Sharon (Gardena 116) 1961
* Like Charleston / Midnight Ride (Gardena 118) 1961
* All Night Long / Groovy (Gardena 124) 1961
* Like Bluegrass / Leatherneck (Gardena 127) 1962
* Shake It Up (Pt 1) / Shake It Up (Pt 2) (Gardena 131) 1962
* Tall Cool One / Road Runner (Gardena 137) 1962
* So Fine / Blues Stay Away (Jerden 807) 1963
* Louie Louie / Night Train (Sande 101) 1963
* Louie Louie (US #103) / Night Train (Columbia 42814) 1963
* Louie, Louie Go Home (US #118) / Have Love Will Travel (Columbia 43008) 1964
A different version of the A-side appears on the “Midnight Ride” LP
* Over You (US #133) / Swim (Columbia 43114) 1964
* Ooh Poo Pah Doo / Sometimes (US #131) (Columbia 43273) 1964
Singles During the Hit-Making Years, 1965-1971
* Steppin’ Out (BB #46, CB #58) / Blue Fox (Columbia 43375) 1965
* Just Like Me (BB #11, CB #16) / B.F.D.R.F. Blues (Columbia 43461) 1965
B-side is a non-LP track
* Kicks (BB #4, CB #3) / Shake It Up (Columbia 43556) 1966
B-side is a non-LP impromptu track done in one take
* Hungry (BB #6, CB #10) / There She Goes (Columbia 43678) 1966
* The Great Airplane Strike (BB #20, CB #17) / In My Community (Columbia 43810) 1966
Single version and LP version of A-side differ slightly at the beginning and end of the track
The above four singles were also released as red-vinyl promos. Each promo included the A-side on both sides
* Good Thing (BB #4, CB #5) / Undecided Man (Columbia 43907) 1966
* Ups And Downs (BB #22, CB #19) / Leslie (Columbia 44018) 1967
* Him Or Me, What’s It Gonna Be (BB #5, CB #9) / Legend of Paul Revere (Columbia 44094) 1967
* I Had A Dream (BB #17, CB #14) / Upon Your Leaving (Columbia 44207) 1967
* Io Sogno Te (I Had A Dream) / Little Girl (Little Girl In The 4th Row) (CBS) 1967
* Peace Of Mind (BB #42, CB #35) / Do Unto Others (US #102) (Columbia 44335) 1967
* Rain, Sleet, Snow / Brotherly Love (Columbia 44376) 1967
* Too Much Talk (US #19, CB #11) / Happening ’68 (Columbia 44444) 1968
A longer version of the A-side appears on the “Something Happening” LP
* Don’t Take It So Hard (BB #27, CB #21) / Observation From Flight 285 (In 3/4 Time) (Columbia 44553) 1968
* Cinderella Sunshine (BB #58, CB #47) / Theme From ‘It’s Happening’ (Columbia 44655) 1968
A longer, different version of the A-side appears on the “Hard & Heavy (with Marshmallow)” LP. Copies also exist with the B-side shown as “It’s Happening” (sans theme prefix)
* Mr Sun, Mr Moon (BB #18, CB #15) / Without You (Columbia 44744) 1969
* Let Me (BB #20, CB #16) / I Don’t Know (Columbia 44854) 1969
A longer version of the A-side appears on the “Alias Pink Puzz” LP
* We Gotta All Get Together (BB #50, CB #25) / Frankfort Side Street (Columbia 44970) 1969
A longer, different version of the A-side appears on the “Collage” LP
as THE RAIDERS:
* Just Seventeen (BB #82, CB #73) / Sorceress With Blue Eyes (Columbia 45082) 1970
* Gone Movin’ On (BB #120, CB #92) / Interlude (To Be Forgotten) (Columbia 45150) 1970
* Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian) (BB #1, CB #1) / Terry’s Tune (Columbia 45332) 1971
B-side is a non-LP instrumental
* Birds Of A Feather (BB #23, CB #13) / The Turkey (Columbia 45453) 1971
1970s-forward
* Country Wine (BB #51, CB #28) / It’s So Hard Getting Up Today (Columbia 45535) 1972
* Powder Blue Mercedes Queen (BB #54, CB #43) / Golden Girls Sometimes (Columbia 45601) 1972
* Song Seller (BB #96, CB #89) / A Simple Song (Columbia 45688) 1972
* Love Music (BB #97, CB #61) / Goodbye No. 9 (Columbia 45759) 1973
* (If I Had To Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It) All Over You / Seaboard Line Boogie (Columbia 45898) 1974
as PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS
* Your Love (Is the Only Love)/Gonna Have a Good Time (Columbia 10126) 1975
* The British are Coming (20th Century) 1976
* Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong/You’re Really Saying Something (Drive) 1976
* Kicks (Live ’82) (RaiderAmerica) 1982
* Jingle Bells/ (b side by Dean Torrence and Mike Love) (Primore) 1983
Reissue singles
* Louie Louie / Louie Go Home (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33082)
* Just Like Me / Kicks (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33098)
* Hungry / The Great Airplane Strike (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33106)
* Good Thing / Ups and Downs (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33111)
* Him Or Me, What’s It Gonna Be / Steppin’ Out (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33126)
* Don’t Take It So Hard / Cinderalla Sunshine (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33137)
* Cinderella Sunshine / Mr. Sun Mr. Moon (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33162)
* Let Me / We Gotta All Get Together (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33171)
* Indian Reservation / Birds Of A Feather (Columbia Hall Of Fame 33200)
Albums
* Like, Long Hair — Gardena LP-G 1000 — 1961
* Paul Revere and the Raiders — Sande S-1001 — 1963
The above albums were issued only in mono
* Here They Come (BB #71, CB #71) — Columbia CL 2307 (Mono)/CS 9107 (Stereo) — 1964
Front cover features bassist Mike “Doc” Holiday. Early pressings feature Holiday’s name on back cover, later pressings feature new liner notes and Holiday’s replacement Phil “Fang” Volk
* Just Like Us (BB #5, CB #6) — Columbia CL 2451/CS 9251 — 1965
* Midnight Ride (BB #9, CB #9 — Columbia CL 2508/CS 9308 — 1966
* In the Beginning — Jerden JRL-7004 — 1966
* The Spirit of ’67 — (BB #9, CB #6) — Columbia CL 2595/CS 9395 — 1967
* Paul Revere and the Raiders Greatest Hits (BB #9, CB #6 — Columbia KCL 2662/KCS 9462 — 1967
* Revolution! (BB #25, CB #20) — Columbia CL 2721/CS 9521 — 1967
* A Christmas Present … And Past (BB Christmas Charts #10 — Columbia CL 2755/CS 9555 — 1967
* Goin’ to Memphis (BB #61, CB #71) — Columbia CL 2805/CS 9605 — 1968
Although credited to Paul Revere & the Raiders, only Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay appear on this album
* Something Happening (BB #122, CB #69) — Columbia CS 9665 — 1968
* Hard ‘N Heavy (with Marshmallow) (BB #51, CB #37) — Columbia CS 9753 — 1969
Early pressings feature black and white front cover photo, later pressings feature different photo in color
* Two All-Time Great Selling LP’s (BB #166) — Columbia GP 12 — 1969
Repackage of “Spirit of ’67″ And “Revolution” albums
* Alias Pink Puzz (BB #48, CB #54) — Columbia CS 9905 — 1969
* Paul Revere and the Raiders Featuring Mark Lindsay — Harmony KH 30089 — 1970
* Collage (BB #154, CB #75) — Columbia CS 9964 — 1970
* Good Thing — Harmony KH 30975 — 1971
* The Raiders Greatest Hits, Vol II — Columbia C 30386 — 1971
* Indian Reservation (BB #19, CB #26 — Columbia C 30768 — 1971
* Movin’ On — Harmony KH 31183 — 1972
* Country Wine (CB #104) — Columbia KC 31196 — 1972
* All Time Greatest Hits (BB #143, CB #136) — Columbia KG 31464 — 1972
* Special Edition Featuring Michael Bradley (Raider) 1982
* Great Raider Reunion (ERA) 1983
* Paul Revere Rides Again (Hitbound) 1983
* Generic Rock Album 1984
* Still Live 1984
* Just Like Us! (Sundazed) 1998
* Midnight Ride (Sundazed) 2000
* Mojo Workout (Sundazed) 2000
* Alias Pink Puzz (Repertoire) 2001
* Something Happening (Repertoire) 2001
* Ride to the Wall (Rhino) 2001
* Hard ‘N’ Heavy (Repertoire) 2003
* Ride to the Wall Vol. 2 (Rhino) 2005
* Anthology Kicks! 1963-1972 (Raven Records/AUS) 2005
1939 – Born on this day, Cindy Birdsong, The Supremes, (joined in 1967, 1969 UK No.3 single ‘I’m Gonna make You Love Me’). Labelle, (1975 US No.1 & UK No.17, single ‘Lady Marmalade’).
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