Lindsay, Valley, Volk, Revere and Smith towards the end of their time together.


me. We played everything on it. Glen D Hardin played keyboards on a few tracks”, he says, but “I played keyboards on a lot of the stuff in Paul’s absence; he was already up in Idaho.”


AFTER THE ’60S


In the new decade the hits slowed down (“diminishing returns” for their efforts, says Hart). Lindsay and Weller both had successful solo careers in tandem with their Raiders work, and concerts of the era included selections from their solo records in addition to Raiders hits. The latter were often condensed into medleys, since the length of a typical concert didn’t allow for performance of all of the Raiders’ long list of hit singles.


The surprise success of another Raiders-in- name-only cut, ‘Indian Reservation’ in ’71 reinvigorated the group as a concert draw, but the rocking ’70 LP Collage bore little resemblance to that sound. By the early to mid-70s Paul Revere & The Raiders was a live revue than an album-making outfit.


Even though the music got heavier, Raiders concerts didn’t bow toward the musical excesses of the era: Paul Revere & The Raiders never did drum solos. “In February ’72 we went into Vegas,” Allison recalls. “The first two rock acts to play Las Vegas were Elvis and us. We were at The Flamingo, and he was at The Hilton.”


The group had retired the Revolutionary


garb shortly after the departure of Volk, Smith and Levin in favour of “high-fashion street clothes,” in Allison’s words. By the early ’70s they wore “jumpsuits with a yoke up the front, and rhinestones and shit like Elvis,” Allison laughs. Coming full circle, when the Raiders went to Vegas they again donned the uniforms.


“I don’t think the Raiders will ever be voted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, because people don’t


take the music seriously. They forget that we had some pretty good


rock ’n’ roll records.” Mark Lindsay


While gigs in Las Vegas and on the oldies circuit suited Revere, the other members slipped away one by one. By ’75 Allison and Lindsay had left, and the recording era of the group was effectively over. Revere continued the group as a live act with various other musicians, and as of 2010 continues to perform with a line-up based in Branson, Missouri. Hart likens the


Raiders’ ever-changing line-up to “A well- oiled machine, with occasional spare parts.”


THEGREATLOST RAIDERSALBUM?


Asked about the existence of any “lost” Raiders recordings, the various members do recall a few unheard gems. Valley raves about the ’67 sessions for an unreleased Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil cut called ‘Long Way To Go’. Featuring electric violin and oud, the song would have “taken the Raiders to a different realm,” Valley believes. “It wasn't a teenybopper song.” He says that Lindsay's inability to hit some of the notes doomed the song, which was never completed.


Valley also recalls the band going into Armand Steiner Studios between touring dates. There they would record cover songs (‘Stand By Me’ with Valley on lead vocals, ‘Boys’ featuring Volk etc.) for airing on Where the Action Is. The band would be shown lip-synching to the tunes, but the songs themselves were essentially recorded live in the studio. Those tracks were just the band – absolutely no studio musicians – and featured Revere in a more prominent musical role than he enjoyed on the group’s officially recorded output.


Lindsay says that in the earliest (’58-61) version of the group back in Idaho, “One of the guitar players had a Wollensak recorder. And there are some live tapes of that group. Mostly covers and a lot of Ventures, since we had two guitarists in the band.”


Photo courtesy of Gino Rossi


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