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The Rocket, 1/26/00

Paul Revere and the Raiders, Greatest Hits
By Steve Turner

Paul Revere and the Raiders get a raw deal sometimes. The combined weight of the silly clothes, Dick Clark's blessing, the teeny-bopper hits and 20 years on the Holiday Inn oldies circuit has taken quite a toll on their hipster credibility. This is a real shame because the band made some of the toughest, coolest American rock 'n' roll of the '60s. Paul Revere's newly updated Greatest Hits is much too short to tell the whole story, but it's a great introduction to their hit-making years of '65-'67. It starts off with their take on "Louie Louie," not the best version, but it serves as a reminder that they started off bashing out raw R&B in the great Northwest. By the time of "Louie Go Home," their sound was in place. Gone was singer Mark Lindsay's screaming and sax, replaced with a breathy snarl; the piano was traded in for a Vox organ and the hits started coming. "Kicks," "Hungry," "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," "Just Like Me," "Good Thing" -- this stuff moves! Producer Terry Melcher created the blueprint for the more ambitious garage bands: one part British Invasion, one part Southern California harmonies, one part Northwest frat-blast, one part blue-eyed soul and a sprinkle of exotic fairy dust. There's a bit of schmaltz on the CD with songs like "Melody for an Unknown Girl" and "Legend of Paul Revere," but that should be expected - Paul Revere and the Raiders were on TV every week in period costumes, for God's sake! What's amazing is how they still managed to make great rock 'n' roll at the intersection of Art and Commerce. Can anybody do that today? I haven't seen it.