Paul Revere of Paul Revere and The Raiders died at his home in Idaho on October 4th 2014. He was 76 years old.
The band started in the late 50s, they recorded the classic Louie, Louie just a week after Kingsmen in 1963, though this could be argued, whether the Raiders or Kingsmen recorded the song first. By 1965, the legendary producer Terry Melcher (who happens to be Doris Day’s son) took them under his wings and the band took off to become a part of the great original garage rock scene in the US, appearing in many TV shows, live venues and of course entering the Billboard charts, with 9 top 20 hits, of which 5 got in the top 10 and one hit the top spot, 1971’s Indian Reservation, the peak of the band’s career.
The Raiders went through numerous line up changes and Revere retired and returned to the music business a few times. Songs of theirs like (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone, Louie Go Home, Him Or Me What’s It Gonna Be and more were covered by many of their descendants, including David Bowie, Joan Jett, Sex Pistols and Minor Threat.
Paul Revere and The Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay (which was their full name in most of their Billboard hits) was one of the greatest American bands of that era and Paul Revere Dick was their exceptional leader, still active playing gigs in his mid-70s, until the very last moment.
ZR