In the late nineties Sundazed gave its typical loving
treatment to the catalog of one of sixties pop’s most misunderstood bands.
Because of their goofy persona and embarrassing Revolutionary War stage gear,
Paul Revere and the Raiders are sometimes regarded as disposable. Sundazed’s
reissues dispelled that belief with some really tough, surprisingly consistent
Stonesy pop records presented with fine sound and some terrific bonus outtakes and singles. The
group’s first couple of albums with producer Terry Melcher aren’t great, partly
because they rely too heavily on covers that can’t top the originals and partly
because of a misguided decision to democratize the vocal chores when the
group really only had one great singer. And don’t let his little pony tail and
bowl cut fool you: Mark Lindsay is one of the sixties’ most expressive white soul howlers. Although there was a bum track or two on the
trio of classic LPs that followed (“Melody for an Unknown Girl” is the worst
mushy recitation this side of The Monkees’ “The Day We Fall in Love”), Midnight Ride, The Spirit of ’67, and Revolution!
are pretty much beyond reproach, still fresh, fun, and full of color 45 years down the trail.
Sadly, some of these classics went out of
print in the ensuing years. A new copy of Sundazed’s Revolution!, the group’s most consistent album (though some might
contend that Spirit is their best),
is currently fetching—no joke—$211.99 on Amazon.com. Gladly, the Australian
label Raven Records has just reissued the first five Melcher records as a
budget double-disc set. The downside is that there wasn’t room for the bonus
tracks, and some of them are really, really essential (the original “Louie, Go
Home,” later covered by The Who, the hit “Ups and Downs,” “Try Some of Mine,”
“(You’re a) Bad Girl,” “The Legend of Paul Revere”). Also, because of time constraints
Midnight Ride is split between the
two discs. The upside is that these five albums are available again, and for a
much more reasonable price than $211.99. They also sound really good, which is
not often the case for budget releases. Plus, listening to disc two, which puts
most of Midnight Ride, The Spirit of ’67, and Revolution!
back-to-back-to-back, really highlights what a fabulous band Paul Revere and
the Raiders were in their peak years. Now maybe Raven can do a comp of
those orphaned bonus tracks next, hint, hint
