Induct Paul Revere and the Raiders into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Letter from Gary Whitaker, the owner of Whitaker Publishing and Publisher of 417 Magazine

Tuesday April 20, 2010

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation
1290 Avenue of the Americas
Second Floor
New York, NY 10104

Greetings:

I%u2019ll be direct: I am writing to recommend Paul Revere and the Raiders be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Paul and an excellent lineup of sidemen continue to perform regularly as Paul Revere and the Raiders in Branson, Missouri, but the original band%u2019s legacy is worthy of Hall of Fame honors. Consider their pre-Beatles pedigree, courtesy of Wikipedia:
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). In his early twenties, Revere first met singer Mark Lindsay (born March 9, 1942, Eugene, Oregon) while picking up hamburger buns from a bakery where Lindsay worked. Lindsay joined Revere's band in 1958. Originally called The Downbeats, they changed their name to Paul Revere and the Raiders in 1960 on the eve of their first record release for Gardena Records. The band scored their first Pacific Northwest hit in 1961, with "Like, Long Hair." The song had enough national appeal that it peaked at #38 in the Billboard charts on April 17, 1961. When Revere was drafted for military service, he became a conscientious objector and worked at a mental institution for a year-and-a-half of deferred service as a cook, while Mark Lindsay pumped gas in Wilsonville, Oregon. Lindsay, on the strength of their Top 40 hit, toured the U.S. in the summer of 1961 with a band that featured Leon Russell filling in for Revere on piano.
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. 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).
As an American rock band, Paul Revere and the Raiders saw enormous U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s, best-known for hits like "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" (1971), "Kicks" (ranked number 400 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) and "Hungry" (1966).
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. This farcical, cartoonish image obscured the proto-hard rock sound that their music often took.
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.
Paul and the current cast of Raiders continue to exude the spirit of rock and roll in their performances before adoring crowds in Branson. As a living icon from rock%u2019s golden era, Paul, Mark Lindsey and others who performed as Raiders deserve consideration in two of the four main categories for inductees: Performers and Early Influences.

Please accept my letter as a letter of nomination and recommendation.

Warmest regards,

Gary Whitaker, Publisher
417 Magazine
Springfield, Missouri