Paul Revere & the Raiders

AMG Review of Paul Revere & the Raiders

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Paul Revere & the Raiders' second independently released album, issued shortly before they signed to Columbia Records, showed that the group had developed from the bar-band material and gimmicky boogie-woogie instrumentals of 1960-1961 into a good R&B-based band with a stronger vocal focus, both on Mark Lindsay's lead singing and on the band's backup harmonies (though many of the tracks still were instrumentals). The material consisted of covers of songs like "Honky Tonk," "Shake, Rattle & Roll," and "Don't Be Cruel," evidence that the Raiders had been listening to the radio carefully for suitable dance music. It would take the studio polish of producer Terry Melcher to make them the band of "Kicks" and "Good Thing" a few years down the line, but it was already apparent that the Raiders had been paying their dues. [After the group achieved stardom in 1966, Paul Revere & the Raiders was reissued by Jerden Records under the title In the Beginning. In 1969, it was reissued by Sears under its original title and by Pickwick with two tracks, "Linda Lu" and "Irresistable You," deleted.]