Customer Reviews

Midnight Ride

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I know...I have a lot of favorite Raider CDs...but this one has to be a top 5 favorite.
From '66, it was their 3rd LP for Columbia, and a big transition, as 9 of the 11 tunes were written by them...the exceptions: The terrific Mann/Weill "Kicks", which was a big hit for them, and the Boyce/Hart "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone", which The Monkeys did a cover of and had a hit with...but this is the original version, and it's a knockout.

Drake contributed "Ballad of a Useless Man", which is a compassionate look at the homeless (and in the '60s this wasn't a common point of view), along with 2 other songs, and the other 5 are by Mark and Paul. Perhaps the most interesting musically on the entire CD is "All I Really Need is You", with its many time/rhythm changes...it ends with the lovely instrumental, "Melody for an Unknown Girl", with Mark doing a smooth sax solo and the spoken parts.

The bonus tracks: "Shake it Up", another Mark/Paul piece that's a rousing instrumental, and the Italian version of "Little Girl in the 4th Row". I feel the inclusion of "SS 396" and "Corvair Baby", which were recorded earlier ('65) and are in a "Beach Boys style", though neat songs, just don't fit in with the mood of the rest of this CD, and are kind of a jarring finish to an otherwise unique and excellent recording...(...)

1966 was possibly the greatest year in rock & roll history. The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds", Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde", "Revolver" by the Beatles, and "Face to Face" by the Kinks were all released in 1966. I add to that list"Midnight Ride" by Paul Revere & the Raiders. It was their third album for Columbia (fifth overall), and the first not to rely heavily on cover versions of other people's songs. "Kicks" and "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" were supplied by the songwriting teams of Mann-Weil and Boyce-Hart. Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay wrote six of the songs on the album, and one of the CD bonus tracks, "Shake it Up". Guitarist Drake Levin contributed "Ballad of a Useless Man" and collaborated with drummer Mike Smith ("There's Always Tomorrow") and bassist Phil Volk ("Get it On"). Most of the songs have the basic sound of the band playing together. Revere's Vox organ is prominent in the mix, and Levin's rhythmic guitar is unmistakeable. Also of note is the strong bass lines from Volk. 60's recordings usually buried bass guitar in the mix, unless it was a Motown record. Maybe the Raiders learned a few tricks from them. The clarity on this CD is eye opening. I've never heard "Kicks" sound as good as it does on this CD. "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" will have you forgetting all about the Monkees version - Mark growls out the lyrics like nobody's business! "Louie Go Home" is a killer Revere - Lindsay collaboration that should have been a single. It would have been a smash. "Take a Look at Yourself" is another killer rocker with strong lyrics. On the lighter side, there's Mark singing to the "Little Girl in the 4th Row" - some of the band members hated it, but Lindsay's teen fans loved it; "Melody for an Unknown Girl", an instrumental featuring Mark's sensitive sax; and "There She Goes", an up pop number with producer Terry Melcher on background vocals. The Raiders were to go on to make more sophisticated pop albums (with practically unlimited studio time as they desired), but it doesn't get any better than this: one of America's greatest bands rockin' it out with a great batch of songs.

The Raiders were hitting their Rock & Roll stride. 1st song is the Anti Drug Anthem called Kicks. Then There's Always Tomorrow/Mark's soothing Little Girl in the 4th Row. A stomper called Ballad of a Useless Man. A Remake of I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone(as great as the Monkees)a shorty called There She Goes. Side 2:A neat beat called All I Really Need Is You. Then Get It On! The sequel: Louie Go Home, then Take A Look At Yourself then Mark's ballad called Melody for an Unknown Girl. The CD add ons:the 45 Shake it Up. an Italian of Little Girl in the 4th Row & the rare 45's of SS 396 & Corvair Baby. ENJOY!!!

This LP used to be my favcorite, until one day it didn't seem cool and I pushed it to the back of my recvord cabinet with some other records I was ashamed of. They were trying too hard to be like the Stones is what I figured, and they weren't cutting it. Oh boy, how I wrong I was. But as it turned out, most of the records I was ashamed of loving then, have come back from the valley of shame and are now my favorites! Isn't it funny?

Before the renmastered reissue with the extra tracks, the final song on side B USED TO BE the instrumental "Melody for an Unknown Girl," heavy with saxes, a tune I thought the ultimate in romance, sort of like "Caroline No" was for the Beach Boys PET SOUNDS. I'd play it on my little mono player again and again. The needle would click, click, click after the last groove while I was lost in a silence that grew more tenuous and romantic with every minute that passed, while I thought of the way that eventually I would become a teenager and be out there falling in love every day and a half and breaking hearts and getting my heart broken too I suppose. It was the idea of the "unknown girl," tantalizingly mysterious in the mist of anticipation, parallel to the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" which my dad took me to see, which also broke my heart.

I liked KICKS then too, from a child's perspective the song was filled with an older boy's looking back to a time long past when "Kicks" weren't quite as hard to find as nowadays; I had regret that I was too young to live in that time--the hedonist's utopia, some archetypal time before the expulsion from Eden. If that sounds far fetched, the lyrics to verse 2 are all about the way the girl in the song is looking (through drugs I used to think) "for another piece of paradise." We're all looking for that time before our own births in which sin and death had not yet corrupted our innocence. Maybe that's why those old albums and the pop tracks they contained now have the place of pride on my iPod.

Over the last few years my musical tastes have changed. I used to be closed minded to rock music and listen mostly to rap and hip-hop and 60's and 70's soul and RnB. I do not listen to hip hop as much as I did before (still do from time to time), but my love for soul music 60's and 70's is as strong as ever. But then I started listening to oldies rock, 50's to early 70's and have fallen in love. I have albums like Midnight Ride 1966 to thank. I absolutely love cruising to this album at full blast, and love Mark Lindsay's gritty and bluesy voice. Most songs are originals (as opposed to covers). "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" (also done by the Monkees) is a cool song written by Bobby Hart and Tommy Boyce is a cool bluesy rocker, and I believe that the Raiders recorded it before the Monkees if I'm not mistaken. I love the energetic pulse of "Ballad of a Useless Man," again employing the use of bluesy instrumentation. "Kicks," written by famous pop composer Barry Mann and long time partner Cynthis Weil, co-composers of other artists like the Righteous Brothers at the time, was one of the most famous songs from the album, and the Raiders were the original recorders of it. It has a twangy up tempo vibe and also will get your head nodding. Most other songs are composed by band members, and are equally worthy of listening. "Get It On" is an advisory song about living one's life, and has a cool keyboard melody. The other songs are really cool as well. Depending on which re-release version you buy, there are some bonus songs that are cool like "Corvair Baby," and "Shake It Up." This pop-garage rock band surely makes some fun cruisin' music, and for that I have bought other slbums of theirs like Something Happening (1968), Spirit of '67 (later in 1966), and a few others. Great music it is for sure.

This CD takes you back to a simpler, more fun time when songs like "Unknown Girl", both plaintive and endearing, could be enjoyed just for the artistry of it and "Kicks" could still get you moving. While not the top of their CDs, I consider it a valuable addition to my collection.

The disc I received from Amazon did NOT contain the bonus tracks as advertised. The song I was looking for is not even on the CD. I opened it hoping the label was incomplete so now I cannot return it.

If there was one hit group from the Sixties that I just did not get, it would be Paul Revere & The Raiders. I know they were the best selling American group in terms of fighting back against the British Invasion, a time when only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were selling more albums, but I still think of them as the definitive B-level group form the period and off the top of my head I can never name any of their hits (always think of Mark Lindsay's "Arizona" and "Indian Reservation" from his solo career in the Seventies). All I really remember is seeing them dressed up in faux colonial uniforms and their reputation in the annals of rock history pretty much support the idea that I did not miss much. However, they were not a bad group, they were just not a great group and did not really have a great moment, that one super hit song on which to hang their reputations.

"Midnight Ride" is one of their better albums (good thing because this was the title the group was born to use sooner or later), helped by the fact that the group wrote most of the music and that all of the band members got in on the action. Lead singer Mark Lindsay turned in a decent ballad with "Little Girl in the Fourth Row" (there are two versions on this reissue album) but the two best songs here are "Kicks" by Mann & Will and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" by Boyce & Hart (the version by the Monkees is better). Ultimately, if I had to define Paul Revere & The Raiders I would say they made dance music. These are not songs to sing along with; you just get out on the dance floor and move your feet to the music. The bonus tracks add a bit more rock 'n' roll to the album, but those are clearly not what defined the group's sound at this point (it would change noticeably in 1967 when Drake Levin split the band. Levin and another former band member Phil Volk put together the notes for this reissue album and offer up some fan-friendly nostalgic perspectives on the glory days of their youth. The bonus tracks and the notes make me skew my rating higher than I would have gone otherwise.