He always stayed in the background on keyboards while Mark Lindsay stayed out front singing lead and Phil “Fang” Volk balanced the group with his stage presence alongside Mike “Smitty” Smith and Drake Levin. But it was Paul Revere and the Raiders. It was Paul’s band. Paul died on October 4, 2014 at the age of 76. Born Paul Revere Dick in Harvard, Nebraska on January 7, 1938, he was already an astute businessman by his early 20s, owning several restaurants in the Caldwell, Idaho area. He met Mark Lindsey in the late 1950s and the two formed a band doing primarily instrumentals, already enjoying some minor chart success with the song “Like Long Hair” in 1961. By 1965, the core band contained Revere, Lindsay, Smith, Levin, and Volk, They enjoyed a string of top ten hits, including “Just Like Me,” “Kicks,” “Good Thing,” and “Him or Me (What’s it Gonna Be).” The songs had a distinct and stronger rock sound than a lot of the Top 40 hits of the same time. They had an after school show called “Where The Action Is,” produced by Dick Clark, and three gold albums by 1967. However, at the height of the group’s popularity, Volk and Smith quit the band. Volk was an especially popular member of the group, being singled out for photos and stories in the popular teen magazines of the time. Later hits like “Mr Sun, Mr. Moon” and “Let Me” did not chart with the same success as their earlier songs. This all changed when, in 1971, the band’s name was shortened to The Raiders and they had a massive number one hit with “Indian Reservation.” Read more http://www.examiner.com/article/1960s-veteran-rocker-paul-revere-dies
