Paul Revere and the Raiders: "Kicks"

May 2, 1966 (1 week)

As I have discussed before, one of the key rock bands who will not be reviewed in this space is is the California quintet-turned-quartet musical polymaths The Byrds. I have already expressed regret that neither "Mr. Tambourine Man" (a number one of the Hot 100) nor "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (a chart topper on both sides of the Atlantic) were unable to reach the top in Canada. Worse still, they never managed an unexpected number one with any of their many far superior singles. Strong as much of their jingle-jangle folk-rock is, there was much more to them. Sadly, as opposed to The Beatles, their commercial decline coincided with their creative apogee. Here are just a few notable aspects of The Byrds:

They innovated within the realms of folk rock, psychedelic rock, raga rock and country rock. They then attempted to merge them all together during their largely ignored later years to mixed results.

Their first six albums are absolutely brilliant. From Mr. Tambourine Man through to Sweetheart of the Rodeo, every LP they released between 1965 and 1968 was either flawless or very nearly so. I particularly recommend 1967's Younger Than Yesterday and The Notorious Byrd Brothers from the following year.

For a band who relied on Bob Dylan and ...(checks notes)...The Bible for their two biggest hits, they had at least four gifted songwriters. They are Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons. It is said that others who came and went could write a song or two as well so let's give them that too!

In addition, lead singer Roger McGuinn was an outstanding guitarist. With tastes as catholic as Lennon and McCartney, he took influences such as John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar to create some incredible solos.

Finally, they were as influential as they come (which the first point sort of implies). Even on their debut album, their sound was so distinctive that the studious George Harrison borrowed much from their version of "The Bells of Rhymney" in order to come up with "If I Needed Someone". Whatsmore, their jangle pop sound has never really gone away as generations of critically acclaimed and commercially doomed power pop bands will attest.

"If I Needed Someone" appeared on The Beatles' seminal Rubber Soul album during the closing stages of 1965 which was roughly six months after the release of Mr. Tambourine Man featuring "The Bells of Rhymney". Clearly, the 12-string jangle sound was catching on. A number of garage rock bands tried it out including the so far largely luckless Paul Revere and the Raiders. Actually, things had been looking up for them after several years of obscurity. Their swampy blues rock single "Steppin' Out" had even given them a Top 10 hit on the RPM chart though it did rather less well on the Hot 100.

"Kicks" proved to be the breakthrough hit they needed. The Byrdsian sound isn't just evident in the guitar playing but in the softer vocal delivery on the part of lead singer Mark Lindsay. Rather than being a very early prototype for John Fogerty's distinctive rasp with Credence Clearwater Revival, he sounds much more like a trippy, acid-rock figurehead spouting off about egos and voids and all that hokum. Yet, that's not what he's selling: tripping your balls off may well be fun and enlightening but what happens the next morning when you have to once again deal with reality?

What's remarkable about "Kicks" is how early this anti-drug warning came along. The song's Wikipedia article states that it stood in contrast to the likes of Jefferson Airplanes' "White Rabbit", a single that wouldn't come out for another year. (It also mentions The Association's "Along Comes Mary" and The Byrds — yes, them again — and their groundbreaking hit "Eight Miles High" which both came out at roughly the same time as "Kicks") While squares from the establishment were already voicing their disapproval of recreational drugs, Paul Revere and the Raiders were voicing their concerns well before straight edge types who had cleaned up due to the influence of a in-no-way shady cult leader began doing so.

Some of their contemporaries considered the Raiders to be traitors or felt that their hit record was a load of crap but this didn't impact kids who tried to make up for The Byrds and their lack of a Canadian number one by taking this to the top instead. "Eight Miles High", "Set You Free This Time" (a Top 20 entry that largely failed elsewhere), "Have You Seen Her Face" and "Goin' Back" all would have been sure fire 9's or 10's but this will have to do. Not nearly as brilliant as the group's fans will have you believe but nowhere close to as dogshit as David Crosby considered. Influential as they no doubt were, The Byrds didn't inspire a whole lot of wonderful bands and certainly none who could match their level of excellence. With the bar sufficiently lowered, "Kicks" manages to clear it.

Score: 7