Paul Revere, a musician who led first the band Paul Revere and the Raiders and later just The Raiders, died on October 4. He was 76 and the cause was cancer. A keyboardist who started out recording instrumentals with bandmate Mark Lindsay, Revere drove the band’s sound from the rear while it imprinted itself on the late 60s and early 70s rock scene. In 1966 they had hits with “Kicks”–an anti-drug song, rare enough in the 60s–and “Hungry.” In 1971 the Raiders had the No. 1 single in the US with a cover of Indian Reservation, written by John D. Loudermilk. The Raiders original song “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” was recorded by bands from the Sex Pistols to the Monkees.
Paul Revere was his real name–he was actually born Paul Revere Dick in Harvard, Nebraska. Revere, despite his patriotic name–or perhaps inspired by it–was a conscientious objector when he was drafted into the military in 1961 and worked as a cook during his 18 months of deferred service, according to Wikipedia. Revere only announced his retirement from the band in August of 2014, after his cancer had advanced enough to prevent him from continuing to tour.
