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Loud on the Ledge: The Bumpy Ride of Paul Revere & the Raiders

Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, August 2016

EVERYTHING ABOUT Paul Revere and the Raiders was contrived and corny, except their music. There's no rational excuse for why they shouldn't be routinely counted among the most accomplished, consistent American rock groups of the mid-'60s, but they aren't, and that's because of those gimmicky 18th century costumes and the fact that they cavorted goofily on national television every weekday afternoon. Erase those images, and cue up The Complete Columbia Singles, starting with track one, their honking, unruly version of 'Louie Louie.' and ending with 'Let Me!' near the end of CD2 (the third disc is far less impressive): nearly every track has punch – they didn't release their slower stuff on 45RPM – and polish.

Total word count of piece: 1807

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