Paul Revere & the Raiders – "Hungry" (1966)

If I break some rules along the way

Girl, you gotta understand

[NOTE: Paul Revere & the Raiders followed up "Kicks" (which made it all the way to #4 on the Billboard "Hot 100" chart in 1966) with "Hungry" (which peaked at #6).  Both songs – which were written by the legendary husband-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil – were on the setlist when the group performed in my hometown in 1967.  Here is a slightly edited version of the post I wrote about that concert in 2010.]

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Paul Revere and the Raiders were the biggest band to appear in concert in my home town (Joplin, Missouri) when I was growing up.  I went to the concert – which took place in either the late spring or summer of 1967 – when I was 15, and just about to enter high school.

Paul Revere and the Raiders in Joplin

Between late 1965 and mid-1969, Paul Revere and the Raiders had a dozen hit singles – including four that made it to #6 or better on the Billboard "Hot 100" charts – and three gold albums.  

Their four biggest hit singles – including "Kicks," "Hungry," and "Good Thing" – were released in 1966 or early 1967, so they were pretty much at the peak of their national popularity when I saw them at Joplin's Memorial Hall. 

Which leads me to ask this question: Why in the world did one of the most successful top-40 bands in the country decide to play a concert in Joplin?  I have no answer for that one – I don't even have a remotely plausible theory.

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To make the Joplin visit even more remarkable, it turns out that the photo for the Raiders' next album cover was taken on the porch of a house in Joplin.

Here's the album cover:

Why was the album cover photo taken there?  According to a 2010 Joplin Globe interview with Paul Revere (real name: Paul Revere Dick), Columbia Records decided in 1967 that it was time for the band to get a new album out toot sweet.

Because their tour was going to last for some time, the record company flew a photographer from California to Joplin to shoot the cover of the album, which was titled "Revolution."  The photographer drove around town, looking for visual inspiration, and stumbled upon what Revere said he described to the band members as "a beautiful old colonial mansion."

The photographer must have flunked American history.  He may have flunked architecture history as well -- the house he chose looks a little bit like an antebellum Southern plantation but doesn't look remotely colonial.

Here's what that house looks like today:

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Paul Revere and the Raiders were a terribly entertaining bunch.

In this video of the band lip-synching to "Steppin' Out" on a Canadian TV show, there is no attempt to pretend that they are actually performing the song live.  (Look closely and you'll see that the boys are playing toy musical instruments.)

Click here to see the band performing at a "Penguin for Mayor" rally on the old "Batman" TV show.

Click here to see a really odd TV performance of "Kicks."

And last but not least, click here to watch the group performing "Hungry" – the newest member of the 2 OR 3 LINES "GOLDEN DECADE" HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

Click here to buy "Hungry" from Amazon.

Paul Revere & the Raiders – "Kicks" (1966)

Don’t you see no matter what you do

You’ll never run away from you

When you’re hot, you’re hot – and Paul Revere & the Raiders were hot, hot, HOT in 1966.

The Raiders had four hit singles that year – and three of them made it all the way into the Billboard “Hot 100” top ten.  Today’s featured song was the first of the group’s ’66 hits, climbing all the way to #4.

That was a big day for the Raiders, but today may be even bigger.  Because I’ve decided to include “Kicks” in the 2023 class of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

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Paul Revere & the Raiders were hardly an overnight success.  They formed in Boise, Idaho – not exactly a recording industry hotspot – in 1958, but didn’t crack the Billboard charts until 1961, when “Like, Long Hair” peaked at #38.

The group released ten non-charting singles over the next three years before having a minor hit with “Steppin’ Out” in 1965.  

The next single – “Just like Me” – almost made it into the top ten.

Then came “Kicks,” the first of their five top five hit singles.  (Try to say that sentence fast three times.)

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The legendary husband-and-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil originally offered “Kicks” to the Animals, who had just had a hit with the Mann and Weil composition, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”  For some reason, Eric Burdon turned “Kicks” down.  (Big mistake, Eric!)

“Kicks” was produced by Terry Melcher – Doris Day’s son, by the way – who was a close associate of the Beach Boys.  

Melcher was also also produced the Byrds’ first two albums.  But despite Melcher’s contributions to their success, David Crosby – one of the original Byrds – went out of his way to rip “Kicks” for being a “dumb” record.  

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The Raiders’ best year may have been 1966, but the following year – when they released three more singles that made it into the top 20 – wasn’t bad either.  

So they were riding high when they rolled into Joplin, Missouri – my hometown – for a concert in the summer of 1967.

God knows why they chose to visit Joplin and play in an auditorium with only 2700-odd seats, but I’m glad they did.  I had just finished eighth grade when the Raiders came to town, and you’d best believe that seeing them was a big, big deal.  

You can read more about that 1967 Joplin concert in the next 2 or 3 lines.

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Click here to watch the Raiders seemingly having a ball while lip-synching to “Kicks” on some TV show.

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.