Paul Revere of Raiders rock band dies at 76

[IDemo]

43. Remembering Paul Revere, Idaho's rock revolutionary

From the local paper -

Paul Revere, the chart-topping, rock 'n' roll funnyman from Caldwell, died Saturday in his Garden Valley home at age 76 after battling brain cancer for 18 months.

Revere was the organist and leader of Paul Revere & the Raiders, which recorded 23 consecutive hits in the 1960s as a leading American voice during the British Invasion. Dressed in over-the-top Revolutionary War-inspired stage garb, the Raiders were known for their slapstick live performances.

Around 1963, a frenetic Raiders show at the Hollywood Cinnamon Club caught the eye of Bill Medley, who sang in another band on its rise to fame, the Righteous Brothers. Medley and Revere became close friends and business partners. Decades later, the Raiders opened for the Righteous Brothers more than 1,000 times playing in Las Vegas and as a nightly act at Dick Clark American Bandstand Theater in Branson, Mo.

More than a musician, Medley said, Revere was a pratfalling, prop-wielding entertainer who was always, always smiling. Revere drove a tiny car through Medley's live set each night at the Bandstand Theater.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/10/06/3412503_remembering-idahos-rock-revolutionary.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

- The story says he was born in 1936, but that should have read 1938.