The Raiders started out as Paul Revere and the Raiders. You might remember them as the group that dressed in American Revolutionary costumes so that they would look like people who lived during the late 1700s. The costumes came about because the lead singer’s name was Paul Revere. Yes, that was his real name. Actually, he was born Paul Revere Dick in 1938 in Nebraska, but grew up on a farm outside of Boise, Idaho. Paul really had no plans to go into music and by the time he was twenty years old or so, he owned several restaurants in Caldwell, Idaho. That was to be his career.

Then one day, he met a fellow who worked at a bakery where Paul was picking up bread. The man’s name was Mark Lindsay. The two thought it would be cool to form a band and they called themselves the Downbeats. They had some local success and then decided to take advantage of the fact that one of the lead singers was actually named Paul Revere, they changed the name of the group to Paul Revere and the Raiders. Then they saw the Revolutionary War costumes in a store window and thought it would be fun to dress up. This was the kickoff that started them on the road to fame.

The band was completely formed by 1960 and had their first hit (a mild one) called “Like, Long Hair,” in 1961. It only went to number 38. It took another four years before they hit the charts again. In 1965, they moved to Los Angeles and tried to emulate the British groups that were invading America at the time. They had a big break when Dick Clark hired them to appear on Where the Action Is. From 1965 until 1969 they had twelve more chart records, but none of them went to number one. That didn’t happen until “Indian Reservation.”

“Indian Reservation” was written by John D Loudermilk back in 1959 and was first recorded by Marvin Rainwater with the name “The Pale Faced Indian.” It was later recorded in 1968 by Don Fardon under the name we know today and it reached number twenty on the charts. Loudermilk claims he thought of the words to the song when he got stranded in a snowstorm and was rescued by a family of Cherokee Indians.

In 1971, the name Paul Revere and the Raiders was changed to just The Raiders. They did this to streamline their image. They hadn’t had a Top 10 hit since 1967 and felt like they were fading away. This gave them the boast they needed. They then recorded “Indian Reservation” with Mark Lindsay singing lead. Even with a number one song, they group was having a hard staying relevant. Music tastes were changing in the country and the Raiders were fading away fast. Lindsay manages to get a couple hits as a solo artist, on of which “Arizona” hit number ten in 1970.

The Raiders stayed together in one form or another right up until 2014. Over the years, there have been 34 different persons that played with the band. In 2014, Paul Revere announced his retirement from the group and then on October 4, 2014, he died “peacefully” in his sleep after a battle with cancer. The band continues on as Paul Revere’s Raiders.

“Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)” entered the pop charts on May 29, 1971 and spent just one week at number one, but it was enough to cement their role in rock and roll history.