Last year, Now Sounds brought Paul Revere and the Raiders’ 1967 Revolution! to CD in a deluxe, expanded mono/stereo edition. Now, the Cherry Red imprint has turned the clock back to 1966 just in time to deliver a 50th anniversary edition of that album’s immediate predecessor, The Spirit of ’67.  This sparkling remastered reissue does full justice to the LP which marked the final collective work of the classic band line-up of Paul Revere, Mark Lindsay, Phil “Fang” Volk, Drake “The Kid” Levin and Mike “Smitty” Smith.

Whereas most of Revolution! was cut by producer Terry Melcher with the members of Los Angeles’ venerable Wrecking Crew, the spirited tracks on Spirit of ’67 were, by and large, recorded between July and September ’66 by the band with a little help from studio veterans Hal Blaine and Jerry Cole plus Melcher, his pal Bruce Johnston, and Van Dyke Parks.  (The Raiders were undoubtedly looking forward by titling the album after the coming year!)  The fast ‘n’ furious Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil song “Hungry” featured one of Mark Lindsay’s most potent and powerful vocals.  It was recorded and released before sessions began for Spirit of ’67, and built on the band’s string of successes when it reached No. 6 on the Hot 100.  Shortly after the recording of “Hungry,” guitarist Drake Levin left the Raiders to serve in the National Guard, though he continued to participate in sessions through early 1967.  Another top 20 single on Spirit, Revere, Lindsay and Melcher’s “The Great Airplane Strike,” was also released prior to the album.  While the B-side of “Hungry” had previously appeared on Midnight Ride, the flip of the tough, Stones-esque “Airplane” was held over for Spirit.  That B-side, Volk’s “In My Community,” was ideal for 1967 as an ode to the youthful hippie culture.  Van Dyke Parks contributed the offbeat organ flourishes to the folk-rocker.

The third hit single contained on Spirit, “Good Thing,” opened the album.  When it soared to No. 4 on the Hot 100, it proved that Melcher, Lindsay, and Revere could craft a smash just as handily as Mann and Weil, who had provided the band’s last two Top 5s (“Kicks” and “Hungry”).  “Good Thing” had all the primal urgency of “Hungry,” along with Melcher’s prominent Beach Boys-style harmony arrangement, a killer riff, and tight band interplay.  Both Drake Levin and his replacement Jim Valley played on the scorching track, lending their guitars to the Motown-inspired rhythm.  Another churning rocker, “Louise,” was written by Jesse Lee Kincaid of The Rising Sons and was ideal for the Raiders’ born-in-the-garage sound.  (“Louise” also opened future Raider Keith Allison’s 1967 Columbia solo album In Action, available on CD from Real Gone Music.)  Mike Smith contributed and sung “Our Candidate,” with wailing harmonica and a drawled lyrical barrage that recalled the Raiders’ Columbia labelmate, Bob Dylan.

Other tracks on Spirit of ’67 were more far-out, including the dark ballad “All About Her,” which Mark Lindsay reveals in Mike Stax’s illuminating liner notes was inspired by Jacques Brel, and Volk’s anguished yet universal account of a breakup, “Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard).”  Lindsay’s “Oh! To Be a Man,” another tortured slow-burner, boasts a lovely vocal arrangement in a folk vein.  Even more striking is Lindsay and Revere’s “Undecided Man,” for which arranger-conductor Mort Garson was tapped to step into George Martin’s shoes for a slashing string arrangement that out-“Eleanor Rigby”s “Eleanor Rigby.”  The most overtly psychedelic cut on Spirit, “1001 Arabian Nights,” looked forward to Revolution!, which would take the band’s sonic experimentation even further.

Now Sounds’ reissue, beautifully remastered by Alan Brownstein from the original Columbia tapes, has both the mono and stereo album presentations.  Attentive listeners will spot numerous differences throughout.  “The Great Airplane Strike” appears twice in mono – once in the album version, and once in the mono single version.  The mono versions boast different sound effects and a sudden ending compared to the stereo album version, which fades out.  Two more bonus tracks have been retained from the previous Sundazed CD reissue: a version of “Hungry” with censored lyrics by Lindsay (about getting stoned), and the outtake “(You’re A) Bad Girl,” which was recorded during the album sessions but ultimately not included on it.

A 16-page booklet, attractively designed in period style by reissue producer Steve Stanley, is included.  The notes, based on interviews with Lindsay and Phil “Fang” Volk, are filled with fascinating revelations.  Mike Stax recounts the peculiar circumstances surrounding the recording of Lindsay’s lead vocal of “Hungry,” as well as how a certain illicit substance contributed to the group nailing the take.  Lindsay also recalls Revere’s displeasure with the trippier tunes, such as “Arabian Nights,” among other tidbits.

With Terry Melcher and Mark Lindsay guiding the direction of the group (Revere having largely ceded creative control in favor of managing the business side) and also forming a strong songwriting partnership, divisions began to form within the Raiders.  Jim Valley’s stint proved to be a short-lived one, and Levin, Smith, and Volk all departed, too, to form the trio Brotherhood.  But as the last stand by a true band of musical brothers, The Spirit of ’67 still flies high in Now Sounds’ deluxe reissue.

Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Spirit of ’67: Deluxe Mono/Stereo Edition (Now Sounds CRNOW 56, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Good Thing
2. All About Her
3. In My Community
4. Louise
5. Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard)
6. Oh! To Be A Man
7. Hungry
8. Undecided Man
9. Our Candidate
10. 1001 Arabian Nights
11. The Great Airplane Strike
12. Good Thing
13. All About Her
14. In My Community
15. Louise
16. Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard)
17. Oh! To Be A Man
18. Hungry
19. Undecided Man
20. Our Candidate
21. 1001 Arabian Nights
22. The Great Airplane Strike
23. (You’re a) Bad Girl (Mono 45)
24. Hungry (Alternate Version)
25. The Great Airplane Strike (Mono Single Version)

Tracks 1-11 from The Spirit of ’67, Columbia CL 2595, 1966 (Mono)
Tracks 12-22 from The Spirit of ’67, Columbia CS 9395, 1966 (Stereo)
Track 23 first released in stereo on ’63-’67: The Essential Ride, Columbia/Legacy CK 48949, 1995
Track 24 first released on Spirit of ’67, Sundazed CD SD 6095, 1996
Track 25 from Columbia single 4-43810, 1966