Paul Revere's "Ride To The Wall"

Thirty years ago today, Paul Revere fired up his Harley for a motorcycle ride across America to promote a recording. This week, he'll do it again to help the nation's veterans.

The Boise rock 'n' roll icon, who had six gold albums in the '60s and '70s, has spent parts of the past two years making a CD titled "Ride to the Wall," the first recording with new Paul Revere and the Raiders material in more than 20 years.

All of its profits will be donated to veterans organizations.

Motorcyclists will join Revere, Forrest Gump-like, as he travels from Seattle to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Wall, in Washington, D.C. He'll make the trip around tour commitments, arriving in Washington for a performance at the annual Rolling Thunder Memorial Day weekend observance. Rolling Thunder is a veterans motorcycle group.

The May 27 show at the Lincoln Memorial -- with appearances by Miss America 2000 Heather French and Adrian Cronauer, the disc jockey Robin Williams portrayed in "Good Morning, Vietnam" -- promises to be the biggest of Revere's 41-year career.

"It's huge," he said. "Last year, they had 400,000 people there."

The last time Revere rode a motorcycle across the country, he was a 33-year-old pop star. He has little trepidation about reprising the ride at 63.

"I'm still an animal," he said. "The nice thing about it is you eat a lot of bugs on a motorcycle, and bugs don't have any calories. I'm hoping by the time I get to D.C., I can put on a smaller pair of pants."

The ride was almost a victim of changing times.

"Thirty years ago, all you needed was a driver's license. Now, you have to take a three-day course and get a special motorcycle license. The class in Boise was full, but in the nick of time I found one with an opening in Paul (a Magic Valley farming community), of all places. It was nice of them to name the town after me."

Revere and his band are accustomed to crossing the country, typically playing more than 100 dates a year at casinos, state fairs and other venues. The idea to record an album for veterans began when they added the 1965 Animals' hit, "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place" to their repertoire.

"Veterans started coming up at the autograph signings after our shows and telling us it was their theme song in Vietnam," Revere said. "When we started dedicating it to Vietnam vets, it just snowballed. It's a very emotional thing for them. They didn't get a lot of recognition when they came home from the war because of all the protests that were happening then. We decided we needed to do more than dedicate a song to them. The CD is the result."

Revere will launch his ride to the Wall with media appearances in Portland today and a Friday-night concert with the Kingsmen, of "Louie Louie" fame, at Microsoft founder Paul Allen's Experience Music Project museum in Seattle.

The actual road trip begins in Saturday morning in Seattle, with Revere and friends rolling into Boise on Sunday. From Boise, he'll fly to Las Vegas -- the trip's only air leg -- to pick up new motorcycles that the Harley-Davidson Co. is loaning him for the duration of the ride.

The "Ride to the Wall" CD includes three new songs written by Vietnam veterans and remakes of nine songs that were popular with Americans serving in Vietnam. The remakes range from covers of hits by the Animals and Creedence Clearwater Revival to gentler sounds originally recorded by Simon and Garfunkel and the Mamas and the Papas.

"It took a lot of time because these are classics, and we wanted to recreate the original sound," Revere said. "On some of them, we added a little Raider flavor. The rule was that if I thought we added something that took away from the original, we took it out."

Jack Armstrong, program director at Kool Oldies 104.3, calls the CD "the best Raiders album ever. He told his band that if they weren't true to the original music they weren't going to do it, and they were dead on. When I heard it, I was absolutely blown away. This makes these guys the ultimate cover band in the world."

Armstrong recently aired the CD and has received "over 20 calls from people just wanting to hear the Raiders' version of (Simon and Garfunkel's) 'Mrs. Robinson.' They absolutely nailed it. And with today's digital technology, the recording quality is better than it was on the originals."

The CD, he said, should be available at Boise retail outlets by next week.

They include the local Harley-Davidson dealership.

Revere is encouraging prospective Easy Riders.

"Any motorcyclist who wants to join us is welcome," he said. "They can go as far as they want with us and then go home."

Tim Woodward wrote the liner notes for Paul Revere's new CD dedicated to the nation's veterans and is a longtime friend. Contact Tim at twoodward@boise.gannett.com or 377-6409.



		Paul Revere rides again Boise icon hits road to D.C. and biggest concert of his career By Tim Woodward The Idaho Statesman Thirty years ago today, Paul Revere fired up his Harley for a motorcycle ride across America to promote a recording. This week, he'll do it again to help the nation's veterans. The Boise rock 'n' roll icon, who had six gold albums in the '60s and '70s, has spent parts of the past two years making a CD titled "Ride to the Wall," the first recording with new Paul Revere and the Raiders material in more than 20 years. All of its profits will be donated to veterans organizations. Motorcyclists will join Revere, Forrest Gump-like, as he travels from Seattle to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Wall, in Washington, D.C. He'll make the trip around tour commitments, arriving in Washington for a performance at the annual Rolling Thunder Memorial Day weekend observance. Rolling Thunder is a veterans motorcycle group. The May 27 show at the Lincoln Memorial -- with appearances by Miss America 2000 Heather French and Adrian Cronauer, the disc jockey Robin Williams portrayed in "Good Morning, Vietnam" -- promises to be the biggest of Revere's 41-year career. "It's huge," he said. "Last year, they had 400,000 people there." The last time Revere rode a motorcycle across the country, he was a 33-year-old pop star. He has little trepidation about reprising the ride at 63. "I'm still an animal," he said. "The nice thing about it is you eat a lot of bugs on a motorcycle, and bugs don't have any calories. I'm hoping by the time I get to D.C., I can put on a smaller pair of pants." The ride was almost a victim of changing times. "Thirty years ago, all you needed was a driver's license. Now, you have to take a three-day course and get a special motorcycle license. The class in Boise was full, but in the nick of time I found one with an opening in Paul (a Magic Valley farming community), of all places. It was nice of them to name the town after me." Revere and his band are accustomed to crossing the country, typically playing more than 100 dates a year at casinos, state fairs and other venues. The idea to record an album for veterans began when they added the 1965 Animals' hit, "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place" to their repertoire. "Veterans started coming up at the autograph signings after our shows and telling us it was their theme song in Vietnam," Revere said. "When we started dedicating it to Vietnam vets, it just snowballed. It's a very emotional thing for them. They didn't get a lot of recognition when they came home from the war because of all the protests that were happening then. We decided we needed to do more than dedicate a song to them. The CD is the result." Revere will launch his ride to the Wall with media appearances in Portland today and a Friday-night concert with the Kingsmen, of "Louie Louie" fame, at Microsoft founder Paul Allen's Experience Music Project museum in Seattle. The actual road trip begins in Saturday morning in Seattle, with Revere and friends rolling into Boise on Sunday. From Boise, he'll fly to Las Vegas -- the trip's only air leg -- to pick up new motorcycles that the Harley-Davidson Co. is loaning him for the duration of the ride. The "Ride to the Wall" CD includes three new songs written by Vietnam veterans and remakes of nine songs that were popular with Americans serving in Vietnam. The remakes range from covers of hits by the Animals and Creedence Clearwater Revival to gentler sounds originally recorded by Simon and Garfunkel and the Mamas and the Papas. "It took a lot of time because these are classics, and we wanted to recreate the original sound," Revere said. "On some of them, we added a little Raider flavor. The rule was that if I thought we added something that took away from the original, we took it out." Jack Armstrong, program director at Kool Oldies 104.3, calls the CD "the best Raiders album ever. He told his band that if they weren't true to the original music they weren't going to do it, and they were dead on. When I heard it, I was absolutely blown away. This makes these guys the ultimate cover band in the world." Armstrong recently aired the CD and has received "over 20 calls from people just wanting to hear the Raiders' version of (Simon and Garfunkel's) 'Mrs. Robinson.' They absolutely nailed it. And with today's digital technology, the recording quality is better than it was on the originals." The CD, he said, should be available at Boise retail outlets by next week. They include the local Harley-Davidson dealership. Revere is encouraging prospective Easy Riders. "Any motorcyclist who wants to join us is welcome," he said. "They can go as far as they want with us and then go home." Tim Woodward wrote the liner notes for Paul Revere's new CD dedicated to the nation's veterans and is a longtime friend. Contact Tim at twoodward@boise.gannett.com or 377-6409. Previous Article \| Next Article \| Back to News		Gerry Melendez / The Idaho Statesman Boisean Paul Revere, 63, begins a cross-country motorcycle ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., this week. The trip is part of a kickoff for Paul Revere and the Raiders' first studio recording in more than 20 years, with all profits donated to veterans. Revere will reach D.C. in time for a Memorial Day weekend concert. The Idaho Statesman Paul Revere, left, joins band members as he sings on New Year's Eve at the Boise Centre on The Grove in 1999. The rocker and his band have been recording a new CD that includes three new songs written by Vietnam veterans and nine that were popular with troops during the war. Paul Revere and the Raiders' biggest hits "Just Like Me," 1965 "Kicks," 1966 "Hungry," 1966 "Good Thing," 1966 "Him or Me," 1967 "I Had a Dream," 1967 "Let Me," 1969 "Indian Reservation," 1971 Paul Revere's ride across America Seattle Pendleton, Ore. Boise Las Vegas Kingman, Ariz. Flagstaff, Ariz. Gallup, N.M. Albuquerque, N.M. Amarillo, Texas Oklahoma City Tulsa, Okla. Little Rock, Ark. Memphis, Tenn. Nashville, Tenn. Birmingham, Ala. Montgomery, Ala. Tallahassee, Fla. Jacksonville, Fla. Savannah, Ga. Charleston, S.C. Wilmington, N.C. Raleigh, N.C. Richmond, Va. Hampton, Va. Washington, D.C.










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