I usually get a funny look from people when I tell them I bought my first album at 5 ( I could say I get funny looks anyway but that joke would be a bit clichéd, eh?).  I have been obsessed with music all my life.  I can remember music playing when I was 2, oddly.

It happened like this: someone (I’ve forgotten who) gave me a single of PR and R’s “Gone- Movin’ On”.  There was something about that song right from the beginning that grabbed me.  Probably how it started immediately with just vocal, bass and drums.  it was not how pop songs usually started.   Even now It’s not all that common but especially then.  I loved the horns as well.

Even back in ’71, it was not the safest thing to let a five year old walk three or four blocks alone in Detroit but for some reason they let me on this occasion.  I walked to a drug store and saw the words “Paul Revere and the Raiders- Two Great Albums!”  It was 99 cents and . . . lo and behold! I had a dollar and few pennies in my pocket!

So I proudly walked up to the counter to make the purchase.  The teenage clerk behind the counter totally cracked up.  Once she recovered from her laughter she asked me what I thought of Paul.  I had no idea at that time who the members were,  I just liked the music.   But trying to be mature and cool I just shrugged and said,  “He’s alright.”

That purchase stayed with me for many years (until a bizarre accident with a vindictive cat ruined the album).  It was a repackaging of Spirit of ’67 and Revolution!  Those albums are now forgotten by the music world as are PR and R on the most part.  They accomplished a lot.  It is also strange to note that I usually hate music that is specifically manufactured to sell in keeping with the trends.  As one person said in a YouTube comment, “Mark Lindsay (lead singer and songwriter/producer) could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.”  You know he probably could in his prime.  He had (and has) an incredible work ethic and is perfectionist.  I’m not into a lot things he did since the Raiders but it is undeniable, he is a craftsman.  I’m not going to map out Mark Lindsay and PR and R’s careers.  Maybe another time.  But buying that album really got me started on a never-ending journey through the art of the album.

The lyrics didn’t mean that much to me but even at five the lyrics to “In My Community” spoke to me.  The intricate backing vocal on “What’s It Gonna Be?”, the strange psychedelic guitar on “The Great Airplane Strike”, the brashness of the vocal on “Hungry”, and the haunting almost medieval arrangement on “I Hear a Voice” all communicated to me some cryptic secret I could not explain (as a child everything is so subjective that there are a lot of cryptic secrets. lol).  I especially remember listening to the harmonica on “Reno” and watching the particles of dust dance in the sunbeams over the wooden livingroom floor on a Saturday afternoon.  I know it sounds weird but those moments meant a lot to me as a child.

I did send an e-mail to Mark Lindsay briefly telling him about my excursion to buy the album that got me started.  He never answered.  At the time I was annoyed and then I realized that, like the rest of us, he has an overwhelming amount of things to deal with.  But it would have been nice to get a thank you.  The cool thing is that soon I will get to see him on stage.  It’s, unfortunately, one of those cases of if I don’t see him now, I might never get the chance.  But then again, that’s the same with any band (young or old).