Memories of 2014: The love and legacy of Paul Revere

[Photo (left) from Paul Revere & the Raiders Facebook Page. Visit the page and like it while you're there!

Original story published on examiner.com and reprinted in full below:

You’ll see two photos in the latest issue of “People Magazine,” posted online Jan. 14, 2015: Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, two American patriots whose time capsule was buried in 1795, being unearthed. That’s one. The other is a two-page photo spread, commemorating the life of musician and band leader, Paul Revere. In life as in death, the work we do, the people we know, and those who truly love us, individually and collectively, shape the impression that our life, and work, leaves behind after we are gone.

As the final weeks of 2014 arrived, and as the holidays set in, the loss of one of classic rock’s music icons began to be ever more real. Paul Revere loved Christmas, and he loved the advent of a new year ahead. That new year appearing had always meant packing for an annual January adventure aboard Concerts at Sea, his very own “Where the Action Is” cruise, with a ship-full of his family, friends, fellow musicians, and fans aboard for the fun.

October 4, 2014, marked Paul’s actual departure from this world after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. A very special memorial service was arranged for Oct. 13, at the holy, beautiful Cathedral of the Rockies, Boise First United Methodist Church. Because of Sydney Revere and the family’s lasting appreciation to the fans of Paul Revere and his Raiders, the funeral service was livestreamed on the Internet for simultaneous viewing. Boise FUMC’s Pastor Duane Anders opened the occasion, noting “It’s hard to capture anyone’s life in just a few words. Today we gather in love to remember, to mourn, laugh and hear music as we witness and testify to one of God’s children, Paul Revere.

The funeral proceedings featured Master of Ceremonies Tom Scott, and seven guest speakers who offered such distinct and beautiful memories of Paul that shared one common theme: Paul’s love for his fellow men and women, with the most special spot in his heart for the men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces. Named for a patriot, Paul lived as a patriot, never passing by an opportunity to thank active duty service personnel for their gift of time and service to the country. Revere also made it his personal mission in life to provide for, care and share with the veterans who endured acts of war, times of strife, and weeks of recuperation to return home and try to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on.

Tom Scott shared personal thanks for the outpouring of affection expressed to the family by so many residents of Idaho, noting “There will never be another like Paul Revere.” Tom recalled a January 1971 visit where Paul rode his chopper to radio station KFXD to bring test pressings of two songs, “Birds of a Feather” and “Indian Reservation,” thinking “Birds” had the best chance of being a hit. Scott played both songs and the listeners voted 3 to 1 for “Indian Reservation.” The song shot to Number 1 very quickly. Mike Allen and Revere visited radio stations all across the state to promote the song, and six months later, it was a million-selling single that ultimately became their best-known hit.

When the governor of your home state makes your funeral service his priority, then many strangers could easily be impressed and assume that it’s one celebrity showing up for another. And yet, it was a real friendship that Revere and former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne shared, that and mutual love and respect for their home state.

Brigadier General Allan Gayhart, Retired USAR, who was over the 116th Brigade combat team from the Idaho Army National Guard, spoke of Paul’s band as “America’s Band,” frequently embraced as America’s answer to the British invasion of the 1960s. Gen. Gayhart shared from the heart that Paul had a connection to veterans that could never be fully appreciated, as Paul always went the extra step of recognizing all those who served our nation.

This seasoned soldier shared “Paul was an early supporter of the Rolling Thunder event in Washington, DC. He started the Ride to the Wall Foundation, and donated proceeds from several CD sales to this cause. Veterans who attended a concert always received great respect. Paul would take the time to honor and recognize those who served, especially the Vietnam veterans, which meant so much to them.”

Gen. Gayhart recalled that one day he received a call from Gov. Kempthorne, asking him what Idaho could do for their reserve soldiers called up for deployment. Over 4,000 of Idaho’s soldiers were in Alexandria, Louisiana, awaiting deployment to Iraq that would come approximately a week later. The general’s suggestion was quick: Paul Revere. The story about how that happened would come from the speaker to follow.

Gen. Gayhart knew that most of these young service personnel would be men and women in their 20s, who didn’t grow up with the Baby Boomer devotion to and recognition of the music and hijinks of Paul Revere and his merry band of Raiders. He feared, for a millisecond, that the soldiers might be doing eye-rolls at the thought of the music of a lost generation. He recalled that he shouldn’t have worried.

Memories the general shared included his genuinely being moved as he saw the troops “amazed and truly entertained by the music and humor of the band.” They were dancing in the aisles and clapping hands, tapping feet, keeping rhythm flowing. “Our soldiers are now 4,000 of The Raiders’ greatest fans,” as they recall who was there for them as they were a “long way from home, surrounded by concern and apprehension of what was in store for their future. “They went into combat knowing there were those who loved and supported them,” as the general spoke through his own tears at the recollection. “Paul Revere was remembered as a truly great American and patriot.”

Next to speak was Brig. Gen. Bill Shawver, Retired USAF, who shared his personal memories of that same fall in 2004 when Paul, Sydney, and the Raiders came to focus their attention on the needs of the service personnel that day. Gen. Shawver was also aware of Paul’s devotion to the important Ride to the Wall Foundation for Vietnam vets. “The energy Paul displayed on stage would only be surpassed by what he did that week in Alexandria,” said Gen. Shawver.

Gen. Shawver was the logistician for the occasion of Operation Thanksgiving, as he shared personal recollections of the event. Joke by joke, song by song, there was complete immersion by the audience in what Paul and the band were doing. At the conclusion of the concert, Paul stayed to take photos with everyone who wanted to, and he even talked on the soldiers’ cell phones to their parents, the loved ones of those departing for combat, because they knew their parents would appreciate that so much. Paul was not fatigued; rather he was energized and matched these “youngsters” beat for beat.

Choking back the tears welling up, Gen. Shawver recounted how one young man had handed a set of dog tags to Paul, as he shared, “These belonged to my dad and I want to give them to you for being here with us.” Paul put those tags in his pocket and promised to take care of them, wishing the young man safety and a quick return. One man’s heart, one man’s soul, one man’s spirit reached across the divide of generations and made a permanent impression in the hearts of valiant warriors and new soldiers alike that occasion. That was who Paul Revere was, a man whose greatest deeds and works remained essentially buried in privacy until governors and generals paraded forth to share their memories with all who only thought they knew Paul well.

Paul and Sydney could have easily taken leave of the group at any point that day, but Gen. Shawver said, “They stayed with Gov. Kempthorne, standing for six hours, in conversation, serving meals in the true spirit of that Operation Thanksgiving weekend. The entire event came about as the result of a single phone call, placed by Kempthorne to Revere, who located him on his cell phone.

As the former Idaho governor, Dirk Kempthorne, took his turn at eulogizing Paul, he described with pride the initial phone call that started Operation Thanksgiving in the first place. The call went something like this:

Phone rings. Paul answers. “Hi, Gov. What’s up?” “I’m just taking a shot here, but is there any way you and the Raiders could come to Alexandria for the deployment of the 116th?” “Cool, absolutely, when is it? Wow. I’ll get right back to you.” Two hours later the governor related was walking across the parking lot at Boise State University as his phone rang. Paul was calling. “Gov, we’re all in. We’re all in.”

The deployment process took actually a full six days to accomplish, moving 4,300 troops is something the military trains regularly to do, but Paul Revere served his country as a civilian those same six days. Gov. Kempthorne said of Paul, “He would go through all the tents, sit on the bunks and talk to these soldiers, one on one. He went to chapel with us. This man invested every amount of the fiber of his spirit into the citizens who were wearing the uniform in a call to duty.” “When the last of the 116th brigade was deployed, there was a battalion still in Alexandria not attached to the 116th. They were there from the eastern United States, and there was no one there from their state to wish them Godspeed,” Kempthorne noted. “They were to deploy 24 hours later, and I’d already told the team to go home as we’d completed our mission. But Paul stayed that extra day, to be with those who had no one there, making sure at least he would be there.” From the podium, he spoke personally to Sydney, Paul’s daughter Jody, and his son Jamie: “That’s the man he was.”

As Gov. Kempthorne noted the presence of current Idaho governor Butch Otter at the funeral as well, you have to pause for a big moment and think about the dignity with which the state of Idaho viewed Paul, the regard in which he was held throughout his lifetime, and the way he could easily shape a state’s heritage by recognizing and respecting the soldiers from that state, in just that one show, but that was not the only time. There were several decades of work Paul did with the Ride to the Wall Foundation as well.

One by one, Paul’s life and times as a musician were noted by Keith Allison, Roger Hart, Larry Leasure and Phil Volk. Each shared musical stories of the touring band, of the height of the career. Each story was told with love; favorite Bible verses were shared, and memories filled the sanctuary.

Phil Volk said, “Next to my Mom and Elvis Presley, Paul Revere was my next biggest musical influence. He taught me how to write.” Fang was funny as he shared one special memory about how Paul was fearless. It was when the Raiders had flown down to the Dominican Republic on a C-130 cargo ship. There was a performance at one army base, where no one in the band felt like they were connecting with the audience. “A big, tall Green Beret came marching up to Paul, and sort of smiled as he stared at him. We were all sort of worried. We shouldn’t have. Paul grabbed a mike, walked the man up to the middle of the stage and said, ‘You know what your problem is? You have the wrong kind of hat.’ And with that, he took the Green Beret’s beret and put his own three-cornered hat on the soldier. Paul finished the show wearing the beret. We were so glad the soldier let Paul live that night.”

Then there was Paul, the everyman, comfortable around everyone. As the invited guest of Robert Redford, for the world premiere of the movie “Jeremiah Johnson,” Revere and Redford hung out together the whole night, two men who are iconic to those who don’t know them, and to those who do as well.

Volk brought the crowd to near tears of laughter as he described a St. Louis stopover during a 1960s concert tour sponsored by Columbia Records, promoting their latest album at the time. They’d arrived at the corporate promotion of Paul Revere riding a horse up the steps of the Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. Not only did Paul ride up the steps, he managed to stay in the saddle to get the horse through the front doors and right into the lobby and paused at the front desk to register. It all unfolded so fast, and then the fine steed decided to drain his bladder over the $50,000 Persian carpet. Fang remembered they sent Columbia the bill for the carpet cleaning. Those were the days of grandiose, outlandish “what’s next around the corner” minute-by-minute Raider-style fun.

Keith Allison brought the words of comfort from Keri Clark, widow of Dick Clark, on behalf of the family, and shared that with rare exception, Dick Clark did not really fraternize with the artists he hired and showcased on television programs. Paul Revere was the one exception, and they were good friends. Again, Paul was singled out as the one for whom people made extra time.”

Allison also shared memories sent to him from Freddy Weller to share that day. Weller described Paul as honest, a man of integrity and one who knew how to treat his fellow man, a true hero. Allison also brought the somber group to laughter as he shared stories of living in Boise, times with the band on the road and then another poignant moment about Sydney, the love of Paul’s life.

Keith related that one day out of the blue, Revere called him and said, “You have to come to Atlantic City! Syd’s starring in ‘Some Like it Hot!’ So Keith goes and Paul said, “I have to take some pictures of these great display boards because Syd’s on them!” So he did. And then they loaded into a rental car, and Keith drove as they went up and down the highway so Paul could take a photo of all of the Harrah’s billboards advertising the production. There were many! There was even one Harrah’s billboard high atop traffic in an isolated location on a deserted road. Paul said, “I have to get a shot of that!” So he climbed on top of the billboard (both men were in their 50s at the time, but remember, Paul was fearless!) and then Keith said, “I had to climb on top of the car to get that shot!” The mourners could not help but fall into laughter as they could imagine Paul’s love for Sydney as high as the highest billboard in New Jersey! Allison’s parting words were a perfect introduction for the photo montage: “Some people dream, some people live. We got to live our dreams. Sleep well my friend.”

Bill Medley followed and said, “Paul Revere was a soulmate, we worked together every chance we got.” That friendship and musical alliance took them from Las Vegas to Branson, and places in between. Medley also spoke of their last phone conversation together. Bill knew Paul had called to say goodbye. “He asked me to keep an eye on Syd and take care of her,” and I said, “Of course, we will all be there for Syd and care for her.”

Medley then moved to play piano while his daughter McKenna sang the words to a favorite hymn, “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me home.” To close the service, Rev. Anders shared his reflection on the service that had just taken place in the Revere family church, and how he had introduced his own children to the music of the man whose memory was being honored that day. Those watching live stream, thanks to the consideration of Paul’s family, felt that they too had been a part of his tribute and memorial. But that’s not where the story ends.

When Paul was in his final days battling cancer, he rebranded the band as Paul Revere’s Raiders, because he wanted the music everyone loved to live on beyond his life. He asked each of his band members to keep it going, for his sake, and together they have. Their first concert of 2015 came in Las Vegas, in two nights at the South Point Casino.

On Saturday, Jan. 4, two friends came on stage, Las Vegas resident and The Buckinghams’ Nick Fortuna and Phil ‘Fang’ Volk. Together the band and Fang performed “Kicks,” complete with the trademark Raider dance moves. On Tuesday following the Vegas weekend, a Raiders fan sent Sirius-XM’s 60s on 6 morning man, Phlash Phelps, a picture of Nick, Darren Dowler, and Fang, and Phlash talked about the excitement of the weekend.

“For Fang, it was like riding the proverbial bike again—you just don’t forget.” Phlash shared communications he had with Raiders’ drummer Tom Scheckel: “Fang brought down the house, and both he and Nick were great to come up and join us for the encore as well, and in large part secured a standing ovation for us.” Phlash added his own thoughts how wonderful it was that the brilliant history of musicians who were part of the Raiders’ band at one time, and the colleagues who’d performed together in so many venues over the past 35 years together as The Buckinghams and The Raiders, have been doing the past months. On Sunday evening, on stage with the Raiders, singer Bill Medley told a couple of great “inside” stories, and sang “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

Scheckel said that several band members had been contacted by so many celebrities who had lifetime friendships with Paul, each offering to do anything they could to share music and memories, should they ever be needed. Phlash also noted the magnanimous gesture of musician and band leader Paul Shaffer, who’d offered to come out to the first show the Raiders performed following Revere’s passing on Nov. 11, 2014. With Paul’s schedule on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and the concert date, the logistics didn’t work out to have that happen, but the offer was like gold, prized by each of Paul Revere’s Raiders.

If fans are thinking about Paul, particularly as the Where the Action Cruise is about to sail this coming weekend, visit the website for the Ride to the Wall Foundation; the board president is Larry Leasure, and Sydney Revere remains on the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Funds are dispersed to several approved veteran’s outreach programs.

Paul Revere would have been 77 years old on Jan. 7. His 76 years of life here were much like the Spirit of ’76, with patriotism, love of his fellow man, appreciation for great music and his ability to entertain and share his gifts–fairly, generously and consistently–the legacy he leaves behind. Paul Revere left all of his fans a special gift—his band, Paul Revere’s Raiders.

For every time they play, for every Raiders song, from all the early years and with some of the lesser known but beloved hits that they perform, they’re doing it for Paul with enthusiasm. The music lives on because the Raiders keep rocking. Darren Dowler, Ron Foos, Doug Heath, Danny Krause, Jamie Revere, and Tommy Scheckel are there to preserve the spirit Paul left here.

Together, they are band who continues to be, as one radio DJ aptly tagged them, “the keepers of the flame.”

[Editor's note: The band is still very active in performing, keeping Paul's spirit alive and the band's music going strong. You can catch their tour dates on their website: http://paulreveresraiders.com/tour/]

Search No More for P.F. Sloan, for He is No Longer Among Us: Music Innovator Dead at 70

Jimmy Webb brings out a special guest star, British singer Rumer, to duet on "P.F. Sloan" during his concert at MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, June 15, 2013.

Philip Sloan deserved status as a music icon for most of his life; yet, for so long, he was denied that status until one good friend, Stephen Feinberg, convinced him it was time to tell his story and finally set the record straight, for perpetuity. Philip Gary Schlein, known early as Phil, best known as P.F. Sloan, died on the evening of Nov. 15, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. As a press release from publicist Sangeeta Haindl noted today, “The world has lost one of its great talents.”

In June 2014, Sloan and Feinberg published “What’s Exactly the Matter With Me: Memoirs of a Life in Music” (Jawbone Press). As soon as it was released, people who thought they knew P.F. Sloan very well by his music found instead that they had known nothing at all about the man or the indignities he’d suffered for years, how he paid the genuine price for his success when those who were jealous and more powerful wreaked their havoc onto his career. The memoirs, resplendent with perfect recall and genuine grace as they’re related, include his affiliations and influences on surfer music, such as Bruce & Terry (Johnston and Melcher, respectively), Terry Black, The Fantastic Baggys, and Jan & Dean, and across two generations of classic rock.

Music textbooks are filled with Phil’s songwriting and producing success for artists like Barry McGuire, The Grass Roots, The Turtles, Herman’s Hermits, Johnny Rivers, The Fifth Dimension, but the true stories of how the events actually occurred are mind-bending.

It’s beyond poignant that P.F. Sloan’s best-known composition, “Eve of Destruction,” which defined Barry McGuire as a musical artist, came back to life in the titles of newspaper and magazine articles published in the earliest hours after the tragic attack on Paris last weekend, by the radical attackers who seek to inspire fear with their actions.

Yet, the song’s words first resonated with a generation that was transforming its impression of war as a brave act to preserve freedom into a gathering of protest groups springing up across America as young minds were led to question authority as well as military service with the war in Vietnam.

A breakout song for those who would not follow the paths of their fathers, “Eve of Destruction” became the anthem of what society called “radicals” back then. Bob Dylan said of the song,” “There are no more escapes. If you want to find out anything that’s happening now, you have to listen to the music; I don’t mean the words. Though, 'Eve Of Destruction' will tell you something about it.”

All too poignantly, today the title of the song and its lyrics are the centerpiece of commentary from the opposite end of the political spectrum, as the lyrics and message of the song hit home for an entirely different mindset. Music is the message the sender emits into the universe and the receiver absorbs the message and embraces it at such point where it resonates and hits home with the one hearing it. p> For many years, Sloan’s frequent coauthor was Steve Barri and the Sloan-Barri hit factory was subsumed by Dunhill Records. Both yesterday and today, it seems that Lou Adler gets all of the credit for The Mamas and The Papas, when in fact the heavy lifting was essentially Phil Sloan’s— from songs to early guitar playing on the records, and creating their trademark sound in the Dunhill studios.

Mostly these days, Adler gets credit for the resurgence of the music of Carole King, and the multi-Grammys of “Tapestry,” and for his easy-to-spot beret atop his head while sitting next to Jack Nicholson at Los Angeles Laker games. Back in his earliest years, it is now clear that Lou was a suit with a primary penchant for spotting talent, hooking it to his line, reeling it in, and getting the very best part of the unsuspecting fish out, before casting the remains into the ocean deep, never (he thought) to be heard from again. Egos, power, and poor judgment perhaps explain Adler’s treatment of Sloan. But, worse yet was John Phillips’ (The Mamas and Papas) treatment of Phil, the classic dog biting the hand that fed him relationship. Of course John Phillips’ errors in judgment throughout his life as are long as the Apple iPhone Terms and Conditions agreement.

One story from the book: Phil was invited, together with Jimmy Webb, to the earliest planning meetings of the Monterey Pop Festival, and walking into a room he found cluster of egos and ended up being booted from playing guitar (with The Mamas and The Papas) and, further, threatened with a knife to his face by John Phillips from showing up at ‘his’ Monterey Pop Festival. From his memoirs, John Phillips said, “Do you think I called you here to my home to get your opinion on our festival?...I called you here to give you fair warning that I’ll have you killed if you show up in Monterey. Are we clear?”

Soon after telling John Phillips off, Phil checked around for Jimmy Webb, couldn’t find him, and gave up and drove down to Santa Monica. “It turns out that Jimmy Webb was looking for me, while I was looking for him. When he couldn’t find me, he etched the scene in his mind, and a couple of years later came the key lyrics to Phil’s namesake song, “I have been seeking P.F. Sloan but no one knows where he has gone…” Incidentally, it wasn’t like good people didn’t try to warn him about the Dunhill gang. After a meeting Bob Dylan said to Sloan privately, “I’ve been wanting to tell you something, Phil. Those guys at Dunhill are going to tear you up. You’re not safe there.’ Sloan replied, “I’ll watch myself.” “You better,” said Bob. Robert Zimmerman was right.

How Jay Lasker, Bobby Roberts and Lou Adler treated P.F. Sloan, as you read his words, is a story filled with greed, hatred, and rejection that is sickening to realize, particularly as the hit records of the Grass Roots on the radio were essentially created by Sloan, with the obligatory “together with Steve Barri” whistling in the wind. Despite being ripped off in more ways than one, royalties the biggest asset purloined, without care or regard for the genius to whom they belonged, Phil still created hits. He had that much talent.

Even before that, life at the peak of success was unsettling for Sloan, as he felt truly the outsider in the world of musicians he was helping to make famous. P.F. Sloan began life as simply as any unknown, but nevertheless was an inspired young man from Brooklyn who many considered a prodigy. In a scene at the St. James Club, “McGuire and I were seated at a booth with Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger. I thought to myself that I must be here by some Divine plan, but was this really what success looked and felt like?”

"(Barry) McGuire was having the time of his life. Everyone seemed dizzy with happiness. But what was the matter with me? I wasn’t getting it. I was trying to have a good time. I really was. I knew I was alive. I just didn’t feel like I knew how to survive in this reckless life style. All these people were older than me, and they were, after all, my role models. If this was what they did to celebrate life then I would need to learn to get with the program.”

Chaos, self-destructive behavior, and valiant efforts to fit in led to despair, poor health, and a propensity for bad luck in Sloan’s life for many years. The lowest point of all was when Dunhill’s Jay Lasker made him sign away all of his royalties, plus threatened his life. As Phil describes his final interaction with Lasker, the conversation was (from his memoir):

"I just had a nice chat with Steve” (Barri), he said. ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to leave Los Angeles and never come back. You’re going to do this within twenty-four hours, or your parents or your sister or anyone else you care about may come to regret knowing a boy named P.F. Sloan.’ ‘I want to talk to Lou,’ I said. ’This has nothing to do with Lou, Sloan. This is about you and me….mostly you. I’ve had the papers drawn up. Before you leave the office, you’re going to sign it’….’We own your contracts for the next ten years so you can’t record anywhere else. We’re not firing you. We’re just telling you that you can’t work here or anywhere’….’All of the money that will come into Dunhill Records from P.F. Sloan will be split between the three partners. Oh…one more point, I’m pretty sure that I own the name P.F. Sloan and that we can have any writer we want to be P.F. Sloan.”

That was not to be even the worst time in Sloan's life; there was even more still to come. That is, however, why Phil vanished from the music scene, to protect his own life and those of his loved ones, out of sheer fear and terror. Lasker retired in 1987 and died of cancer at age 65, in 1989. His obituary in the New York Times is, appropriately, one of the shortest ever published.

Despite this despicable treatment, things truly turned around for P.F. Sloan. His memoirs reflect the final years of Phil’s life as one of religious experiences of grace, of complete and total forgiveness for all who sought his forgiveness and even for those who didn’t appreciate the fact that he had only love and compassion in his heart, down to even John Phillips and John Sebastian, both of whom asked him for forgiveness and he gave it to them.

The song written about him, “P.F. Sloan” was first recorded by author Jimmy Webb and later covered by The Association, Jennifer Warnes, and British Band Unicorn, as Wikipedia notes, as well as the British singer, Rumer. Poignantly, it was Rumer with whom Phil performed in concert in London in his first public appearances upon the publication of his biography.

Last time I saw P.F. Sloan He was summer burned and winter blown He turned the corner all alone But he continued singing Yeah now, listen to him singing…” Lyrics from “P.F. Sloan,” by Jimmy Webb, Canopy Music"

Also in 2014, Sloan released an album “My Beethoven” (Foothill Records) that contained nine new original songs that Phil shared are “beautiful and will stir your heart and soul.” In May 2014 the team of Sloan and Feinberg completed a musical play, “Louis! Louis! The Real Life and Times of Beethoven)”. More information on the play is found on the same website.

In classic rock, many talented people have attained accolades, awards, and acknowledgment befitting their status as relevant, important, or groundbreaking for their work. The spotlight has shined on many but has missed hitting many more, who are equally as deserving. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a perfect example of one man’s preference prevailing over those of millions of fans who actually embrace and live in the beauty of the music that defined the 1960s and 1970s. In 2015, P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri were 2015 nominees for induction to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

If you’re not “in with the in-crowd,” you essentially exist in obscurity. That is, unless you have a friend like Steve Feinberg, whom you trust to lead you out of the darkness and back into the light. P.F. Sloan had to wait 45 years to find all those who’d been looking to find him, if only to say “Thank you for your music.”

After the success of his memoir, Sloan enjoyed a limited but incredibly popular personal appearance tour in venues he chose to be. People had a chance to thank him, and he was as gracious and loving and appreciative as a man who survived trekking over a vast desert greets a glass of cool water.

Phil’s collaborator and co-author, Stephen Feinberg, anchored him as together they told the public whatever had happened to Sloan. When the book was published in 2014, among the very first to reach out was Mike Somavilla, a rock music historian and San Francisco Bay area music promoter, who immediately called his good friend, Harold Adler, with the concept of creating Sloan's first major U.S. public appearance with a concert and book signing at Adler's Art House Gallery & Cultural Center in Berkeley.

Mike contacted Phil and said, “Just read your book; you have to come to Berkeley and meet a few people. And please bring your guitar.” And, that was all it took for Mike Somavilla to get Phil Sloan and his co-author Steve Feinberg to come see Mike, and a sold-out crowd at Berkeley’s favorite in-spot for music you can enjoy, in a peaceful atmosphere free from distractions.”

Poignantly one man named Adler provided the perfect spot for Somavilla to make sure that the “wrongs were righted” and who passionately wanted Phil to tell his story, thus righting the wrongs done by another man named Adler. Feinberg’s first-call photographer and good friend, Joaquin Montalvan, took the historic photos shared here. It was sit-on-the-floor night at the Art House as all the chairs were taken in the blink of an eye in July, 2014, the month after the book was published.

From that point, Feinberg accompanied Phil to several memorable book signings, one of which was also groundbreaking. In October, 2014, in the Community Room of the South Pasadena Library, two previously unannounced musicians joined Phil for an evening of music and memories. Among the crowd were John York of the Byrds, Donna Loren, Steve Kalinich, and Jared Cargman, an original Fantastic Baggys band member.

They made more Grass Roots history that night, when Warren Entner and Creed Bratton joined Phil in singing songs that Phil had either co-written or produced for the Grass Roots. A band in name only at first, created after Sloan/Barri crafted, recorded and produced hits under this assumed name, with no real band, just incredibly gifted studio musicians on the songs.

Before the great Diesel bookstore closed in Malibu, one of their final public events was a book signing featuring Phil and Creed Bratton that drew another standing-room-only event. In that audience were more colleagues from the same music era, including Steve Kalinich, Danny Rutherford and his wife Marilyn Wilson Rutherford (The Honeys, and mother to Carnie and Wendy Wilson by father, Brian).

At these concert/book signings, Feinberg said, “During the show I noticed several people in the audience weeping, as was the clerk at the bookstore, both on Sunset Strip as well as at the Art House & Cultural Gallery. The trigger of nostalgia can be very, very strong, though the clerk was too young to remember the songs.” The list of songs that do not define, but do comprise the music of P.F. Sloan is lengthy, those being the hits he wrote and produced for others.

In 2009 journalist Mike Ryan interviewed Phil, asking him, "In the last 40 years, how has music changed, say, for yourself? Sloan replied, "I wish there was something positive to say in that regard. I am generally an upbeat, positive soul. I mean that what we're witnessing is basically the implosion and destruction of the music business as it was known, not that it was a positive entity, but it was an entity that we were used to. Just for people that aren’t that involved in the business aspect of it, there was distribution of how to get the music into your store and you’d buy it and you’d listen to it. That doesn’t exist anymore, at least in most places; there aren't any stores anymore."

I think the main point, which I’d like to give Bob Lefsetz credit for, is that there is no culture of music anymore. There was a time, and I’m paraphrasing what he said, and I really agree with it. There was a time when we were involved in a culture of music. It was important to hear this new album by Pink Floyd. It was important to hear certain bands. They became your North Star. That doesn’t exist anymore."

Sloan continued, "You can’t go on a major television show and try and create a culture…Going on television shows and promoting your music is not selling music. Basically, I’ve witnessed the loss of the culture, the excitement, of someone who speaks from their heart, and soul and consciousness and raises yours. People would understand Elvis Presley or The Beatles or The Stones or Procol Harum or the Beach Boys….not just the 60s…there were 70s and 80s groups, Foreigner, etc., but the culture is gone, that’s all. It doesn’t exist." It's true enough, and those who were fortunate enough to be there at the time, or even today to learn from those times are the benefactors and guardians of the memories of those times, and curator of the culture for generations to come.

Sloan created songs that forever are remembered as performed by literally some of the most talented musicians of our time. Whether he is properly remembered as having the role in crafting the message to all who hear the music is unknown. One thing is for sure. The true talents among his colleagues in music never forgot him. Today on Twitter, songwriter and friend Jimmy Webb posted “prayers for the family of PF Sloan and for those who loved his music. A great loss.”

Sloan’s memoirs collectively shaped by Steve Feinberg describe one night in music memory:

The first group onstage was The Grass Roots, who began their set with ‘Mr. Jones’ and followed it with ‘Where Were You When I Needed You?’ and ‘Live for Today.’ Next came Herman’s Hermits, who did, among others ‘A Must to Avoid,’ ‘Hold On,’ and ‘All The Things That I Do for You, Baby.’ The Kingsmen did ‘Louie, Louie’ followed by ‘That’s Cool, That’s Trash.’ Paul Revere & The Raiders did a set, as did The Buckinghams. And then The Turtles took the stage. They started with ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ and went through ‘Let Me Be,’ ‘You Baby,’ ‘Can I Get To Know You Better,’ and all their other great hits. When they got to ‘Is It Any Wonder,’ Howard Kaylan paused. He spoke quietly, taking the audience into his confidence, as if speaking to old friends. ‘I wonder where Phil Sloan is tonight.’”

This night, we wonder no more where Phil is. We know. His final words in his book should be the final ones here.

I had climbed the mountain, by His grace, after falling off it more times than I can count, and I got to watch the show from that unique and marvelous vantage point. May God bless us all with an unselfish heart and mind so that we may make each day better than the one before for each and every one of us. Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu. May all beings in the world know peace and happiness. P.F. Sloan”

Amen, and amen, Philip. May love and light be yours on your journey forward. You and your work lives still on the minds and in the hearts of those you know, and even more you never met, but who love you all the same.

Article first published on examiner.com 11/17/15

Paul Revere, beloved classic rock legend, dies at age 76

The world of classic rock music has lost another icon today. Paul Revere, entertainer, singer, musician, bandleader, friend, husband, father and grand man of show business died Oct. 4, 2014 at the age of 76. The news of Revere’s passing came via a post on his band’s official Facebook page tonight.

In August, 2013, Revere shared the news of his battle with cancer with over 100,000 fans on his band’s Facebook page. A wellspring of support, love, prayers and well wishes ensued on his Facebook page, exemplary of the true devotion with which music lovers and Baby Boomers alike held the legend Paul Revere Dick (his real name), born on Jan. 7, 1938.

In the past year, although fans had known that Paul was battling cancer, everyone had prayed, hoped, and shared that they were all counting on Paul to get better. Although it was not widely known by the fans, when Paul made his final stage appearances, it represented such a magnitude and level of courage to still get out there and literally “gave everything he had” to bring the crowd what they came to see—a truly good time.

It was just a few months ago, in July, that the wonderful gentleman decided to step away from the stage, proclaiming that he wanted the show to go on, but without him. Insiders expected that he realized that his time here on Earth was limited but he didn’t want to disappoint his fans for one moment. Ever a man of great business integrity, he changed the name of the band to Paul Revere’s Raiders, to reflect honestly that he was not there as part of the band. Others in the entertainment business admired him for doing just that, what is today called by the ”kids” in the business as “old school.”

Still, the fans kept up a barrage of Facebook posts showing their love for him. When he didn’t have the energy to read them himself, his loving wife Sydney read them to him. Members of his band remained in daily contact with him by phone. Paul kept up enthusiastically with what was going on in the shows and he loved hearing about the fans. He never failed to offer support, strength, courage and love to his musicians, who were doing for him all that they could do, even if through the tears they felt like sharing. Still they went on "for him," because of their devotion to his insistence that it was all, always, for the fans, that he wanted to be there.

Paul Revere’s band is in mourning, deeply, tonight for the loss of their fearless leader. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family as well as his Raiders band, who include Ron Foos (bass) and Doug Heath (lead guitar), who’ve been with him since 1986; Danny Krause (keyboard), who’s been with him since 1986; lead singer Darren Dowler, who joined him in 2008, and drummer Tommy Scheckel, who joined the Raider family in 2010.

Fans can visit the band’s Facebook page to share love and best wishes for the Revere family and extended family, and expect that even though Paul remains with them all in spirit. The 2015 Concerts at Sea signature Revere “Where the Action Is” cruise will sail in January, and Paul Revere’s Raiders will be on it, as well as performing across the country, beginning again in November, because, well stated simply, Paul wanted that to happen.

To borrow a line from Aaron Sorkin, “The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight.” Paul Revere, we thank you for all your gifts and graces shown to the world of music.

The author of Paul Revere’s tribute on his official Facebook page said it most eloquently: By your example, both professional and personal, you've left a blueprint of how to live a life full of love, laughter and happiness. The world will be a lot less fun, a lot less kind and gentle without Paul Revere in it. Your larger-than-life absence will leave a void in our hearts and our lives.

We are all blessed to have known you, and we'll miss you more than you could ever know.

Love forever,

Everyone who has ever met you

Paul Revere (January 7, 1938-October 4, 2014); Photo courtesy of Paul Revere's Facebook page.

Story originally published on examiner.com, which garnered

Classic Rocker Paul Revere Puts Himself on Temporary Hiatus But Sends His Raiders on the Road with His Love and Blessings

It's about as easy for Paul Revere for sit at home while his very own beloved Raiders, they of the Paul Revere & the Raiders fame, go out and entertain the legion of fans who want to see him in concert, together. The Raider fans are a special and distinct group of people. Yes, some of them have the tricorner hats, some of them won in contests, others of them acquired as gifts, but when someone is a Paul Revere & the Raiders fan, they know all the songs, all the words to the songs, and chances are good they're seeing a Raiders concert for the 3rd or 4th time in the past 10 years. It's just a Raider thing.

What's fine about this hiatus is that it gives Paul Revere a chance to truly rest. He's done a fantastic job of managing to perform and receive medical treatment for some health challenges in the past year, but his spirit and will to be there for the fans is a fine offset to the "kick-you into your recliner" feeling you get when you have to take medicines and are told "sit down, rest, and heal." For more than a few months, as Paul's doctors would chime in with this chorus, he'd come back with "la, la, la, la, I can't hear you." Or something close to that. Today, he's listening.

Read the full story. Click HERE

And go see those Raiders in concert because you'll love every minute of the music of your childhood.
In the story you'll find links to send messages to Paul because--although he can't be on the road right now--he can be on the computer reading Facebook posts and e-mails. Tell him why you love his music. That will keep him in smiles. He's resting up for the 2015 "Where the Action Is" cruise from Concerts at Sea! Want to know more about that? Visit www.concertsatsea.com and Harmon Travel and happy sailing!