Mark Lindsay, The Complete Columbia Singles

By Melissa Bratcher

Mark Lindsay will ever be known as the dreamy, ponytailed lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders. He left the band to begin a solo career and recorded a series of albums for Columbia Records in the 1970s. The Complete Columbia Singles thoughtfully gathers his singles for the label into a handy chronological package.

One of the strange things about this record is that the majority of songs that Lindsay wrote himself were B-sides to singles. He eventually became the primary songwriter for Paul Revere and the Raiders, but for the A-sides to singles in his solo career, he chose songs from other songwriters. It’s a curious choice because he can be a terrific, personal songwriter.

Another thing that is strange is how dated it sounds. It’s not remastered, so the first five tracks are in mono and the subsequent ones in stereo, but that’s not the problem. It’s very much a product of its time with superfluous strings and horns that overshadow Lindsay’s wonderful voice. Think of the worst horn-drenched, string-riddled Chicago song. It’s like that. I would love to hear these songs with different arrangements, fewer strings, and simpler, clearer production.

For the Mark Lindsay purist and completist, though, it’s a treasure. For me, it reminds me that I bought two of his solo albums, listened to them once and shelved them. Oy.

“Been Too Long On The Road” is exactly right. It’s a rockier, harder edged song than most on this album, with a fuzzed out guitar. “Don’t You Know” is similarly excellent, eschewing all the added nonsense that dates so many of the other tracks, and sort of disappearing into its own space. It’s really very good, and written by Lindsay himself. “Are You Old Enough” is a little leering and creepy, but at least funky. He really leans into the vocal, and it’s fun to listen to.

In fact, the tracks from the latter half of the record are much better than the first half. In the liner notes, Lindsay comments on Jack Gold, the head of A&R at Columbia, who heard Mark goofing around, singing like Johnny Mathis. Gold convinced Lindsay to record an album of ballads, a “Song For A Friend” is simply produced, with an acoustic guitar and a great voice. That’s all it needed; no bloated excess there.

If one were to, perhaps, skip the first the first twelve tracks, this turns out to be a really listenable album. And perhaps, some people like that over-orchestrated sound of the Seventies, and they’ll be happy, too. To me, however, those easy listening tracks are a waste of a perfectly great rock and roll voice. And a voice is a terrible thing to waste.

The Complete Columbia Singles was released on February 28 through Real Gone Music and is available from their website.