There are many blessings to be thankful for every day, and the friends you make can be exactly that. 🙂 A few years ago, when I wrote a Paul Revere & the Raiders article for my blog, I had the pleasure of making new friends. And Ron Foos, bassist for Paul Revere’s Raiders, is one of them. 🙂 He’s not only a great bassist, but also he can count writing and producing among his many other talents. 😎 Ron graciously offered to do an interview for my music review blog when our busy schedules allowed and I’m happy to be sharing that interview with you now. 🙂 Ready to read the fun, informative results? 🙂 Here we go! 🙂
1. When did you first meet Paul Revere?
I met Paul Revere around 1975.
2. What is the story behind how you came to be a part of this fun, rockin’ band?
Paul came to see me play in one of Seattle’s top bands “The City Zu”, but didn’t tell me he was watching from the back of the club. Paul called me the next morning, we met, and he hired me on the spot. I started playing with The Raiders that year, 1975.
3. What is your favorite 1960’s Raider song?
My favorite Raider song is… hummmmm… That’s a hard one! I’ve always liked all The Raiders music, but a couple of my favorites are “I Had a Dream” which we recorded it on “Paul Revere and The Raiders Greatest Hits Live! and “Silver Bird” which we played live for a while, written by Mark Lindsay.
4. What is your favorite 1960’s Raider song to perform in concert?
“Indian Reservation”….but you knew that! ha
5. Is there a 1960’s Raider song you haven’t performed in concert yet, but would like to?
Yes, “Just Seventeen”, it is a Rocker that I love! It wasn’t a big hit song but boy does it rock!
6. Which song originally performed/recorded by you guys (Paul’s second group named Paul Revere and the Raiders) do you most enjoy performing on stage?
I was lucky enough to write and record a few songs for/with Paul Revere. Mark Lindsay and I also wrote a few songs but nothing big. One that I wrote for The Raiders and I’m proud of is “Dead End Night”, also “No Tell Motel” on Paul Revere and The Raiders “America’s Favorite Rock n Roll band LIVE!” CD, another was song called “Do you really Mind” co-written by myself and Michael Bradly. We won a songwriting award in L.A. for that song.
7. When you write a song, do you tend to play it first on keys, rhythm guitar or bass?
I have only written one song on bass, called “The Sun Song”, I really like it, if that’s ok to say. Paul Revere and the Raiders were playing in the sunny Caribbean and the island vibe just took over in my head. Keyboard player Danny Krause sang it, and did a great job, but it hasn’t been released yet. I have mostly written on guitar but over the last few years I have fallen in love with my piano. So I write on piano a lot but it changes from time to time as I am now writing on guitar again recently.
8. As lead guitarist for the Seattle band, City Zu, did you meet prolific singer/songwriter/musician/producer/surf music pioneer/et cetera Terry Melcher after you guys signed on at Columbia Records?
I did met Terry but just a short meeting. He was a great friend of Paul Reveres tho.
I will always have the utmost respect for Terry Melcher.
9. Your neon green bass strings look really cool; what got you started on using them? Was it the color or the sound of these particular strings that first got your attention?
I got a call from Evan Shelly owner of “Bass Northwest’ in Seattle. Evan asked if I would try a set of these wild colored bass string made by DR Strings. He sent me a few sets and they were wild looking and of course Paul Revere loved all things WILD! I was then contacted by DR Strings and they set me up with an endorsement. I love the sound, the look, the feel of them and they are fun! If you look on http://www.DRStrings.com you can scroll down to see my photo as a proud DR string endorser. They now come in many different colors, so fun!
10. I understand from your media bio that your parents received a very special gift in December one year. 😉 You were born the same day on which the birth of Yeshua/Jesus is celebrated by many. Are you two friends? Is He important to you?
I love my birthday, and yes I love all things associated with Christmas. My Dad was also born on Christmas too. It’s a very special time of year and many celebrate the day in many ways or maybe even another day, depending on your religion preference. I am always asked “Do you feel ripped off having ONE birthday on Christmas that puts both together. I say absolutely NO, I love the day of Christmas. It was such a special time to have with my Dad (r.i.p.) and never felt ‘ripped off’ ha….geez…I am the luckiest guy alive!
11. Thank you for coming up with an idea that helped lead to the Ride to the Wall Foundation, telling Paul about it and together, all of you as a group, making it such a great success! 🙂 It is wonderful that you have been doing these concerts for our Veterans for years and also raising money to help them after they gave so much for us. While Paul was here you all also annually participated in Rolling Thunder; do you continue that honorable tradition as well?
We have done so many concerts all over the world for our Veterans and US troops, I can’t express how much that has meant to me personally.
Paul Revere and his wife were so open to the idea when it was brought to them by my music business partner Steve Mueller and I. They picked up on the idea right away and made it their own and really did a great job making a single idea into a meaningful project that changed so many lives.
We played to so many people who are fighting for our freedom and don’t have much in the way of entertainment, so it made a big difference to them.
What an honor to play for such amazing soldiers, men, women of all kinds, we all had a good time for a couple hours. It took their mind off of the war for a while.
We were also the only band that was allowed to play in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Wash D.C for 7 straight years on Memorial Day. Many bands have played the White House lawn but none have had the honor of playing right in front of the Lincoln Memorial to our Veterans on Memorial Day. We were able to raise money for them and we all had a great time doing it. Most people don’t know that Righteous Bros. Bill Medley came in to D.C. to join us on stage for some of the concerts as he is a big supporter of our Veterans, as did Billy Ray Cyrus and Nancy Sinatra who also joined us on occasion. Its been a real life changing experience playing and being a Raider for over 40 years. We ran our course doing the Veterans concerts in D.C but we always say our Thank you’s to our Veterans at every show. I have written a song called “Goodnight America” for our Veterans and it’s recorded on Raider lead singer’s new CD titled …”Goodnight America”. (available on all internet media outlets) I thank Paul Revere for making my life better thru music, he was the best ever!
All the best to you and your readers!
Ron Foos
Thank you, Ron, for your friendship, the interview, your dedication to our military and your part in supercool Paul Revere’s Raiders music! 🙂 😎 Keep on rockin’! 🙂
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