Lee Michaels, Remember his hit Do You Know What I Mean. What is he up to these days? Also what happened to Paul Revere & Raiders and Lefte Banke (Walk Away Renee)?

I remember these songs well - in fact I have all of them. Don't know what happened to the artists though.

I remember the Lee Michaels Album with the long medley:

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Jim

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Lee was one of the most exciting performers of the late '60's, early '70's. I must have seen him 10 times around the LA area in '69. Just him, blasting the Hammond B3, and his drummer, Frosty and a wall of Marshall amps. Man, they would blow the roof off the place!

He just kind of disappeared from the scene in the late '70's. I heard that he retired to Hawaii, suffering from tinnitius (sp.?), probably from having his ears subjected to all that sound. I also heard that he was part owner of a place called Killer Shrimp in Manhattan Beach, California. But, it is nearly impossible to find out where he really is today.

He's often lumped together with the "one-hit-wonders", for his "Do You Know What I Mean". That's too bad, because his talent is so far beyond that one song.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-15 00:23 by DaveG.

Do a Google search

Yeah, I've done a Google search many times, but no recent information is available about him.

I saw LEE MICHAELS at the SANTA MONICA CIVIC or ROXY late in his career and he came out, straped a guitar on , and said "I'm not into the keyboards much anymore, I'm into the guitar now" WOW - what a boner killer...The crowd booooed. Haven't thought about this for decades till I read your thread..... It was around that 4 song album - "SPACE AND FIRST TAKES?" is that right? WOW, If I got that right my memory must still be tops, let ME do a google search......

Yes, late in his career he did leave the keyboard behind and played guitar. I think he had an album called Tailface that featured him on guitar. Why, I don't know, he was a master on keyboards. In early '70, he was rumored (according to Rolling Stone Magazine) to be forming a group with Steve Winwood and Jimi Hendrix. I do know that he played with Hendrix on some jam session recordings.

I saw Paul Revere and the Raiders (with only Paul Revere himself on keyboards as the remaining original member of the band) here in Atlanta at an oldies show in 1995, headlined by the Beach Boys (who at least still had Carl Wilson on stage with them). I was a big Raiders fan in the 60s, so it was still good to hear some of the hits, but, unfortunately, several of the songs were grouped together as medleys. And, their last song was, of all things, "Takin' Care of Business" by Bachman Turner Overdrive. Weird.

Yeah, TAILFACE, that sounds right... my title is one of the 4 songs I think.....

"Keep the circle turning"

Nice work, Sicilian.

Notice that on his 7th and 8th albums ("Live" and "Nice Day for Something") his drummer is Keith Knudsen, once the drummer for The Doobie Brothers. I remember seeing Michaels and Frosty, his original drummer, in early 1970 at the Rose Palace in Pasadena. Michaels had obviously taken some serious psychedelics and pretty much O.D.'d during the show, forgetting his music and more. You could tell that Frosty was really pissed off at him. Shortly thereafter they parted company for a long time and Knudsen became the new drummer.

I saw Lee once in the seventies. Just him on organ with a drummer. He appeared VERY stoned.

I would love to see Lee and Donovan together on the same bill.

Great to see some discussion about Lee Michaels here. Did anyone who attended his shows tape them or know of any live tapes? Please get in touch with me if you do. Thanks!

I wouldn't bet my life on it but I think the dude died.

Lee Michaels is alive and well living in S California. I beleive he owned a chain of restaurants at one time.

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tippy2toes
Lee Michaels, Remember his hit Do You Know What I Mean. What is he up to these days? Also what happened to Paul Revere & Raiders and Lefte Banke (Walk Away Renee)?

The Left Banke broke up in '69 with Michael Brown forming the group Stories but leaving before their big hit "Brother Louie."

While Lee Michaels was a One-Hit Wonder, the Left Banke actually had two successful chart records: as you mentioned, the classic "Walk Away Renee" (also covered by the Four Tops ) and also "Pretty Ballerina" another baroque art-pop record that made AM Top 40 so darned interesting in 1966.

Of course, Paul Revere and the Raiders had a boatful of hits...but these days they don't get much, if any respect at all. Still they made some GREAT records, and even some very, very nice albums like Spirit of '67 and Revolution! that were basically the work of Mark Lindsay and producer Terry Melcher, and actually hold their own against stuff like Revolver and Between the Buttons.

I think we should recruit hb Writer to locate and do a complete interview. I'd love to read that.

Not to think of good old Lee as just a one hit wonder. But to this day there is just something about Do You Know What I mean that I just absolutely love. Still a song I can listen to and really enjoy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-08-10 18:54 by sweetcharmedlife.

Lee is in the Venice Beach/Marina del Ray area but I believe he is currently far removed from the music industry.

Lee lives in Venice Beach. He has a very lame website, leemichaels.com

Hey thanks guys for the info. Now all I have to do is get my hands on some of these cds. It is very hard to find in cd stores these days.

Mark Lindsay was just involved in a "rock and roll restaurant" that failed miserably in Portland, OR. I think they still perform in casinos in some capacity.

Lee Michaels was on AM records. I guess Herb Alpert could not find away to exploit the success of the hit. 5th is a great album, I got it as a gift.

Useless bit of Left Banke trivia...Steven Tyler drummed for them at one point. I think it was after their heyday.

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DaveG
Lee lives in Venice Beach. He has a very lame website, leemichaels.com

Is Lee still active in any way? I hope he didn't go the way of Syd Barrett.

Useless Lee Michaels trivia -- he was the headliner at the Fillmore when Humble Pie were, I believe, third on the bill when Pie recorded Rockin' the Fillmore.

Mark Lindsay still performs solo. He has a website, I googled it.

Absolute killer clip of Lee and Frosty playing live on TV. Enjoy.

Google says Lee suffers from major hearing loss- what a shame.

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DaveG
Lee lives in Venice Beach. He has a very lame website, leemichaels.com

Update on Lee Michaels. Apparently Lee and his son started a restaurant chain on the west coast called Killer Shrimp. I believe they now have six restaurants including one in Las Vegas. The food looks great. Here is a little history from the Killer Shrimp website:

OUR HISTORY:

Despite all the community love, Killer Shrimp’s family values go way back. Creator Lee Michaels (Kevin’s dad) first made the infamous dish at home when the kids were young. In the 23 years since, father and son have placed top priority on three things: preserving the quality of the original secret recipe, delivering over-the-top customer service and keeping prices affordable. “We’re the only restaurant in the area perfect for bringing the whole family out for surf ‘n turf, drinks and dessert without the bill coming to an offensive number,” Kevin quips. Sensitive to the economic pinch on the wallet, throwback original-priced specials like The Original Killer Shrimp dish for $9.95 (every Monday in the bar only) mark Killer Shrimp’s heart for loyal fan’s addictions. We look forward to creating the next generation of Killer Shrimp devotees.
Hope to see you soon!

[Killer Shrimp]