From "Paul Revere & The Raiders: History ReBEATS Itself" by Claudia Doege...MICHAEL LEROY SMITH
(SMITTY)

March 27, 1942
Portland, Oregon

Brotherhood

Drums, guitar, organ

10/62 - 5/67; 5/71 - 12/72
History:  One-third of a trio of friends who formed a much-needed Portland teen club, the Headless Horseman, Mike Smith was a guitarist in the house band.  By the time they opened, their funds were spent, and necessity became the mother of invention as Smith, Al Dardis and Ross Allemang went from owners to performers in the blink of an eye.  Portland's other band, the Kingsmen, did not have their own club, so word spread like wildfire about the Horseman band.

Revere had gotten out of the service, reunited with Lindsay, and the duo decided to revive the Raiders, this time pushing for the top.  They'd relocated to Portland, and began hearing about a guitar player at the Portland teen club.  Paul found a guitarist, a bass player and drummer from the Horseman band.  Mike did a switch, at Revere's urging, and played the first instrument he learned, the drums.  From that inauspicious beginning, Smitty, as he naturally was tagged, became an integral part of the band and its brand of humor.  He was the perfect foil for Revere's gags, and could always be found in the middle of practical joke, if not the instigator of it.

His first tenure lasted until May, 1967, at the height of the Raiders' popularity, when he chose to pursue the musical direction of fellow Raiders Drake Levin and Phil Volk.  The trio became the Brotherhood right after Smith's and Volk's departure performance on the Ed Sullivan show.  They cut 3 albums in 3 years on RCA, and faded into obscurity.  Mike decided it was time to analyze who he was and where he was going, and spent the next couple of years in Big Sur, California, Hawaii, and his native Portland.

Revere temporarily took the decision away from him, asking him to replace his own successor, Joe jr., in 1971.  This time, Mike stayed until December, 1972, realizing his home was no longer with the Raiders.  He returned to his favorite spot on earth, Hawaii, to provide him with that home for a time.  Since then, he's lived in Oregon, and most recently, has become involved in film production in Denver, Colorado.