Originally, they were Paul Revere & the Raiders, and were costumed in colonial uniforms when they scored hits like "Good Thing" in the 60's. By 1971, vocalist Mark Lindsay had released two solo albums and had a pair of hits of his own with "Silver Bird" & "Arizona", but rejoined the band, now known simply as, The Raiders, for one last run on the charts.
"Indian Reservation" was the band's final hit, an ode to the Cherokee nation. When it resurfaced on the country charts a few years later (not sure of the artist), all references to the Cherokees were removed, making the song more of a commentary on Native Americans of all tribes.
I happen to be 1/4 Native American myself, so "Reservation" resonates with me a little.
The performance track comes from Kenny Rogers & the First Edition's 1971 syndicated series, Rollin' On the River, with an introduction by Rogers himself.
2 comments:
I used to enjoy this song - it makes you think.
I have been hearing a newer version of the song on the pop radio stations lately, but I don't know who released it. It sounds faithful to the version by The Raiders, but you can tell it's a new recording.
I think if you do a search on Google or Yahoo!, you might find out about the current version. I didn't even know someone had done a new cover until you just told me.
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