"Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" is a song written by John D. Loudermilk. It was first recorded in 1959 by Marvin Rainwater and released as "The Pale Faced Indian". Rainwater's MGM release stayed unnoticed. The first hit version was a 1968 cover by Don Fardon, a former member of The Sorrows, that reached #20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #3 on the UK Singles Chart.
In 1971 the Raiders recorded the song; singer Mark Lindsay's ancestors were of Cherokee blood. This recording was released on the Columbia Records label and became #1 on the U.S. chart on July 24. The RIAA gold certification followed on 30 June 1971, for selling over a million copies. It was later certified platinum for selling an additional million copies. Some have said that guitarist Freddy Weller sang lead on the song, but Lindsay (the Raiders' usual lead vocalist) was actually responsible for the lead vocal track as well as producing the recording, which was originally planned as a solo Mark Lindsay effort.
The UK punk band, 999, released a cover version on 14 November 1981 on the Albion Ion label, and it reached #51 in the UK chart. The song was later further covered by the Orlando Riva Sound.
A 1994 country song by Tim McGraw, "Indian Outlaw", ends with part of the main "Cherokee people" chorus from "Indian Reservation". The live version also uses the full chorus near the end of the song.
Read more about Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian): Historical Context, Music and Lyric Form, Chart Run
Famous quotes containing the words indian, reservation, lament and/or cherokee:
“This, it will be remembered, was the scene of Mrs. Rowlandson’s capture, and of other events in the Indian wars, but from this July afternoon, and under that mild exterior, those times seemed as remote as the irruption of the Goths. They were the dark age of New England.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Music is so much a part of their daily lives that if an Indian visits another reservation one of the first questions asked on his return is: “What new songs did you learn?””
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.... Fear and resentment of what is new is really a lament for the memories of our childhood.”
—Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)
“A Cherokee is too smart to put anything in the contribution box of a race that’s robbed him of his birthright.”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)