Paul Revere & The Raiders – Indian Reservation

The Midnight Ride That Made A Number One

Released in February 1971, “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 24, becoming the first and only chart-topper for Paul Revere & The Raiders. What makes this achievement particularly remarkable is that none of the actual Raiders played on the record. It was effectively a Mark Lindsay solo single that became a band hit through one of the music industry’s most unusual promotional campaigns.

The song spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned both gold and platinum certifications for selling over two million copies. It became Columbia Records’ best-selling single at the time. This was particularly sweet for a band that had been knocked down repeatedly by their own label in the 1960s, when A&R head Mitch Miller actively worked against their success because he despised rock and roll. After more than a decade in the business and 32 previous singles, they finally reached the summit.

John D. Loudermilk wrote the song back in 1959, first recorded by Marvin Rainwater as “The Pale Faced Indian.” It went nowhere. Don Fardon had a modest hit with it in 1968, reaching number 20 in the US and number three in the UK. Mark Lindsay, who is part Cherokee, thought it would make a strong follow-up to his solo hits like “Arizona” and “Silver Bird.” During a solo recording session, producer Jack Gold suggested he try it. Lindsay brought in members of the legendary Wrecking Crew to back him, including legendary drummer Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye on bass, and Artie Butler on organ and piano.

Hal Blaine arrived first for the session at CBS Studios Hollywood, as he always did. His drumming became the song’s signature, particularly those cascading tom fills during the chorus. This was one of the first recordings to feature his famous monster kit, a custom setup with seven fiberglass concert toms that gave him a complete octave of tones. Those rolling triplets down the toms practically steal the show. Lindsay produced the track himself, and his vocal seethes with barely-contained fury that turned what Loudermilk intended as a novelty into something that felt like genuine protest.

When Paul Revere heard what Lindsay had recorded, he made a crucial decision to release it under the Raiders name rather than as a Lindsay solo single. Then he did something extraordinary. Revere jumped on his motorcycle and literally went on midnight rides across America, hitting multiple radio stations per day, doing on-air interviews and begging DJs to play the song. The promotional blitz worked. The single had stalled after its February release, but Revere’s cross-country campaign slowly pushed it up the charts until it finally hit number one five months later.

The song appeared on the album Indian Reservation, which contained nine covers and only one original track. Songwriter John D. Loudermilk later admitted to fabricating an elaborate story about how he wrote the song, telling Casey Kasem on American Top 40 that he’d been kidnapped and tortured by Cherokee Indians led by Chief Bloody Bear Tooth. The entire tale was a prank, and Loudermilk wasn’t shy about admitting it. Hardcore punk band Ill Repute covered it in 1984, retitling it “Cherokee Nation.”

The song endures because of that driving Wrecking Crew arrangement and Lindsay’s impassioned vocal. It captured a moment when America was beginning to reckon with its treatment of Native Americans, with books like Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee topping bestseller lists. Decades after disco, grunge, and hip-hop reshaped popular music, those tom fills and that organ still sound massive. Sometimes the biggest hit happens when everything comes together by accident, a solo artist, a motorcycle-riding keyboardist, and the most recorded drummer in history.

“Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)” – Single by Raiders from the album Indian Reservation
B-side: “Terry’s Tune”
Released: February 1971
Recorded: December 3, 1970
Label: Columbia
Songwriter: John D. Loudermilk
Producer: Mark Lindsay
Charted No.1 in US