![]() ![]() "Don't Take the Girl" might have made for a better intro. It's all sequenced chronologically, though opening with the controversial "Indian Outlaw" may not be the most ideal way to set the tone for a man whose music has come such a long way since. But whether longtime fan or a newcomer to McGraw's ever-evolving brand of new traditional twang, you'll find a solid grip of tunes here that will have you stomping those boot heels or salting your beers with honky-tonk tears. At 43 tracks deep, some may consider it a box set - but this one comprises nothing but the hits and offers no bonus treats save for the ones that initially came with the singular collections. ![]() That’s boorish arrogance.Tim McGraw has sewn together the sum of all three of his hits compilations for this epic triptych. Now the ones who are doing the offending try to dictate to us what should be acceptable. “But if somebody told me something I did was offensive, I would apologize and not do it anymore. ![]() “I have no doubt that the intentions were not to be offensive,” he says. I understand (the Native Americans’) right to be upset, but my personality doesn’t go along with that.”Īctivist WaBun-Inini, though, is further disturbed by that attitude. “And it’s a pretty minimal amount of complaints versus the Native Americans we know who are attending Tim’s shows and buying the record.”Īsked if he would object to a song portraying Louisianians as ignorant rednecks, McGraw replied, “It happens in country music every day. “It depends on who you’re speaking with,” Brown says. ![]() While he’s been receptive to protest letters from WaBun-Inini and from Wilma Mankiller, principal chief of the Oklahoma Cherokee, McGraw has also received a letter of support from Gerard Parker, vice chief of the North Carolina-based Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. John Brown, vice president of promotion for Curb Records in Nashville, says that even among Native Americans opinions are split on the song. KIK’s Craig Powers, too, says he would be happy to consider any objections to the song, but that it could be a moot point because the novelty nature of the hit means it will probably have a short-lived popularity. “But listening to the song I see that (the protesters) have a legitimate beef. “It’s pretty much a novelty record and a lot of people want to hear it,” says KZLA’s R.J. Program directors at Los Angeles country station KZLA-FM and Orange County’s KIK-FM say that they have not received any calls or letters protesting the song, but that they would be sensitive to any objections. McGraw met with protesters at a recent Tulsa concert, but declined their request that he stop performing the song. Loudermilk and recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders (that song’s subtitle, ironically, is “The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian”). It contains such lines as “You can find me in my wigwam/I’ll be beating on my tom-tom,” and also incorporates the chorus of “Indian Reservation,” a 1971 pop hit written by John D. The song, ostensibly a light-hearted character study, utilizes a laundry list of media-created stereotypes about Native Americans and the kind of pseudo-tribal beat and melodies associated with old movie Westerns. It is featured on McGraw’s second album, “Not a Moment Too Soon,” released this week by Curb Records. The single, written by Tommy Barnes and Gene Simmons, was released in early February and has climbed rapidly up both the country and pop charts, last week moving from No. “A lot of times a song or something like the ‘tomahawk chop’ isn’t the real issue, but a means to an ends (for the protesters), a way to be heard.” “You’re concerned any time somebody doesn’t like something you do, but you’re never going to please everybody,” says McGraw, 26. ![]()
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