"Geronimo's Cadillac" is the debut single by American

country folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from tradit ...

singer-songwriter

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

, then billed as Michael Murphey. It was the title cut of his 1972 debut album which was an

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

release.

Background and impact

Murphey was inspired to write "Geronimo's Cadillac" by a photograph showing Geronimo at the wheel of a luxury touring car with a backseat,: this photograph was reproduced as a drawing on the back album cover of ''Geronimo's Cadillac'' and also on the picture sleeve of the single. The July–August 1987 issue of '' American Songwriter'' quotes Murphey as saying: "the two images together Geronimo and a Cadillac just struck me as a song title. It was every irony I could ever think of about our culture in two words. Their attempt to make of him what we would define as a civilized person. That was the reason they put him in a Cadillac in the first place. He was actually in jail at the time." The photograph was taken at a show for the US press held June 11, 1905 at a ranch located southwest of

Ponca City, Oklahoma Ponca City ( iow, Chína Uhánⁿdhe) is a city in Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 25,387 at the time of the 2010 census- and a population of 24,424 in the 2020 ...

: Geronimo, then imprisoned at Fort Sill, is actually posed in a Locomobile rather than a Cadillac.

Chart performance

Released July 31, 1972 as a single which edited the track's original 4:39 length to 3:21, "Geronimo's Cadillac" reached number 37 on the Hot 100 in '' Billboard'' magazine. Whitburn, Joel (1996). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 6th Edition (Billboard Publications) The track also charted in Canada with a peak of number 30 on the Top Singles chart in ''RPM'' magazine. "Geronimo's Cadillac" afforded Murphey his sole Hot 100 charting until "

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" on Epic Records reached number 3 in 1975. The success of "Wildfire" caused A&M to re-issue "Geronimo's Cadillac" with a new B-side: "Blessing in Disguise" a track from Murphey's 1973 album '' Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir'', replacing "Boy from the Country". However this re-issue of "Geronimo's Cadillac" did not chart, failing to deflect interest from Epic's follow-up single release to "Wildfire", "

Carolina in the Pines "Carolina in the Pines" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Michael Martin Murphey. It was released in August 1975 as the second and final single from the album '' Blue Sky - Night Thunder''. It peaked at number 21 on t ...

", which fell just short of the top 20.

Charts

Cover versions

A cover version by Jeff Stevens and the Bullets peaked at number 53 on the '' Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart in 1987. "Geronimo's Cadillac" has also been recorded by Hoyt Axton, Cher, Claire Hamill, Jacques Kloes,

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Dick Gaughan Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs. He is regarded as one of Scotland's leading singer-songwriters. Early years Gaughan was born in Glasgow's Roy ...

Mary McCaslin Mary McCaslin (December 22, 1946 – October 2, 2022) was an American folk singer who wrote, recorded, and performed contemporary folk music. Early life McCaslin was born in Indianapolis on December 22, 1946, and was raised in Southern Californ ...

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and

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. Native American singer Bill Miller performed "Geronimo's Cadillac" for his 1992 live album ''Reservation Road''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geronimo's Cadillac (Michael Martin Murphey song) 1972 songs 1972 debut singles 1987 singles Michael Martin Murphey songs Cadillac (song) Songs written by Michael Martin Murphey A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Johnston Jeff Stevens and the Bullets songs Songs about Native Americans Songs about cars