"Pocahontas" was first recorded on August 11, 1976, at the Indigo Ranch Recording Studio in Malibu, California. It was intended to be released in an album with the dozen or so other songs recorded that evening, but the record executives didn't like the product. The original version of the song didn't see the light of day until September 8, 2017, when it was released on Hitchhiker. Conflicting accounts have floated around about whether that Indigo Ranch version was the "true" original, but on August 31, 2017, while livestreaming the debut of Hitchhiker, Young stated, "I was advised to record the songs with a band, but the Hitchhicker versions are the true originals, recorded earlier than any versions you may have ever heard, and I always knew the original album would find its place and surface." The first time the song was released to the public was on Rust Never Sleeps. Like most of Young's best-loved songs, it wasn't released as a single. Still, it immediately made an impression on fans and critics alike, and still gets airplay on classic rock radio stations.
According to David Briggs, who produced the first version of the song, "Pocahontas" came out of Young with no rehearsal. "He'd turn to me and go, 'Guess I'll turn on the tap,'" Briggs said of the Indigo sessions, "and then out came 'Powderfinger,' 'Pocahontas,' 'Out Of The Blue,' 'Ride My Llama.' I'm not talkin' about sittin' down with a pen and paper, I'm talkin' about pickin' up a guitar, sittin' there and lookin' me in the face and in 20 minutes - 'Pocahontas.'"
Pocahontas was a 17th Century Native American woman who holds a prominent role in American history and mythology: She saved John Smith from having his head caved in by her father's war club. She was also a friend to the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. Young has long had a fascination and appreciation for Native Americans. In The New Rolling Stone Guide, critic Dave Marsh noted, perhaps facetiously, that Young "found an amusing new way to tackle his romanticized fantasies of the Indians."
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.