Background
Gordon Peterson grew up in Dundas. A constituent community in the City of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada.
Gordon Peterson grew up in Dundas. A constituent community in the City of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada.
The name Indio came to him while recording the second half of the album in California with Larry Klein. One afternoon, Peterson drove down to Mexico and the last town before he crossed the California/Mexico border was named Indio. At that point, Peterson decided he didn"t want to use his own name on the album and decided to use Indio. took two months to record.
lieutenant involved several high-profile artists including Hamiltonian Bill Dillon and David Rhodes (Peter Gabriel) on guitars.
Larry Klein played bass. Brenda Russell, also of Hamilton, sang background vocals, as did Joni Mitchell.
Other collaborators included Indian violinist L. Subramaniam. was released as the lead-off single from the album, with a stripped-down acoustic version of the song on the record"s B-side. was a top 10 hit in Canada, peaking at #10 in September, 1989. However, the follow-up single "Save Foreign The Memory" stalled at #67.
Furthermore, none of Indio"s material charted in the United States, and did not sell up to the record company"s expectations.
Peterson was subsequently dropped from his label and left the business. He remains a reclusive figure to this day. In 2007, Indio issued a new song, entitled "This Way Down", to a small number of fans and friends via email.
The song features modern recording techniques including heavily processed vocals, accompanied by an electric guitar. has become a collectors item, with used copies commanding up to $400 on eBay.
On January 27, 2009 was reissued by Pacemaker Entertainment, a Canadian Civil Defense reissue label. The album is, nowadays, often noted for its connotation towards conservation and spirituality through nature.
Peterson re-emerged into the public when he filed a lawsuit in December 2009 against Pearl Jam"s Eddie Vedder, alleging infringement resulting from usage and alteration of without Peterson"s permission, although Universal Music, Peterson"s former label, granted permission. Vedder recorded the song for the Sean Penn-directed movie Into the Wild.
Eddie Vedder covered the single for the Sean Penn movie Into the Wild.
