`Outlaw' Mcgraw -- Country's Hottest Bad Guy Rides Into Town

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Tim McGraw, Little Texas and BlackHawk, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Arena; $22.50, 628-0888. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Little Texas is technically the headliner of the county-music concerts Tuesday and Wednesday at the Arena but everybody knows the real star is Tim McGraw, the hottest new outlaw in country music.

Some country fans are embarrassed that McGraw is the most popular new country star since Billy Ray Cyrus (some fans also thought he was embarrassing).

The 24-year-old McGraw crashed through to country superstardom with "Indian Outlaw," an outrageously brash song that trades in Native American cliches and stereotypes. When it first hit the airwaves last year, Cherokee National chief Wilma P. Mankiller said the song "is extremely offensive . . . and promotes bigotry." Some country stations refused to play it. Others let their listeners decide.

The song, written by veteran Nashville tunesmith Tommy Barnes, includes such lines such as "You can find me in my wigwam, I'll be beatin' on my tom-tom, pull out my pipe and smoke some, and pass it around." The song stops in the middle and repeats a line from "Indian Reservation," the 1971 Paul Revere & the Raiders hit that also drew criticism in its day for being condescending toward Indians.

The criticism of Mankiller and other Native American leaders

was quashed a bit when the tune became a huge hit on Native American reservations throughout the country. Reservation radio stations, like Arizona's powerful KTNN-AM, "the voice of the Navajo Nation," were hesitant to play it at first but were forced to because of its popularity.

Even though it quickly became the top-selling country single, it only reached No. 2 on the Billboard country singles chart, because the chart is compiled from radio airplay and a few stations in major markets refused to play it.

Rose on pop charts, too

The single became a huge crossover hit, reaching the Top 20 on the pop charts, even before it appeared on an album. When the "Not A Moment Too Soon" LP containing the song was released, the album shot to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart, and stayed there for an astounding 29 weeks.

But it wasn't just "Indian Outlaw" that made the disc a hit. With the LP, McGraw showed that he was more than just a novelty-song one-hit wonder. The disc, actually his second LP (the first was 1993's "Tim McGraw," which went virtually unnoticed), produced three No. 1 country songs: "Don't Take the Girl," a dramatic, multilayered love song, "Down on the Farm," a kickin' dance tune, and "Not a Moment Too Soon," a heartfelt love ballad.

Now, almost a year later, the "Indian Outlaw" flap seems excessive. The tune always was a good-natured hoot, with genuine humor. It's hard to take seriously. And the other tunes on the album show McGraw is a credible country singer with a likable style.

Incidentally, in the middle of the "Indian Outlaw" controversy, an even more interesting story about McGraw surfaced - that he's the illegitimate son of Tug McGraw, the legendary relief pitcher for the Mets in the 1970s. Raised as Tim Smith, the young McGraw found out about his real father when he was 11. The two have been close since the younger McGraw (who legally changed his name) was a teenager.

Little Texas has had its share of chart success, too. The group's rousing "God Blessed Texas" was the best-selling country single for seven weeks in late 1993 and early '94, and remains a staple of country radio. The group's "Big Time" was the top selling country album by a group in 1994.

Salute to the Eagles

The six-man band did a great cover of the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling" for "Common Thread," the Eagles' tribute LP. Little Texas owes a lot to the Eagles. The groups are similar in that they both make use of lush harmonies, tight musical interplay and a variety of moods, from sweet love songs to hard-driving country-rock.

BlackHawk is just a trio, but it too has a tight, rocking sound and solid songs, most notably the clever country-pop ballad, "Goodbye Says It All," in which a jilted lover leaves "a big red `goodbye' in lipstick on the wall."

Formed by Henry Paul, of the legendary Southern rock band the Outlaws, the group also includes Dave Robbins and Van Stephenson, who as a songwriting duo penned hits for artists ranging from Eddy Arnold to Poco to Eric Clapton.

Strangely enough, however, some of the best songs on the album are ones BlackHawk didn't write, including the sensuous "I Sure Can Smell the Rain" and the devil-may-care "Down In Flames."