海角大神

In the fascinating documentary 鈥淩umble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,鈥� the great jazz critic Gary Giddins says, 鈥淭he one group that hasn鈥檛 really been investigated in terms of their contribution [to music history] is the Native Americans.鈥澛�

This new film, co-directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, the former of whom previously co-directed the documentary 鈥淩eel Injun,鈥� about Native American stereotypes in Hollywood movies, aims to rectify that omission. (Those who made the movie were inspired by the Smithsonian鈥檚 National Museum of the American Indian鈥檚 exhibit 鈥淯p Where We Belong: Native Musicians In Popular Culture,鈥� which was co-created by Stevie Salas, a veteran Apache guitarist, and Tim Johnson.)聽

Why was such an integral swath of musical culture neglected for so long, in a field where it seems as if every last bit of academic arcana has already been tilled?聽

One of the problems, as the film points out, is that, up until at least the 1960s, it was commercially even less advantageous to be an Indian (the term is often used throughout the movie) than an African-American. Native American singers, musicians, and songwriters did not announce their heritage (which was often of mixed blood). They 鈥減assed鈥� as white, or in some cases, as solely African-American or Hispanic.

Robbie Robertson, the lead guitarist for the legendary group The Band, who grew up in Canada鈥檚 Six Nations Reserve, remembers a saying from the 1950s, when he was starting out: 鈥淏e proud you鈥檙e an Indian, but be careful who you tell.鈥�

鈥淩umble鈥� profiles, with occasional side trips, 10 subjects, starting with the great delta blues guitarist Charley Patton (Choctaw, African-American), who was a major influence on such greats as Robert Johnson and Howlin鈥� Wolf. Mildred Bailey (Coeur d鈥橝lene), revered by Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra for her phrasing, which was influenced by her Indian roots, was a leading jazz singer during the 鈥�30s. Shawnee guitarist Link Wray鈥檚 1958 rock instrumental 鈥淩umble,鈥� with its distorted amplification, influenced an entire generation of rock guitarists, the foremost being the greatest of them all, Jimi Hendrix (Cherokee and African-
American). 鈥淩umble鈥� was actually banned for a time because radio station owners feared it would incite juvenile delinquency.

In discussing 鈥淩umble,鈥� Robertson (Mohawk) says, 鈥淚t made an indelible mark on the whole evolution of where rock was gonna go. And then I found out Link Wray was an Indian!鈥� After so many years in which Native American culture was gutted or nullified, Robertson says directly into the camera, 鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 let me talk about it before. Well, now I鈥檓 going to talk real loud.鈥�

Others profiled include Jesse Ed Davis (Kiowa and Comanche), whose guitar solo on Jackson Browne鈥檚 鈥淒octor, My Eyes鈥� is among the most memorable in folk-rock; Pat Vegas (Yaqui/Shoshone), who explicitly played up his roots with his group Redbone, especially in their hit song 鈥淐ome and Get Your Love鈥�; Randy Castillo (Isleta Pueblo/Apache), the heavy metal artist whose drumming had a strong 鈥渢ribal鈥� element; and Jaime Luis Gomez (Shoshone), also known as Taboo, of the Black Eyed Peas, who grew up knowing only of his Mexican heritage until, on a trip with his grandmother to Arizona, he discovered his Native American identity.

The alchemy of American music as it relates to Native Americans is such a voluminous subject that, inevitably, the documentary 鈥淩umble鈥� can鈥檛 do it justice. Bainbridge and Maiorana sketch the highlights, but I wish they had included more commentary from interviewees like Giddins, Quincy Jones, Guy Davis, Taj Mahal, and many others. (This is another way of saying I wish the film were at least four times as long.)

Inevitably, the subject dovetails politics and the fraught history of American race relations. Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree), for example, who was a leading mainstream exponent of Native American music as a rallying cry for social protest in the 鈥�60s (and subsequently), talks about being blacklisted by American radio stations.聽

The irony is that, for so long, Native American artists felt compelled to hide their roots in order to have any chance at a commercial career; in the era of identity politics that began in the 鈥�60s, the situation reversed itself. Hendrix could tell Vegas, who had been floundering with different non-indigenous costumes, to 鈥渄o the Indian thing.鈥� It worked. The movie doesn鈥檛 look too closely at, among other conundrums, how asserting one鈥檚 racial identity can itself lead to a kind of commercial stereotyping and inauthenticity. But what is strikingly brought home in 鈥淩umble鈥� is how the vast stew of influences in American music, rather than diluting everything, makes the music all the more powerful.聽Grade: B+ (This movie is not rated.)