Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
“Be proud you’re an Indian, but be careful who you tell.” The speaker is Robbie Robertson of The Band, recalling some advice he heard as a young musician. Robertson, who is part Mohawk, recounts this memory in a compelling documentary, “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World.”
His words speak to why the movie is important. It addresses an issue that’s underplayed or missing from most histories of rock ’n’ roll: Native Americans played a significant part in creating and perpetuating the music, and we don’t know that because many of the performers felt obliged to downplay their heritage.
The titular “Rumble” refers to a guitar-based instrumental released in 1958 by Link Wray, who was born of Shawnee parents. In the film, musicians such as Taj Mahal and Steven Van Zandt recollect their amazement at the rawness and intensity of this number, in which some guitarists see the origin of power chords. It helped that word “rumble” was slang for gang fighting, which made adults and squares uneasy.
Among the movie’s strongest segments is a look at the effects on the New Orleans musical scene of the intermarriage of blacks and Indians, a phenomenon also reflected in the “krewe” of Mardi Gras Indians, who parade in spectacular costumes based on Native American ceremonial outfits. This mingling of cultures also affected Charley Patton, considered the father of the Delta blues.
(It wasn’t just blues and rock that Indians influenced — the film looks at the work of jazz singer Mildred Bailey, who grew up on an Idaho reservation and who earns superlatives here from Tony Bennett.)
We hear at length from several of the Neville Brothers, and from Buffy Sainte-Marie, who asserts that she was the unknowing victim of political blacklisting. Among other talking heads are the late Native American activist John Trudell, Wayne Kramer of the MC5 and David Fricke, longtime Rolling Stone writer and editor.
The movie offers minibios of 10 musicians with varying degrees of Indian background, including Robertson; Jimi Hendrix; Randy Castillo, who played drums for Ozzy Osbourne and others; and, at some length, Jesse Ed Davis, a superstar guitarist who struggled with addiction.
“Rumble” was directed by Catherine Bainbridge, who might be faulted, if you want to get picky, for occasionally pressing her arguments too hard. But she’s done excellent consciousness-raising by shining a light on underappreciated musicians and underscoring their importance with testimony from many members of rock royalty — among them Iggy Pop, Slash, Steven Tyler, George Clinton.
In short: If you love rock ’n’ roll, “Rumble” is mandatory viewing.