A documentary looking at the considerable, and largely unacknowledged, influence of native Americans on the development of the US music scene. Part history lesson, part musical celebration, with an array of talking heads interspersed with contemporary footage of artists and events, it goes along at a food pace and tells it's story in coherent fashion.
By the end of the nineteenth century it had become hard to admit to having Indian ancestry, as the government tried to eradicate all traces of native culture. The massacre of Wounded Knee exemplified the genocidal approach adopted. Early in the century that followed there was a project to record surviving native music, before it was expected to die out completely. This old recordings are the key to the influence this culture exerted later, with the rhythms and singing styles being adopted by other music genres. There are well thought through explanations of how Indian music was important to the origins of jazz, blues, R& B and rock, before moving into the history of some individual artists of importance.
Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jesse Ed Davis, Jimi Hendrix and more feature. I'd always viewed Buffy Sainte Marie as an Indian artist, but had no idea that the great Robbie Robertson had native American roots. So much influence, so little credit given. Today the music of the indigenous people is having a revival and some of the musicians responsible were also shown.
Some great music (albeit too often cut cruelly short) and a surprising history lesson. For anyone interested in the origins of modern music this film offers a fascinating insight.
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