Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Directors: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana
CANADA, 2017 English 103 minutes
With: Robbie Robertson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Martin Scorsese, George Clinton
Winner of the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the 2017 Hot Docs Film Festival, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World tells the fascinating and largely hidden history of Indigenous influence on, and contribution to, popular music of the last century. Primarily focused on rock ’n’ roll, blues, and jazz, Rumble gets its title from the infamous Link Wray instrumental hit of 1958 — a song so powerful in its musicality and so emotionally resonant that it was banned from radio play despite not having a single lyric.
Interviews from artists such as Robbie Robertson of The Band, Pat Vegas of Redbone, and Buffy Sainte-Marie illuminate how the cultural identity of Native American and Indigenous artists was obscured or deliberately under-reported, as part of a larger postcolonial effort to erase the cultural heritage of First Peoples. Robertson recalls being told as a budding musician to “be proud you’re an Indian, but be careful who you tell.” Connecting the musical histories of jazz, blues, folk, and rock ’n’ roll with the political and social movements that blossomed out of these genres, Rumble deftly displays the ways in which Indigenous artists in North America navigated activism through music, and went on to influence guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Pete Townsend. From Mildred Bailey, jazz singer of the 1930s and a favourite of Tony Bennett, to guitarist Jesse Ed Davis and his influence on The Beatles, to heavy metal drummer Randy Castillo’s iconic rhythms with Black Sabbath, the his- tory of Indigenous artists serves as a history of music itself.
Refusing to shy away from the ways in which Native American and Indigenous artists suffered from institutional racism, political persecution, and the lasting effects of cultural erasure, Rumble points to the incredible innovative spirit of these artists, and how their music served as expressions of frustration, resistance, and celebration — not only for Indigenous communities, but for generations of music lovers who found power through song.
“The influence of Native Americans on nearly a century of popular music is eloquently demon- strated in this engaging documentary.” – Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter
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