Formed in 1968 in Los Angeles, California, by the brothers Patrick Vasquez (bass and vocals) and Lolly Vasquez (guitar and vocals), the name Redbone itself is a joking reference to a Cajun term for a mixed-race person, the band's members being of mixed blood ancestry. The band referenced Cajun and New Orleans culture many times in their lyrics and performing style. Pat and Lolly had previously performed and recorded under the stage surname Vegas, in part to downplay the Latin American association of their birth surname, Vasquez.
Redbone played primarily rock music with R&B, Cajun, Jazz, tribal, and Latin roots. Their first commercial success came with the single Maggie from their second album, Potlatch, in 1970, and two other hit singles followed - The Witch Queen of New Orleans (1971, #21 on the Billboard Hot 100) and "Come and Get Your Love" (1974, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100). "Come and Get Your Love", written by Lolly Vasquez stayed in the Billboard chart for 24 weeks, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 22 April 1974.
Lolly Vasquez was one of the first guitarists to make extensive use of the distinctive Leslie rotating speaker effect in his electric guitar amplification set-up. Vegas played improvised, jazz-influenced guitar. Drummer Peter DePoe (born 1943, Neah Bay, Washington) is credited with pioneering the "King Kong" style of drumming, which features sharply accented polyrhythms involving the bass and snare drums and is similar to funk styles of drumming. The band referred to DePoe's "King Kong Beat" in their lyrics to the song "Prehistoric Rhythm" on their debut album.
In 1973 Redbone released the politically oriented We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee, recalling the massacre of Lakota Sioux Indians by the Seventh Cavalry in 1890. The song ends with the subtly altered sentence "We were all wounded 'by' Wounded Knee". The song reached the #1 chart position in Europe but did not chart in the U.S. where it was initially withheld from release and then banned by several radio stations. Original drummer Peter DePoe left to be replaced by Butch Rillera. Following this the band achieved much of their commercial success. Tony Bellamy (guitar, piano and vocals) was later forced to retire due to illness.
The band's current remaining membership is led by Pat Vegas alone (Lolly left in 1995, Tony Bellamy sometime after that), Raven Hernandez (guitar, vocals and songwriter) joined Redbone in 1996 to replace Lolly Vegas after he suffered a stroke that left him unable to tour with the band. Although Redbone has had some limited activity in recent years, their songwriting and touring output is slight compared with that of the early 1970s. A proposed reunion tour in 2003 did not occur.
Evidence suggests the existence of an "imposter band" illegally touring the United States and posing as Redbone under the name (or alias) "Denny Freeman". Freeman, who Pat Vegas confirmed to be unaffiliated with Redbone in an interview with the Montana Standard, most recently defrauded the county-fair board of the Butte Silver-Bow County Fair in Butte, Montana under pretenses of being a co-founding member of Redbone, yet he was never a band member.
Prior to forming Redbone, Pat and Lolly Vegas released an album in the mid 1960s entitled Pat & Lolly Vegas At The Haunted House (Mercury MG 21059/SR 61059). Of the twelve songs on the album, six are originals by the Vegas brothers. Pat and Lolly Vegas also released several 7" singles from 1961 to the mid 1960s. One of them is titled "Robot Walk" / "Don't You Remember" (Apogee Records A-101).
The first self titled album by Redbone was released as a double album in North America and as a single LP in Europe. Their third album, Message from A Drum, was released in Europe with another title (The Witch Queen of New Orleans) and a different cover than the one released in the U.S. and Canada.
One of the 1970s drummers, George Spannos, released his own hit album Passion in the Dark in 1983 under the name Danny Spanos, having a Top 40 hit single with Hot Cherie.
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Bandgeschichte
Die Initiatoren von Redbone waren die Brüder Lolly Vegas (bürgerlich Candido Albelando Vasquez, * 2. Oktober 1939 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien; † 4. März 2010 ebenda – Vocals, Gitarre) und Pat Vegas (bürgerlich Patrick Morales Vasquez, * 17. März 1941 (oder 1946) in Coalinga, Kalifornien – Vocals, Bass). Schon seit den frühen 1960er Jahren machten die beiden Brüder unter verschiedenen Band- und Projektnamen wie The Avantis oder The Sharks sowie ab 1964 unter ihrem Künstlernamen Vegas zusammen Plattenaufnahmen. So zum Beispiel 1966 die LP Pat & Lolly Vegas at the Haunted House, die neben selbstverfassten Titeln Coverversionen damals aktueller Hits von Wilson Pickett, James Brown oder den Rolling Stones enthält. Als Studiomusiker wirkten sie bei Aufnahmen von Elvis Presley und Sonny & Cher mit. Die beiden Brüder waren ebenfalls erfolgreiche Songschreiber. Der Titel Niki Hoeky (auch Niki Hokey geschrieben) wurde von mehreren bekannten Interpreten wie Bobbie Gentry, Aretha Franklin (Lady Soul, 1968) oder The Ventures (Swamp Rock, 1969) aufgenommen und war 1967 in der Version von P.J. Proby ein Top-40-Hit[5] in den US-Billboard-Charts.
Ende 1968 stellten sie mit Tony Bellamy (bürgerlich Robert Anthony Bellamy, * 12. September 1941 (oder 1940) in Orange City, Kalifornien – Gitarre, Vocals) und Pete "Last Walking Bear" DePoe (* 1943 im Makah-Reservat in Neah Bay, Washington – Schlagzeug) schließlich eine Band zusammen. In ironischer Anspielung auf ihre ethnische Herkunft wählten sie den Bandnamen Redbone. Im frankophonen Kulturkreis der Cajuns (Cajun Country, Louisiana) ist „Rehbon" ein abfälliger Ausdruck für einen Menschen gemischt-ethnischer Herkunft. „Redbone" ist davon die US-amerikanisierte Form. Schlagzeuger DePoe, der das Trommeln bei Zeremonien und Powwows gelernt hatte, gehört als einziger "echter" Indianer bei Redbone zum Indianervolk der Cheyenne[6][7]. Die anderen Bandmitglieder haben teils latein-amerikanische Wurzeln und verwandtschaftliche Verbindung verschiedenen Grades zu den Yaqui und Shoshone[8] und bezeichnen sich als Stadtindianer.
Beim CBS-Sublabel Epic Records unterzeichneten sie 1969 einen Schallplattenvertrag und ihr selbstbetiteltes Debüt-Doppelalbum erschien 1970 mit ausnahmslos selbstgeschriebenen Songs, darunter ihre eigene Version von Niki Hoeky sowie der auch als Single ausgekoppelte Titel Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Band. Auf dem Albumcover ist ein mit Federn beschmückter roter Knochen abgebildet. Am 26. August 1970 traten sie – in Europa noch weitgehend unbekannt – beim letzten und größten Isle of Wight Festival auf.
Die Musik von Redbone ist eine unikate Mischung aus Rock, Rhythm 'n' Blues, Funk, Jazz, Cajun-Musik, lateinamerikanischen Rhythmen und Elementen indianischer Stammesfolklore. Ihre überwiegend selbstgeschriebenen Lieder sind oft sprachlich wie thematisch von der Cajun-Kultur geprägt, erzählen von Stammesriten, nordamerikanischer Indianergeschichte und sozialer Ungerechtigkeit. Ihr Bandimage betonten sie konsequent mit authentischer Indianerbekleidung und entsprechender Bühnenausstattung.
Bereits Ende 1970 erschien die zweite LP Potlatch. Der Song Alcatraz behandelt die Besetzung der Insel Alcatraz durch indianische Aktivisten (Indians of All Tribes) seit dem 20. November 1969, die u.a. auch von der Rockband Creedence Clearwater Revival unterstützt wurde und am 11. Juni 1971 durch Räumung seitens der US-Regierung endete. Mit der ausgekoppelten Single Maggie erzielte die Gruppe Ende 1970/Anfang 1971 einen ersten Achtungserfolg in den amerikanischen Single-Hitparaden.[4] Anfang 1972 erreichte Maggie als Wiederveröffentlichung Platz 45 auch in der deutschen Hitliste.[2]
Aus der dritten LP Message from a Drum (1971) stammt der Titel The Witch Queen of New Orleans, in dem die Voodoo-Priesterin Marie Laveau besungen wird. Der Song entwickelte sich Ende 1971 zum weltweiten Hitparadenerfolg und erreichte Platz 2 im Vereinigten Königreich[3], Platz 13 in Deutschland[2], und in den Billboard Hot 100 Rang 21[4].
Aus familiären Gründen spielte Pete DePoe auf dem vierten Album Already Here (1972) nur auf den fünf Titeln von Seite 1 Schlagzeug.[9] Auf Seite 2 sprang für ihn Arturo Perez ein, der für kurze Zeit auch bei Liveauftritten mitspielte.[10] Die Singleauskopplung Fais Do war in den Niederlanden ein kleiner Hitparadenerfolg.
Der Non-Albumtrack We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee (1973) thematisiert das Massaker bei Wounded Knee (South Dakota) im Jahre 1890 durch das 7. US-Kavallerieregiment an Angehörigen des Minneconjou-Indianerstammes (Lakota/Sioux). Die Single stand 5 Wochen lang auf Platz 1 in der Hitparade der Niederlanden[11] und in Deutschland kam er bis auf Rang 21[2]. In den USA wurde das Lied nicht veröffentlicht und von vielen Radiosendern boykottiert.
Während den Aufnahmen zur fünften Studio-LP Wovoka 1973 verließ Schlagzeuger DePoe die Band endgültig und wurde durch Butch Rillera (* 8. November 1945) ersetzt. Der aus diesem Album ausgekoppelte, in lateinamerikanischem Tanzrhythmus eingespielte und etwas gefälligere Song Come and Get Your Love war 1974 mit Platz 5 die kommerziell erfolgreichste Single von Redbone in den USA und verkaufte sich über eine Million Mal.[4]
Rillera hatte die Gruppe nach dem 1974er Album Beaded Dreams Through Turquise Eyes schon wieder verlassen und der Platz am Schlagzeug wurde fortan öfter neu besetzt. Hinzu kam Keyboarder und Perkussionist Aloisio Aguiar. Nach der 1977er LP Cycles wurde es jedoch zunehmend stiller um Redbone. 1995 verließ Lolly Vegas aus gesundheitlichen Gründen die Gruppe. Wenig später trennten sich auch die verbliebenen Ur-Mitglieder Pat Vegas und Tony Bellamy. Pat Vegas tourte später gelegentlich mit einer neu zusammengestellten Gruppe unter dem Namen Redbone, zu der ab 2003 Mark Guerrero gehörte.
Alben
Redbone - 1970
Potlatch - 1970
Message from a Drum - 1971 (auch als The Witch Queen of New Orleans veröffentlicht, 1972)
Already Here - 1972
Wovoka - 1973
Beaded Dreams Through Turquise Eyes - 1974
Come and Get Your Redbone - 1975
The Best of Redbone - 1976
Cycles - 1977
Redbone Live - 1994 (Aufnahmen 1977)
Great Songs (Come and Get Your Love) - 1995
Golden Classics - 1996
To the Bone - 1998
Redbone and Wet Willie: Take Two - 2002
The Essential Redbone - 2003
One World - 2005
Singles
Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Band - 1970
Maggie - 1970, 1971 und 1972
Light as a Feather - 1971
The Witch Queen of New Orleans - 1971
Message from a Drum - 1972
Fais Do - 1972
When You Got Trouble - 1972
Niji Trance - 1972
Poison Ivy - 1973
We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee - 1973
Wovoka - 1973
Come and Get Your Love - 1974
One More Time - 1974
Suzi Girl - 1975
Suzi Girl
Redbone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I gotta know it, it's a product of my invention
Power of your suggestion
Thirty-two bars of electric guitars
And a choir of angels remounding the milky way
That's how I feel when I'm with you, Suzi girl
And I think about you, think about you all day long
Suzi girl, you're my whole wide world
And I think about just loving you the whole day long
Free, free as the sun up in the sky
Free as a bird I fly away into new directions
Making unreal corrections
Swooping in air at impossible speeds
And I head for the moon
And I'm there in a flash of light
That's how I feel when I'm with you, Suzi girl
Suzi girl, you're my world
And I think about you, think about you all day long
Suzi girl, you're my whole wide world
And I think about just loving you the whole day long
I, I see a carnaval of joy
I smell the cotton, then the merry-go-round illusion
There is no right conclusion
People play games for a cuddly toy
And a marching band plays for the children who laugh with me
That's how I feel when I'm with you, Suzi girl
Suzi girl, you're my world
And I think about you, think about you all day long
Suzi girl, you're my whole wide world
And I think about…
The song "Suzi Girl" by Redbone is an ode to the power of love and its ability to transport the singer to a world of pure joy and freedom. The opening lines describe a sound that the singer hears inside his head and is eager to explore. He attributes this sound to the power of suggestion, possibly indicating that he is inspired by the presence of his love interest, Suzi girl. The next lines liken the feeling of being with Suzi to "thirty-two bars of electric guitars" and "a choir of angels resounding the milky way," suggesting that being with her is like a harmonious, awe-inspiring musical experience.
In the following verses, the singer describes feeling "free as the sun up in the sky" and flying away to new directions, possibly indicating a sense of liberation and adventure that he experiences with Suzi. The idea of making "unreal corrections" may suggest that his love for Suzi has allowed him to change his perception of reality and see the world in a more positive light. The final verse evokes a sense of childlike wonder and joy, with the singer envisioning a carnival of joy and people playing games for cuddly toys. Throughout the entire song, the singer repeats the same refrain, declaring Suzi girl to be his world and expressing his love for her.
Line by Line Meaning
I, I hear a sound inside my head
I am deeply influenced by my thoughts and I must understand them thoroughly. Your suggestions are powerful in shaping what I think.
Thirty-two bars of electric guitars
The intensity of my emotions run high when we're together, and it feels like a grand symphony is playing in my head.
And a choir of angels remounding the milky way
The experience of being with you feels grandiose and celestial, as though every angel in the universe is celebrating our love.
That's how I feel when I'm with you, Suzi girl
The sheer intensity of emotions that I feel when I'm with you is beyond description.
Free, free as the sun up in the sky
When I'm with you, I feel liberated, as though nothing can stop me from soaring up high like the sun.
Free as a bird I fly away into new directions
Being with you never feels stagnant or predictable. My love for you encourages me to discover new possibilities and explore the world.
Making unreal corrections
I strive to be the best I can be for you, and in doing so, I find myself making changes that I didn't think were possible before.
Swooping in air at impossible speeds
My love for you motivates me to take risks and chase my dreams, no matter how fast and impossible they may seem.
And I head for the moon
When I'm with you, nothing feels too far out of reach. I am determined to reach for the stars and beyond, no matter how impossible it may seem.
I, I see a carnaval of joy
My love for you brings me immense happiness and fills my life with endless joy and laughter.
I smell the cotton, then the merry-go-round illusion
Being with you feels like a whimsical carnival journey filled with cotton candy scents and merry-go-round illusions.
People play games for a cuddly toy
Every day feels like a game with you, and the reward is the pure joy of experiencing your love and affection.
And a marching band plays for the children who laugh with me
The world feels like a grand celebration of our love, with every child and every band member joining in our joy.
And I think about you, think about you all day long
My thoughts are consumed with the love I have for you, and I can't seem to shake you off my mind even for a second.
Suzi girl, you're my whole wide world
You are my universe, my everything, and my entire existence revolves around the love I have for you.
And I think about just loving you the whole day long
My love for you is unconditional and never-ending, and I will continue to dedicate every moment of my life to loving you.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: LOLLY VEGAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind