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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Deutsche Version:
Bandgeschichte
Die Initiatoren von Redbone waren die BrΓΌder Lolly Vegas (bΓΌrgerlich Candido Albelando Vasquez, * 2. Oktober 1939 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien; β 4. MΓ€rz 2010 ebenda β Vocals, Gitarre) und Pat Vegas (bΓΌrgerlich Patrick Morales Vasquez, * 17. MΓ€rz 1941 (oder 1946) in Coalinga, Kalifornien β Vocals, Bass). Schon seit den frΓΌhen 1960er Jahren machten die beiden BrΓΌder unter verschiedenen Band- und Projektnamen wie The Avantis oder The Sharks sowie ab 1964 unter ihrem KΓΌnstlernamen 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 enthΓ€lt. Als Studiomusiker wirkten sie bei Aufnahmen von Elvis Presley und Sonny & Cher mit. Die beiden BrΓΌder 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 (bΓΌrgerlich Robert Anthony Bellamy, * 12. September 1941 (oder 1940) in Orange City, Kalifornien β Gitarre, Vocals) und Pete "Last Walking Bear" DePoe (* 1943 im Makah-Reservat in Neah Bay, Washington β Schlagzeug) schlieΓlich eine Band zusammen. In ironischer Anspielung auf ihre ethnische Herkunft wΓ€hlten sie den Bandnamen Redbone. Im frankophonen Kulturkreis der Cajuns (Cajun Country, Louisiana) ist βRehbon" ein abfΓ€lliger Ausdruck fΓΌr einen Menschen gemischt-ethnischer Herkunft. βRedbone" ist davon die US-amerikanisierte Form. Schlagzeuger DePoe, der das Trommeln bei Zeremonien und Powwows gelernt hatte, gehΓΆrt 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 DebΓΌt-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 beschmΓΌckter roter Knochen abgebildet. Am 26. August 1970 traten sie β in Europa noch weitgehend unbekannt β beim letzten und grΓΆΓten 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 ΓΌberwiegend selbstgeschriebenen Lieder sind oft sprachlich wie thematisch von der Cajun-Kultur geprΓ€gt, erzΓ€hlen von Stammesriten, nordamerikanischer Indianergeschichte und sozialer Ungerechtigkeit. Ihr Bandimage betonten sie konsequent mit authentischer Indianerbekleidung und entsprechender BΓΌhnenausstattung.
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 unterstΓΌtzt wurde und am 11. Juni 1971 durch RΓ€umung 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 WiederverΓΆffentlichung 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 KΓΆnigreich[3], Platz 13 in Deutschland[2], und in den Billboard Hot 100 Rang 21[4].
Aus familiΓ€ren GrΓΌnden spielte Pete DePoe auf dem vierten Album Already Here (1972) nur auf den fΓΌnf Titeln von Seite 1 Schlagzeug.[9] Auf Seite 2 sprang fΓΌr ihn Arturo Perez ein, der fΓΌr 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 AngehΓΆrigen 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 verΓΆffentlicht und von vielen Radiosendern boykottiert.
WΓ€hrend den Aufnahmen zur fΓΌnften Studio-LP Wovoka 1973 verlieΓ Schlagzeuger DePoe die Band endgΓΌltig und wurde durch Butch Rillera (* 8. November 1945) ersetzt. Der aus diesem Album ausgekoppelte, in lateinamerikanischem Tanzrhythmus eingespielte und etwas gefΓ€lligere Song Come and Get Your Love war 1974 mit Platz 5 die kommerziell erfolgreichste Single von Redbone in den USA und verkaufte sich ΓΌber 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 ΓΆfter neu besetzt. Hinzu kam Keyboarder und Perkussionist Aloisio Aguiar. Nach der 1977er LP Cycles wurde es jedoch zunehmend stiller um Redbone. 1995 verlieΓ Lolly Vegas aus gesundheitlichen GrΓΌnden die Gruppe. Wenig spΓ€ter trennten sich auch die verbliebenen Ur-Mitglieder Pat Vegas und Tony Bellamy. Pat Vegas tourte spΓ€ter gelegentlich mit einer neu zusammengestellten Gruppe unter dem Namen Redbone, zu der ab 2003 Mark Guerrero gehΓΆrte.
Alben
Redbone - 1970
Potlatch - 1970
Message from a Drum - 1971 (auch als The Witch Queen of New Orleans verΓΆffentlicht, 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
Tennessee Girl
Redbone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I want you to know I can't love no other
You got a heart as big as the sky
You make me wanna holler "me, oh my"
You're just my hunk of ever-lovinβ² Tennessee girl
Oh, my hunk of ever-lovinβ² Tennessee girl
And I'm weak at the touch, your bundle of joy
Iβ²m gonna stake right here till I die
You think you're gonna ... nice easy ride
Youβ²re just my hunk of ever-lovin' Tennessee girl
Oh, my hunk of ever-lovin' Tennessee girl
So, oh, it ainβ²t love
My heart, of a queen, baby
You make me feel just like Iβ²m your man
I'm your man
Oh, Iβ²m your man
Tennessee girl
Tennessee girl
I'm thankinβ² you, girl, for lettin' me love you
I want you to know I canβ²t love no other
You got a heart as big as the sky
You make me wanna holler "me, oh my"
You're just my hunk of ever-lovin' Tennessee girl
Oh, my hunk of ever-lovinβ² Tennessee girl
Oh, lay it on
Tennessee girl
Tennessee girl
Tennessee girl
Tennessee girl
The lyrics of Redbone's "Tennessee Girl" speak of an intense love that the singer has for the subject of the song, who is from Tennessee. The singer thanks the girl for letting him love her and acknowledges that he cannot love anyone else. He describes her heart as being as big as the sky, and her touch as making him weak. The singer also notes that he will not let her go until he has had all of her love and that he is willing to stay with her until he dies. The chorus repeats that the girl is his "hunk of ever-lovin' Tennessee girl."
The song speaks to the depth of feeling that the singer has for the girl, and the intensity of their connection. The lyrics also emphasize the exclusivity of their love, with the singer stating that he cannot love anyone but this particular girl. The use of "hunk" to describe the girl is a term of endearment that speaks to the singer's admiration for her. Overall, the song celebrates the intensity and exclusivity of love.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm thankin' you, girl, for lettin' me love you
I appreciate you for allowing me to love you
I want you to know I can't love no other
You should know that I cannot love anyone else
You got a heart as big as the sky
Your heart is vast and full of kindness
You make me wanna holler "me, oh my"
You make me feel so excited and happy
You're just my hunk of ever-lovin' Tennessee girl
You are my beautiful and loving girl from Tennessee
And I'm weak at the touch, your bundle of joy
I am powerless when you touch me; you bring me so much happiness
I can't let you go till I had all your lovin'
I won't let you leave until I have experienced all your love
I'm gonna stake right here till I die
I'm staying here forever
You think you're gonna ... nice easy ride
Even though you may think it will be easy, it won't be
So, oh, it ain't love
This feeling isn't just love
My heart, of a queen, baby
My heart is fit for a queen, my love
You make me feel just like I'm your man
You make me feel like I am your protector and provider
Tennessee girl
Girl from Tennessee
Oh, lay it on
Give me all your love
Tennessee girl
Girl from Tennessee
Tennessee girl
Girl from Tennessee
Tennessee girl
Girl from Tennessee
Writer(s): Lolly Vegas
Contributed by Miles B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@redboneband9825
Every November is "Native American Month"-- so, listen to the "Native American Themed' songs of Redbone, including:
1. JERICO
2.WOVOKA
3.MESSAGE FROM A DRUM
4. CHANT 13TH HOUR (WHICH INTRODUCED FIRST EARTH DAY IN 1970)
5. RED AND BLUE (ALSO INTRODUCED FIRST EARTH DAY IN 1970)
6.WE WERE ALL WOUNDED AT WOUNDED KNEE
7. CUSTER HAD IT COMING
8.NIJI TRANCE
9. ALCATRAZ (dealing with Native American protest & occupation of Alcatraz island)
Of course, there are MANY other great songs: my favorites are " When You Got Trouble", "One More Time", "Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Band", "Maggie", Witch Queen of New Orleans", and "One Monkey"- Take a listen!
@gailhall6283
RIP, Lolly Vegas. You were a beautiful man. I hope you're flying passed the stars right now.. Thanks for the music. β peace.
@dsrtflwr6093
These guys were truly good musicians
@lgallo351
Redbone belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!! Listen to these brilliant musicians!
@ironmanspam1269
There in the hall of fame im pretty sure
@tinecrinec4769
No they are not.
@freakbennett2263
yes, they Do, jus sΓ yin Β‘πΒ‘
@gmamagillmore4812
Darn Right!
@redboneband9825
Native American rock band REDBONE wrote" Come and Get Your Love" (and it is also the theme song of "F is for Family"). Listen to songs : Maggie,Tennessee Girl, Wovoka, Custer Had it Coming, One Monkey, When You Got Trouble, One More Time (in movie: "Person to Person"), "Nikki Hokey" (covered by dozens of artists), "Wovoka", "Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Band" (also covered by dozens of artists), "Fais Do", "Tennessee Girl",-and many more. REDBONE introduced Earth Day to the world in Philadelphia on April 22,1970 with great song "Chant 13Th Hour." Lead singer Lolly Vegas co-wrote Cyndi Lauper hit "Hey Now, Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Listen to Halloween favorite "Witch Queen of New Orleans". See them in Documentary "Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World". They are in the Smithsonian- and positively belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Check out their amazing story and songs: www.Redbone-Band.com
@dawnvancooten9096
The7 Indiand eho rockredcthr earth
@EmeraldWoodArchives
"Promise I Won't Let It Show" has always been a favorite since I was a kid listening to my dad's records. Great band.