Rock and roll changed forever with three distinctive chords, strummed on a whim, in a gymnasium, circa 1957. Those chords made up the backbone of an improvised instrumental, played by a house band filling time for a DJ on a break. Soon, the world would know that track as "Rumble," performed by Link Wray and the Wray Men, and the song would prove to be an absolute game changer for popular music.
The Who's Pete Townsend is on record as saying that 'Rumble" made him pick up a guitar and never put it back down. Bob Dylan cited it as a significant influence on his career, and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page was seen as downright giddy, listening to the track in Davis Guggenheim's 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud. Hundreds, if not thousands of musicians …show more content…
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray was rock music's first Native American star. Now, nearly 60 years after his song introduced the concept of power chords and changed the course of rock and roll forever, it shares a title with this new documentary exploring Wray and other Native American musicians' influence on contemporary …show more content…
Bainbridge, who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Alfonso Maiorana, wants to take us on a journey - similar to PBS' excellent and expansive 2001 documentary series "American Roots Music." Curiously, each segment stands alone, and connections between the musicians, songs, and stories are threadbare at best. Some stories make an impact, others not as much.
Even with stories that may underwhelm or slow the film's rhythm, Rumble still offers moments of jaw-dropping revelation and observation. Bainbridge unearths stories documenting how Native American performers would hide their heritage to avoid oppression and racism. Mixed race African-American and Indigenous performers would often present as black, as that was seen as more favorable in a racially divided and segregated America.
In something of a lighter tone, but equally as stunning, singer Pura Fé, a vocalist with a women's acapella trio, Ulali, offers examples of how popular songs channel rhythms, arrangements, and vocal delivery from the blueprint of Native American music.
When you have appearances from Martin Scorsese, legendary musician Robbie Robertson, and even the iconic Tony Bennett himself, to name a select few, one easily recognizes that the filmmakers have tapped into a noteworthy and
The Who's Pete Townsend is on record as saying that 'Rumble" made him pick up a guitar and never put it back down. Bob Dylan cited it as a significant influence on his career, and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page was seen as downright giddy, listening to the track in Davis Guggenheim's 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud. Hundreds, if not thousands of musicians …show more content…
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray was rock music's first Native American star. Now, nearly 60 years after his song introduced the concept of power chords and changed the course of rock and roll forever, it shares a title with this new documentary exploring Wray and other Native American musicians' influence on contemporary …show more content…
Bainbridge, who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Alfonso Maiorana, wants to take us on a journey - similar to PBS' excellent and expansive 2001 documentary series "American Roots Music." Curiously, each segment stands alone, and connections between the musicians, songs, and stories are threadbare at best. Some stories make an impact, others not as much.
Even with stories that may underwhelm or slow the film's rhythm, Rumble still offers moments of jaw-dropping revelation and observation. Bainbridge unearths stories documenting how Native American performers would hide their heritage to avoid oppression and racism. Mixed race African-American and Indigenous performers would often present as black, as that was seen as more favorable in a racially divided and segregated America.
In something of a lighter tone, but equally as stunning, singer Pura Fé, a vocalist with a women's acapella trio, Ulali, offers examples of how popular songs channel rhythms, arrangements, and vocal delivery from the blueprint of Native American music.
When you have appearances from Martin Scorsese, legendary musician Robbie Robertson, and even the iconic Tony Bennett himself, to name a select few, one easily recognizes that the filmmakers have tapped into a noteworthy and