RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD (Catherine Bainbridge, Canada). 103 minutes. Rating: NNNN
The growl of Link Wray‘s eponymous single – and the straight line between its rebellious sound and the rise of rock and roll – is the starting point for Catherine Bainbridge‘s deep dive into the influence of Native American artists on American popular music.
Surveying a century of recordings, Bainbridge draws some striking connections between Indigenous history and evolving American culture. Everyone from Mildred Bailey and Jimi Hendrix to Buffy St. Marie and Robbie Robertson gets celebrated.
The seminal Delta blues of Charley Patton played in this context lands like a sledgehammer, and Redbone‘s performance of Come And Get Your Love on Midnight Special in full Native costume feels like a triumph. And those are just two moments among dozens in this crackling work of reclamation.