Progressive music with American native (-or American Indian-) music influence

Germanophon

Gila : "Bury my heart at wounded knee" (1973)****°

After Vietnam the theme of massacres came into attention which leaded to a movie picture about massacres including the one at Wounded Knee which moved Conny Veit to start at this concept. Like the movie the picture starts in a positive mood to illustrate some of the native culture's positive foundations, then changes into a chocking event. "This morning" and "In a sacred manner" are about this kind of a certain purity, with no need of searching a job, no need for looking for profit of what problems the reassembled "reeducated" native Indians have cought now, because "the (ancient) sacred manner" kept the richness of living simple and basic, but also fundamental. The track "Black Kettle's Ballad" goes back to some dramas like the one at Wounded Knee were some firm Indian believers tried to gain back their native spiritual ground by a forbidden dance and were therefore slaughtered, causing a permanent loss and a certain permanent guilt for what made further foundations for the American government. The mellotron with piano has a certain melancholy and also the guitar is weeping, but melodies are beautiful. Little Smoke" and "The Ballad are coming" spreads in their "word" as from beyond a spiritual world into hopeful pictures. It is as if the original dance to save from out of the spirital world is speaking and reaching us from beyond the still living scene. And this brought by white men ! Once some white men were awaited as saviours of their now a bit lost world and ground and may be such musicians and musical concepts are already such progressive words from beyond another reality to bind really already such old believes within the new and still a bit lost world.

The LP has been reissued on CD now by an official label with two bonus tracks which might be a bit different in style (I didn't hear the reissue) probably not worth the musical concept.

For me this album is one of the best concept albums of the seventies to come out of Germany. It has all the progressive and psychedelic elements to expect from a Krautrock record, without much experiment except to express the clearness of the musical concept. The influence of Florian Fricke's mellotron and piano is undoubtly and is much more moving as usual. The texts are interesting to get involved emotionally into the whole content too. There's some folk rock flavour in it too and this is why prog folk rock listeners should try this album too. The female vocals even reminded me at Trees although the instrumentation and goal of the music is more progressive and floating. A part of the text and rhythms were truly native and were referring to the book "Bury my heart at wounded knee" written by Brown Dee from which they used a few fragments.

The LP was made after "the cooperation of Conny Veit (Gila leader) with Florian Fricke (Popol Vuh leader) in Hosianna Mantra. The cooperation lived near by so the cooperation was also practically easy. Female vocals were by Sabine Merbach, partner of Conny. The concept was born after being caught by the poetical power of Dee's book, but were also influenced by the constantly images of Vietnam on the news, with the appropriated considerations over some American ideals.

Bootleg of this cd by Germanophon 1995 (Germanofon 941031), then it is reissued by Garden of Delight (with no noice system remastered) and by Akarma Records in Italy.

The name Gila probably referred to an area too were prehistoric Indians lived (the Gila National Forest located about 44 miles north of Silver City on NM15).

Gila made two other albums. Their first work is also a musical concept and recommended. Their lately reissued "Night Works" is more psychedelic, but for my taste too much into space to see the ground to walk upon in it.

Gila web site at

http://www.germanrock.de/g/gila/index.htm and a bit introduction about Gila at http://www.krautrocknet.com/magazine/shorttakes/cornucopia/cornucopia.htm

Gila wounded knee web site used to be at http://unland.purespace.de/gila/gila1973.htm

Review of "Bury my heart at wounded knee" at http://stevehegede.tripod.com/germany.htm

and at http://www.progressiveworld.net/gila.html

and at http://www.aural-innovations.com/mailord/god.html

and at http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/gila.html

an at http://www.ragazzi-music.de/gila.html

Remark : http://www.progreviews.com/forums/reviews-talk/messages/10111.shtml

More about Wounded Knee event at http://www.ibiscom.com/knee.htm

and http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/momaday/knee.htm

and http://www.two-dog-raven.freeserve.co.uk/

A few pictures more at http://www.history.uiuc.edu/hoxie/Images/WoundedKnee/wounded.htm

VanguardRobbie Basho : The Voice of the Eagle (1972)****°

After hearing his first album in re-examining his work I think I realise it sill has a certain roughness despite its great ideas. If I think of Steffen Basho Junghans "Songs of the earth" developing the same style I realize how an advanced technical skill can enrich the original subject. Now having heard Robbie's 1972 album I realise there must be much more unknown potential in Robbie's records. The singing of Basho which is very individual but which is clearly influenced by Indian singing, Yma Sumac and much more might seem odd to some. If it weren't so professional this could be a questioning, but the advancement in the searching of the voice with the accompany of the guitar becomes very adventurous like this. Basho had experimented so much already with every kind of string based ethnic musical foundation that any further exploration done on this album is so spontaneous you might forget how much new areas has been opened already open to new and fresh sounds, in fact binding all kinds of people and its creativity fundaments in freedom of expression together.

For not being related at all to American Indian music Basho made out of curiosity and self expression a real gem for progressive music based upon American native elements.

Audio : "Voice of the Eagle", "Blue Corn Serenade", "Joseph"

The CD was dedicated (beside to the American Indian) to Avatar Meher Baba. I still have no idea why. Some more information you can find about him at http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/ and in future also at http://www.avatarmeherbaba.com/ and (as an Australian Indian at :) http://indians.australians.com/meherbaba/

About "the voice of the Eagle ceremony" you can find a page at http://www.eaglescout.org/finale/coh/template08.html

This album is available at www.cometrecords.com

(at http://www.cometrecords.com/robo10/robo.exe/DettaglioProdotto+VMD-79321)

More information about this item at

http://www.bluemomentarts.de/bma/rbasho/en/disco.html

My sperate page about Robbie Basho here

For more about Robbie Basho and more links to simular guitar items you can also look at :

http://psychevanhetfolk.homestead.com/RAGAGUITAR.html

Another album from Basho with native influences was "Rainbow Thunder -Songs of the American West". It was his last regular LP, released in 1981 for Silber Label Recordings.

More information at http://www.bluemomentarts.de/bma/rbasho/en/visions.html#Rainbow

For a radio program about this subject please click here

Also Buffy Sainte-Marie has a song about Wounded knee

The text of it you can find at http://www.creative-native.com/burylyr.htm

At "It's my way" there's also a song called "Now that's the buffalo's gone".

She's most know for her moving folk voice and songs. ("Universal Soldier" became the anthem of the Vietnam war protest movement). She was born at the Piapot (Cree) Reserve in Saskatchewan, and raised in Maine and Massachusetts. She has a degree in Oriental Philosophy, a teacher's degree and a Ph.D. in Fine Arts, all from the University of Massachusetts. She founded the Nihewan Foundation for American Indian Education in 1968, whose Cradleboard Teaching Project presently facilitates communication among Native American and Mainstream children in Canada and the U.S., through the use of computer technology and a progressive Native Studies curriculum. Buffy helped to establish the new category "Music of Aboriginal Canada". Now, besides singing, she teaches digital art and music as Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts at several colleges.

Buffy Sainte-Marie, C/O Business Support Services, 1191 Kuhio Hwy., Kapaa, HI 96746

Fax#808-823-0249 Web site at http://www.creative-native.com and http://www.nihewan.org

I didn't hear many American Indians fusion music yet which could promote their culture in an advanced way. The basic rhythms from the several Indian cultures are gone to their fundamental roots of earth rhythms and doesn't have much worked out expression to bring over also a progression in its movement. I can understand that eventual such music didn't reach our ears yet. Redbone did make an Indian fusion with rockpop, X-it modernised some Indian sounds, but these groups weren't particular very progressive. But some American non-Indians did this in their place. Moondog learned Indian rhythms when he was a child and adapted it in his music, but only at his later releases he came back to that first roots with a basic earth drumming. Secondly I knew Gila (with Florian Fricke) who adapted some Indian melodies to include in their progressive "Bury my heart at wounded Knee"). But it was Robbie Basho with "the voice of the eagle" who seemed to open up American Indian sound on a pure musical level too. His singing there is the singing of an Indian who won back his long lost freedom. Thanks to his superb guitar work which was founded in raga guitar Basho succeeded in making this album worth to trace on every level of interest.

Moondog learned in spirit some of his rhythmical fundaments from native Indians. Also his place can direct some significance.

I hope in near future I hope to add a few Native Indian progressive music items on this page that give opportunity to fuse also these elements so that it can interact within all standards and cultures, perceptions.

Also listed are a few singer-songwriters, important for a personal expression within the native culture, like Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Only one illustrative filmic ambient/New Age American flute player I also added near the end.

Akarma Records Buffy Sainte-Marie : Illuminations (1969)*****

Everyone with predicted meaning about folk singers should listen to this approach. I noticed some people think Buffy Sainte-Marie is as interesting/not interesting as folk singers like Joan Baze, or singers like Odetta. Then you overlook Buffy's incredible talent to lift herself out of the folk sene into a very original personal approach. Not only she adapt all kinds of American styles very intelligently (blues,native, rock, folk) in this album it goes not even beyond any tradition, it even goes beyond the easy imaginable. This is album is a very adventurous, more psychedelic folk singer-songwriting album. Electronic effects (by Michael Czajkowski) are based upon voice and guitar only. First site is terrific. On the second site she herself goes aggressively out of her mind in heavy fast country rock sometimes. The album hd an extremely good producement.

Akarma Records reissued a beautiful exact LP reissue on 180 grams vinyl. An inevitable listen. A classic for all times.

Vanguard Buffy Sainte-Marie : Many a Mile (1965)***°

Beautiful folk songs with fragile voice with heavy foundation. Blues and gospel influences are approached with original Singer-songwriting interpretating. A Spanish melody blends with Indian singing on "Los Pescadors" is something she succeeded before, bringing peace between two origins once more. A songthat made me cry once more was "Until it's time for you to go" . It could also be about about a man who uses a bit the occurance of love of a the woman as long as he's pleased by it, but it can be interpreted in a more general way. Buffy sings it as if departure should be regarded as reality in any situation that could be associated here, to go fo it because the love there is real, even in it's temporaly moment. "Just a song" Buffy adds to it. It's in fact about the importance of every moment you can share. A favorite song there. In this area Buffy was devoloping her style digging in any American roots. Interesting.

Label of both the reissues : www.cometrecords.com

Distributors for all styles of American Indian music:

Canyon Records- http://www.canyonrecords.com/

Silverwave Records- http://www.silverwave.com

SOAR- http://www.sound-of-america.com/

Some more American Indian Music at www.sweetgrassrecords.com

Can anybody help me with a good introduction into this field and e some names of real progressive items with native Indian influences or surely from native Indian origin ?

It's hard to start from zero. Do there e istmore items of Indians with progressive or fusing elements (surely except blues, disco, trance, New Age) ?Do you know progressive fusions with Indian elements ? Or would you like therefore to trade some recordings, even on tape ? Please E-mail me. E-mail me too when you know interesting links. (Please give the page you browsed from my Webpages as reference too.)

All links from this Page updated at 2002-07-01

new items added 2008-2

You can also go back to the main index of my radio program "Psyche van het Folk"

Cedar Mesa MusicScott August : Lost Canyons (US,2007)***°

This CD was for me one of the first times that I found native American flute playing attractive and especially that it showed a world that seemed to root itself over times and space. The flute which was used was the Anasazi flute, a type which was found abandoned in pueblos, merely a thousand years old. While it originally was made of box elder, which has a natural soft inner pith, today’s versions are made of cedar. It’s use sounds close to the modern pentatonic scale. Just a bit of sparse keyboard drone makes certain solos more effective. Many tracks are arranged more, with a professional studio production sound between New Age and Ambient music, with colourful world music instruments percussion (kalimba, tabla, conga,...) and a warm contrast. Usually I am more sceptical towards any New Age association, but this music is filmic and provocative enough to make it very enjoyable.

Audio & info : http://www.myspace.com/scottaugustmusic

Label info with audio : http://www.cedarmesa.com/lostcanyons/index.html

Info with audio : http://cdbaby.com/cd/scottaugust4/from/echoes

On native American flutes & Scott August : http://cedarmesa.blogspot.com/