American Indian Tribal Prog

[Kai]

Robbie Robertson is half Cayuga/Mohawk and lived on a reservation growing up in Ontario. His excellent self-titled solo album (1987) featured several Indian-themed songs, including "Broken Arrow" (which Rod Stewart made a hit a few years later). About the closest to prog is this one that Robertson shared vocals with Peter Gabriel (in fact, its sounds like it could have been lifted from "So"):

Actually, some of the instrumental parts in the middle of "Fallen Angel" appeared later practically unchanged on Gabriel's "Come Talk to Me". A great song, and a great album, I agree. The track "Go Back to Your Woods" from his still quite good second album Storyville has similar themes and quest performers, though it's not prog.

I think one obvious example would be Gila's classic Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. All the texts deal with Native Americans and the music carries the flavour too - even if Conny Veit rejected the original tribal melodies as too simplistic and composed his own tunes around the texts he borrowed.

[Scott Bails]

Jon Anderson/Jonathan Elias:

[raconteur troubadour]

Check out Bill Miller's Reservation Road:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BxzO9kzLa8
THis is my favorite song on that album one day I gotta figure out how to play it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGnn8XxlQZg

[Rarebird]

No one's mentioned Redbone?

This was a major hit.

https://youtu.be/Dj0drevGOgA

How about Blackfoot? Three of the four original bandmates were Indian. Humorously enough, their first album was titled "No Reservations"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpBKHr1_Z9k

Guitarist and lead singer Rickey Medlocke was Lakota and Cherokee. His grand-dad Shorty Medlocke played blues harp on this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBP15lRprPs

THose were the first bands I would think of.

[Crawford Glissadevil]

Hey Scott, I totally forgot about that Jon Anderson song.

In 1985, Tucson native Jesus Acedo formed Black Sun Ensemble a psychedelic desert band bordering on prog. Back in the day, I purchased two BSE albums.

In 1989 dark mysterious powers descended on their Geffen Records showcase in Los Angeles lead to the quiet intervention of Paul McCartney to get certain members and their entourage out of custody- a tarot card was supposedly involved.

At the 1994 "Burning Man Festival" some idiot in the crowd sacrificed a goat while the band was on stage thus incurring the wrath of PETA so the band was forced underground and splintered, reformed and fell into hiatus due to cursed circumstances and the mental illnesses of Jesus Acedo. Mickey Rourke, a close friend to Jesus Acedo at the time, was urged by friends and family to visit Acedo in his dreams embodying the dark angel, compelling him to resume writing. An so Jesus had a second coming, writing 5 more studio albums and playing several "South by Southwest Festivals." No animals were harmed.

Sadly, Jesus Acedo passed in 2013. RIP my man!

[Fracktured]

Wovenhand has been delving more into Native American influences in the last 2 to 3 albums.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fracktured]

No one's mentioned Redbone?

This was a major hit.

https://youtu.be/Dj0drevGOgA

I remember watching the midnight special show when it aired. I loved that song but not sure if I’ve ever heard anything else from them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[raconteur troubadour]

not sure if I’ve ever heard anything else from them.

Maggie was another of their radio hits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zp5cr7lHHc

[Rarebird]

I remember watching the midnight special show when it aired. I loved that song but not sure if I’ve ever heard anything else from them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The only Redbone song I remember was We were all wounded at Wounded Knee.

[spellbound]

[spellbound]

Quicksilver Messenger Service's version of Buffy's song.

[spacefreak]

70s band XIT.

[hFx]

Half offtopic,

The Sami, native people of northern Scandinavian peninsula, have a similar origin and history, with a quite active and modern musical scene with its own strong identity. Some "on topic" sounds for sure...

[Jerjo]

And then there's this hallmark of boneheaded cultural appropriation. It is kinda proggy though.

[Scott Bails]

[miamiscot]

R-417984-1365170965-4452.jpg

[Trane]

And then there's this hallmark of boneheaded cultural appropriation. It is kinda proggy though.

I always wondered how that didn't spark Heart Burial at a Wounded Knee N°2 and a Wanka Tanka dgilhad

[moecurlythanu]

(So how long til someone posts "Indian Reservation" by Paul Revere And The Raiders?)

[Crawford Glissadevil]

(So how long til someone posts "Indian Reservation" by Paul Revere And The Raiders?)

Or "Half Breed" by Cher.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Really?

Almost two full pages and nobody's mentioned this?

[Progbear]

I remember watching the midnight special show when it aired. I loved that song but not sure if I’ve ever heard anything else from them.

Their other top 40 hit:

[Rarebird]

Their other top 40 hit:

That one I remember as well. The other ones mentioned not, exept We were all wounded at Wounded Knee. I think it was to controversial for the US.

[SteveSly]

There's the blues-rock band Indigenous, all Native American but definitely not prog. In the beginning it was a family affair with a couple siblings and cousins. I saw this lineup at the Bandshell at the MN State Fair in the late 90s. There was some buzz about them at the time so the place was full but skeptical. By the third song people were standing up and screaming when Mato Ninji started his solos. He's just one of those players that instead of just mimicking Stevie Ray or Jimi or whoever he actually synthesized several influences into his own thing.

Ug[/video]

The original lineup of Indigenous was indeed great. I saw them at a Casino theater during a Native American celebration and they blew us away. Even have an autographed t-shirt. Once the family left the band it was not the same. I saw them a few years ago again as an opening act (I don't remember who for). It was Mato and two other sidemen. I had really talked them up to my friends before the show, but they were dull as dishwater. Mato still played great, but he had zero stage presence and it just was not nearly as good as I remembered them.

[BrianG]

Robert Mirabal is a Taos Pueblo flutist, singer and artist who composed some very interesting albums. His music is more ambient/chanting.
Native Suite with Bill Miller (1996)
Warrior Magician (1996) (quite ambient)
Taos Tales (1999) - more folky
The River with ETHEL String Quartet

[Mister Triscuits]

Todd Tamanend Clark