A little Friday morning sass for Beth and Aunt B:
John Bonham. Neil Peart. Ginger Baker. Hell, even Buddy Rich. I have heard all of these guys pound their way through song after song, and never ONCE pay homage, give thanks to, or even acknowledge the Choctaw Indians. Yep, the Choctaw, those guys that helped the French launch major payback for Fort Rosalie.
It turns out that the Choctaw had an impressive repetoire of music, most of which was percussion driven, albeit by banging two sticks together. No matter, they own the genre and their interests should be looked after.
I spoke to a few old chiefs recently…and they find it a little more than curious that many of their shamans would hum loudly during certain rituals…even changing the tone to suit the message. Perhaps they were celebrating a birth, and the tone would be light and, well, celebratory. Maybe, just maybe, they were lamenting their impending slaughter, and, well, their humming might take on a more plaintive, dare I say bluesy sound…
I think its plausible that some slaves may have overheard some of this indigenous music, and may have been influenced by it, (and by, say, the Bible) and then slyly incorporated some of what they had heard previously into their own music. I’m glad they eventually gained their freedom and everything, but all that meant, apparently, was that they could about their thievin unmolested.
Since it seems most if not all tribes in North America migrated her from elsewhere….well, who knows what rythmic banging they heard throughout their journey, then repeated because they liked it…oh sure, they changed a few things, maybe instead of bangin sticks together, they may have banged sticks on rocks…but banged they did, and my research found no evidence of them ever acknowledging those that banged before them.
That kind of lawlessness is probably what brought about manifest destiny and all that. Karma’s a bitch.
