I've wanted to watch this for a while, but am always too slow and leaves the streaming service I tracked it down to. Netflix, PBS, Tubi, etc. Finally, I caught it on Criterion Channel. They don't just stick to rock, but cover American popular music in general.

We open with a long discussion of Link Wray and his song "Rumble" and his importance to rock guitarists. They quote Pete Townshend of The Who saying Link Wray invented the power chord.

Then early blues artist Charlie Patton (The Father of Delta Blues) is discussed and his Native American grandmother and then they have a Native American woman listen to his record and she picks up on his Native rhythms. It was…

About a year after the Sweet Meteor 'o Punk ended the reign of the Prog Rock Dinosaurs in 1976, I took a girl out on a date to the Whisky a Go-Go to see Robert Gordon and Link Wray. I knew of the former from a New York punk band called the Tuff Darts, and he and Wray had recently put out an album of rockabilly standards. I knew nothing about the latter gentleman apart from his guitar playing on said album, but his solo on Flying Saucers Rock and Roll was some of the wildest, rawest, six-string action I'd ever heard and when he stepped out during their set to strum that deceptively simple, but menacingly distorted intro to…

Rumble was just what I needed. As of late I’ve been revisiting my collection of music docs and movies, so when Rumble popped up on Criterion, I was elated. Rumble quickly grabs your attention by going into Link Wray’s, “Rumble.” I immediately grabbed my guitar by the side of my bed and played along. Can you hear the song? KERRRANG, KERRANG, KERANG! 

You soon learn that a lot of American music, owe a debt to the many Indigenous people of the US, such as Link Wray, for influencing a lot of popular music and before his time, since the early Delta Blues days. It then goes through history since the blues and before, exploring the lives and music of many artist, like Charley…

☆"Pay the respect that is due."☆

Rumble, a musical documentary that gets its name from the iconic instrumental rock song in 1958 that was years ahead of its time -- and jesus, is still just so fucking good -- profiles Native American musicians from the early and mid-20th Century and their unheralded contributions to the genres of rock and roll, blues, and jazz.

You can watch it online, for a limited time, thanks to PBS and its Independent Lens series, right here at this link.

Link Wray, guitarist and writer of the aforementioned legendary track, is just one example of the early pioneers of rock music who influenced millions of guitar players and bands through the world. Just listen to…

Just missed this on Criterion Channel, but luckily it's still on Amazon streaming.

This is a really good music doc. I used to watch tons of these... might have to get back into that. I have to confess that I knew about most of the people profiled but (with a few exceptions) did not realize they were of American Indian ancestry. I guess that's why they made this!

I do want to say, I've been a big Link Wray fan for a long time, and of course everyone knows "Rumble" (I dare say it's one of those tunes that even if you don't know you know it, you know it; it turns up everywhere), and that's 99% of what they…

"Rumble" is a must-watch documentary for everyone, but especially for those who love music. Being a huge music fan myself, I can't tell you how moved I was by this film and how much I continued to learn about the indigenous community and their rich history and culture.

Imagine it being against the law to sing, dance or own a drum. Not only has your land been taken from you, but now your expression of art, a lot of which is deeply personal and spiritual, is threatened. At the turn of the 20th century, ethnologists were of the belief that the indigenous peoples in America would completely vanish in 100 years time. They worked tirelessly to preserve this culture, when…

I have really been enjoying the music documentaries SBS is running as double bills on NITV on Sunday nights at the moment.

I learned a huge amount from writers/directors Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana as they take a look at the role of Native Americans in contemporary popular music in the US. The film's title comes from Link Wray's 1958 instrumental hit. Wray, who was a Shawnee man, was the first electric guitarist to use power chords. His distorted guitar sound influenced a generation of guitarists and can be traced forwards through heavy metal and punk music. As Steven Van Zandt delights in telling us, even though the song had no lyrics, it was banned from dozens of radio stations…