Redbone (band)
| Redbone | |
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Redbone in 1971
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Blue-eyed soul, country rock, funk rock, rock, R&B, Cajun |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Epic Records/Novalene Music |
| Associated acts | Pat and Lolly Vegas |
| Website | Redbone.com |
| Members | Pat Vegas |
| Past members | Lolly Vegas (deceased) Tony Bellamy (deceased) Peter DePoe Arturo Perez Butch Rillera |
Redbone is a Native American rock group originating in the 1970s with brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas. They reached the Top 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974 with their No. 5 hit single, "Come and Get Your Love". The single went certified Gold selling over half a million copies. Redbone achieved hits with their singles "We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee", "The Witch Queen of New Orleans", "Wovoka", and "Maggie" in the United States, but predominantly overseas. Redbone is known and accredited in the NY Smithsonian as the first Native American rock/Cajun group to have a No. 1 single in the United States and internationally.
Born in Coalinga, California near Fresno, brothers Patrick (bass and vocals) and Candido "Lolly" Vasquez-Vegas (guitar and vocals) moved to Los Angeles in 1969 to form the group Redbone with mere cents in their pockets due to Pat winning the first ever singing competition held by Coca-Cola. He won a recording contract and travel to create a career which he then put off to move to Los Angeles with his brother Lolly. They began playing local shows on Hollywood and Sunset Blvd, at local clubs like Gazzari's, as well as writing and playing guitar and bass on records by Tina Turner, Sonny & Cher, James Brown, Little Richard, Elvis, and other legendary names.
The name Redbone itself is a Cajun term for a mixed-race person, the band's members being of mixed blood ancestry. The band referenced Cajun and New Orleans culture many times in their lyrics and performing style. Patrick and Lolly Vasquez-Vegas were a mixture of Yaqui, Shoshone and Mexican heritage. The brothers began by performing and recording surf music as the Vegas Brothers, "because their agent told them that the world was not yet ready to embrace a duo of Mexican musicians playing surfing music". First as the Vegas Brothers (Pat and Lolly Vegas), then later as the Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Band, they performed throughout the 1960s at venues on the Las Vegas Strip and appeared on Shindig!
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