Tony Bellamy (September 12, 1946 – December 25, 2009) – Jambone (1970)

The late great Redbone lead guitarist and singer co-wrote and laid down cosmic sounds on this funky, spaced out jam off their debut LP.

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Tony “T-Bone” Bellamy was the lead guitarist for Redbone from 1969-1977, the all-Native American and Mexican-American rock group best known for their top five U.S. hit “Come And Get Your Love.”

Robert Anthony Avila (aka Tony Bellamy) was Yaqui-Mexican American and joined brothers Lolly and Pat Vasquez-Vegas in Redbone in 1969, shortly before they signed to Epic Records. They were inspired by Jimi Hendrix (who was part Cherokee) to form an all-Native American rock group. “Redbone” is a Cajun term for a mixed-race person.

For their self-titled debut album, released at the dawn of the new decade in January, 1970, Bellamy co-wrote and laid down cosmic sounds on the super funky, spaced out “Jambone.”

He also co-wrote the very funky, mostly instrumental jam “Without Reservation” from their second album Potlach, released later that same year in October, 1970.

Redbone was a supremely talented group and noted for being the first Native American rock band to score an international #1 hit record.  This occurred in 1973, when their powerful anthem “We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee” (co-written by Lolly and Pat Vasquez-Vegas) went to #1 in Belgium and the Netherlands.

It did not chart in the U.S. where it was initially withheld from release due to controversy over its hard-hitting lyrics about the historical mistreatment of America’s native peoples, and then banned by several radio stations. Epic Records also cut the song from the U.S. release of the group’s fifth album Wovoka (1973) which landed at #66 on the Billboard 200 in the spring of 1974 on the strength of its hit single “Come And Get Your Love.”

#soul #funk #Redbone #TonyBellamy