Peter DePoe (also known as Last Walking Bear) was born in Neah Bay, Washington, in 1943. His tribal descents are Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Chippewa, Siletz, Rogue River Tututni, and Iroquois. DePoe is also of French and German descent. He became in 1969 the drummer for the Native American rock band Redbone. He was credited with developing a style of drumming known as “King Kong”. In 1972, following the death of his father, he left the group. The band replaced him with Arturo Perez, then Tony Bellamy’s Filipino-Mexican American cousin, Butch Rillera. (More from Wikipedia)
Redbone was formed in 1969 by two brothers from Coalinga, California, Patrick Vasquez (bass and vocals) and Candido “Lolly” Vasquez (guitar and vocals). They took the names Pat Vegas and Lolly Vegas in order to downplay the Latin American origin of their real surname (even though Las Vegas is also Spanish, meaning “meadows”).
Jimi Hendrix – who also has Native American blood – convinced them to organize an all–Native-American band. The two brothers added Peter DePoe (drums) and Tony Bellamy (lead guitar, piano, vocals).
The band name Redbone is adapted from a Cajun term for “half-breed” and highlights the mixed ancestry of the bandmembers. Pat Vegas and Lolly Vegas have Yaqui, Shoshone and Mexican heritage. Peter DePoe is descended from six different Indian tribes – Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Chippewa, Siletz, Rogue River Tututni, and Iroquois – and also has German and French ancestry. Tony Bellamy has Yaqui and Mexican American blood.
The music by Redbone also has a mixed ancestry; while primarily a rock band, there are R&B, Cajun, jazz, tribal and Latin influences as well. Peter DePoe is credited with pioneering the “King Kong” style of drumming, and Lolly Vegas played improvised jazz-influenced guitar; he is one of the first guitarists to use the Leslie rotating-speaker effect in his amplification set-up.
Peter DePoe was replaced on drums in 1972 by Arturo Perez and then by Tony Bellamy’s Filipino/Mexican American cousin, Butch Rillera. Another former Redbone drummer, Danny Spanos (also known as George Spanos) had a Top 40 hit in 1983 as a solo artist with “Hot Cherie”; he also played drums on the theme music for the hit television show, Starsky and Hutch. Redbone was inducted into the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2008.
(August 2013)
