Independent Lens

He was the grandfather of-- to all of the Delta Blues guys. No matter how rough those recordings are, how hard it is to listen to it, there's nothing as immediate as listening to that stuff. It's like a bomb went off.

laughs

I mean, his sound is so guttural and so... It sounds like what I imagine that time must have felt like. Like, it's just-- he's just getting it out. There's--you know, there's--it's-- he's not even trying to make it pretty.

laughing

It's just as raw as it gets. My rider got somethin' She's trying to keep it hid He was a profound influence on Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Jack White, Bonnie Raitt. The list goes on and on and on. "Charley Patton was an Indian, and he was the baddest mother

bleep

in the world." Howlin' Wolf. Chips flyin' everywhere He was from that area of the Mississippi Delta, which is an area that is rich in blues history. It's not far from the Choctaw Country. It's very likely that Charley Patton was of Choctaw ancestry.

man singing in Native language

Charley Patton's family has an oral tradition of Native ancestry, of white ancestry, Creole ancestry, African American ancestry. All of those people made Patton who he was. To a world unknown I'm goin' away -

laughs

See, so, when I hear this, it's Indian music to me, you know? Won't be worried long And that rhythm...

clapping to beat

My rider got something I love Charley Patton. His spirit and his music, it just connects me right back to where I come from, you know? I can hear all those old traditional songs. Do you hear it?

laughing

Yeah?

vocalizes to melody