Why 'Come and Get Your Love' now? After 46 years 'the time has come'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As an enduring pop hit, Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” has had millions of plays on air and on YouTube with the pioneering rock band's visually powerful performance on TV’s "The Midnight Special" in 1974, when the song was released.
That clip begins with a powwow dancer performing in front of the band, introducing millions to a Native traditional dance they had most likely never seen before.
In 2014, the mega-budget sci-fi film "Guardians of the Galaxy" used the song in a key opening scene and on the official soundtrack, garnering a whole new generation of fans.
But the infectious, bouncy song with a message of earthy and universal love never had an official video from the band. Until now.
Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has released a new music video for "Come and Get Your Love," pulling in an Emmy-nominated director, Juan Bedolla, and an award-winning Native artist, Brent Learned, to create the visuals.
"Come and Get Your Love" was released as a single on Epic Records in January 1974. The band took its name from a Cajun term for multiracial individuals as its members have Yaqui, Shoshone and Mexican heritage. The group's core musicians, brothers Patrick and Candido "Lolly" Vasquez-Vegas, were born in Coalinga, California, moved to Los Angeles in 1959 and performed for a decade on the club scene as Pat and Lolly Vegas before founding Redbone.
So why an official video now?
“The time has come!” 79 year-old Pat Vegas says from his studio in California, where he is keeping busy with new recordings.
“Back then, we did what we had to do onstage to show our heritage. We were always fighting for recognition through our music," he said. "Bringing our sound and our culture was the way to fight the good fight. The song has a deeper meaning of a spiritual, religious and universal love. When we say in the song ‘Come and get your love, get it from the main vine,' that connects to Mother Earth. We are all longing for love.”
Approaching the storyline of the film, Mexican producer and director Bedolla (who's garnered two Emmy nominations and multiple Telly and Addy awards) found Oklahoma Native American artist Brent Learned through Instagram and asked him to help.
They planned to shoot footage, but the pandemic hit, and they had to shift gears and go with animation.
The resulting video inspired by "graffiti, traditional images, the future and reexamining pop-culture imagery in the context of contemporary events,"Bedolla said.
"The film's mythic traveler moves from his reservation eventually to outer space," he said. "There’s a lot going on in each frame, with multiple scenarios. Pat had some input, and the band appears in several places throughout the film.”
Learned, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, has artwork in museums including the Smithsonian Institute-National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and the Cheyenne/Arapaho Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma.
He says the time-traveling central figure in the film is an "expression of universality."
In more Redbone news, in September 2020, IDW Publishing will release an illustrated biography of the group, "Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band," by Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni, in cooperation with the Vegas family and illustrated by Thibault Balahy.
The book is an intriguing telling of the high-flying career of Pat and Lolly Vegas, illuminating key pieces of American history and the powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement.
Pat Vegas says: "We wanted to show that our people were about love. This film visual really takes you on a journey and reminds us that the sky's not the limit; it's only the view. It's something to help the young understand the old, one is silver the other gold, both are valuable. To everyone, I'd like to say, 'Chioke Uttesia,' which is 'Thank you' in Yaqui language. The creators of the video asked for my blessing on this film. They have my blessing.”
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Awesome tune! Timeless, like it as much today as i did in the 70's.
Wasn't around when it hit the air in the 70's, but I jumped out of my chair in the theater as soon as I recognized it in Guardians. I partially measure my progress, as a parent, by the music my kids know. My son, 10 at the time, was belting it out in the theater. Hooray for the music appreciation...lessons to learn yet on respecting others in the theater.
As for the band, learn something every day. Very cool.
Yeah the scores in the GOTG movies really hit home for us babies of the 50's and 60's .....
Right in our wheelhouse
Yes! They did a great job with the tracks, starting with this one. My favorite Marvel movies, likely because of the music.
Lovely song. Never knew the story about the band.
70's music is still my favorite era.