A neglected part of rock ’n’ roll history — the part played by American Indians in shaping the sounds we love — gets an airing in “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,” an absorbing and sometimes fascinating documentary.
The documentary’s writers, director Catherine Bainbridge and co-director Alfonso Maiorana, string together a series of vignettes of musicians of American Indian ancestry. Some are well-known trailblazers, while others are the sort of musicians whom other musicians cite as influences.
The rhythm of rock music is the drum, and Bainbridge and Maiorana interview historians and musicians who speak of how American Indian drumming patterns became the heartbeat of rock ’n’ roll.