A journey into the heart of America
EVERYBODY POWWOW! is a powerful new concept album. It is part protest album, part celebration, part tragic love story. It takes the listener on an epic journey across oceans and continents, in a tale of dreams and aspirations, corruption and betrayal, hope and glory.
The story is set in the late 19th century. A tide of humanity from the east is moving westwards onto the Great Plains in search of land and a new life. The Sioux, whose land it is, have other ideas. They’re waging guerrilla war on the Army.
From the North of England to the heart of America
Thomas Christian, a young coal miner, whom we follow from his hometown in the North of England to the heart of America, meets and falls in love with Rosie, a young girl from the Oglala Sioux tribe. He’s arrested and conscripted into the army. He realizes his mistake, deserts, and rejoins his new friend and her family in the Badlands. He is taken to a mountain top and shown a great vision.
Later that year, in the deep mid-winter, the army surround the camp, arrest Thomas, and start to disarm the men. A shot goes off, and then a fusillade of rifle and automatic fire. Thomas, and Rosie and her family are all caught in the cross fire, with tragic consequences.
THE POWWOW ROCK ORCHESTRA
Everybody Powwow! Features the singing talents of Robert Hart and Emma Pears; and Bernie Marsden, Gary Grainger, Jay Stapley, and Wes McGhee on Guitar, Jimmy Copley on Drums, Simon Edwards on Bass and Percussion, Alan Stewart on Bass Clarinet and Sax, Simon Webb on keyboards and vocals, Steve Stapley, Stella Betton, Bernie Marsden and Kevin Williams on backing vocals, Roddy Lorimer, Dave Plews, Paul Spong and Steve Sidwell on trumpets, Simon Clarke and Tim Sanders on Saxophones, Daniel Emond on French Horn, Pete Thoms, Roger Williams and Simon Wills on trombone, Bob Loveday on violin, and Lorelei King narrating. Recorded and mixed by Ian Tompson at Humber Road Studio, and produced by Ian Tompson and Simon Webb for Spiderhawk Records. Pre-production by Martin Russell at Sonic Innovation. Mastering by Andy Jackson at Tube Mastering. Published by wwWebmusic.
EVERYBODY POWWOW! – The Back Story
Simon Webb writes: When I first traveled to Pine Ridge Reservation in 1978, the aftermath of the occupation of Wounded Knee by the American Indian Movement in ’73 could still plainly be felt. It wasn’t easy to get in, and the atmosphere on the reservation was extremely tense. Gunfire erupted periodically at night.
I was introduced to local Oglala people, and invited into their homes. I listened to their stories, and the stories of their great chiefs and war-leaders, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse and Black Elk.
And yet it was hard to square this proud history with the conditions that I found on the reservation: Poverty, alcoholism, unemployment, despair. This just didn’t look like modern America. What had gone wrong? Surely things would change.
And they did: for the worse.
Conditions In Modern America
Despite powerful advocacy, (most recently by Michelle Obama), conditions now on the reservation have further deteriorated: 97 percent of the population live in poverty, teenage suicide is a major issue, infant mortality rate is 300% over the national average, there is 90% unemployment, average annual household income is between $2,600 and $3,500, and alcoholism affects 8 out of 10 families contributing to a death rate that is 300% higher than the national average.
Pine Ridge Reservation has no industry to provide employment for its residents. There are no banks, motels, discount stores or movie theatres, and yet it is the size of Connecticut, with a population of 18,834.
Such conditions in modern America, to an outsider, are truly shocking. It is inevitable that one day America’s conscience will awaken, and this great wrong be righted. Bring it on! Everybody Powwow!
Link to Simon Webb’s blogs on the writing and recording of Everybody Powwow!
Everybody Powwow! – A journey into the Badlands.
Blog: On February 27th, 1973, an American public, wearied by the Vietnam War, woke to the unreal prospect of guerrilla war in its own heartland. American Indians converged on a small village in South Dakota and vowed to change the world, or die….(more)
Everybody Powwow! – From San Tropez to JFK
I wake to the sound of surf, the sea, lapping at my feet. The light hurts. I push down into my sleeping bag. It’s wet. There’s a heavy dew. I rub my eyes, my skin is sore, the sun is already hot. I reach for a bottle of water, drink and lie back….(more)
Everybody Powwow! – New York – This is the life!
Arriving in New York, Joe Eula turns out to be a very good host. He has a stunning apartment on West 54th Street, and seems to know everyone; Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, and Miles Davis (with whom I have a memorable brief phone conversation) to name but three. It would be very easy to be seduced by all the magic that New York has to offer, but…(more)
EVERYBODY POWWOW!
TRACKLIST
CD 1
- Dream Overture
- Amerikaye
- Chase The Sun
- Shine On
- This Is The Life
- Don’t Leave Me
- Gold Fever
- Watertown
- Live The Life
- The Buffalo Song
CD 2
- Heyoka Man
- One Day
- Crazy Horse
- Badlands
- In Another World
- Camp Fire
- Everybody Powwow!
- Lakota Prayer
- Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
- This Land Is My Land
- Chase The Sun (Reprise
EVERYBODY POWWOW! – SYNOPSIS
Prologue. South Dakota, USA, 2014.
NATHANIEL, a young Californian and ROZENE, his Native American Indian girlfriend awake in their apartment. They have another busy day ahead. A party wish to tour the site they manage; The Wounded Knee Massacre Monument.
ACT 1
At the site, a tourist bus arrives and the occupants are welcomed by Nathaniel and Rozene; their official tour guides and storytellers. In front of the Monument commemorating the Indian dead the Narrator’s introduce us to the history of the site. We see all the names of the Indian dead engraved upon the memorial scroll down before us, and at the bottom, under Rosie Looks Twice lies the unusual name of one Thomas Christian. “Who’s he?” asks a tourist. The Narrators begin to explain his tale; the revered story of a young soldier boy from England, who lost his life on this ground during the massacre of 1890.
We ‘flashback’ to a coal mine in England, late Summer, 1885. The tourists disappear.
We see miners working at a coalface. We alight on THOMAS CHRISTIAN, dreaming of travel and adventure, working furiously. During a break he reads that gold is being discovered again in the USA. Upon receiving his wages, his instinctive drive and ambition makes him chuck his job, and after a tearful goodbye from his Mum (in which she gives him her St. Christopher Medallion) he runs through the streets to the quayside and boards a schooner headed for the New World.
Sailing west on the Atlantic Ocean, Thomas is on deck and dreams of his ambitions and future success (CHASE THE SUN). A storm blows up but nothing can diminish his goal for a better future. The ship sails on; time passes. After a montage of sea, waves and weather we reveal the splendid sight of the New York City. The year is 1886 and The Statue Liberty is being unveiled. Many boats and people surround this remarkable inauguration, as passengers on deck crowd and push for a better view.
Thomas climbs the high mast to the crow’s nest and as the schooner races around Liberty Island we share his bird’s eye view (SHINE ON). Moments later, Thomas is pushing through the crowds on dry land to stand at the base of Liberty, looking up, as fireworks light up the night sky. We see Thomas being interviewed by an official on Ellis Island. He is given his papers and is able to continue on his journey.
Later, Thomas emerges into the hustle and bustle of Manhattan Island. He is startled by what he sees, by the sheer size and energy. Thousands of immigrants, horses, carriages, even kerosene traffic lights, which flash the
words ‘stop’ and ‘go’ (THIS IS THE LIFE). He moves impatiently on to Grand Central Station and boards the Chicago train. Most, just like him, are prospectors taking part in the Gold Rush. Steam and whistles abound as the train takes him further west (GOLD FEVER).
Thomas is panning for gold, unsuccessfully. The boom has become a bust. In a moment of total desperation he joins the army. During a period of calm before any storm, Thomas encounters a friendly band of Sioux Indians in a camp and they give him food and he speaks haltingly with men of tribe. One girl his own age attracts his attention. He asks her name. Shyly, she reveals it: Rosie Looks Twice. Thomas takes up the Chief’s invitation to spend a few more days in the camp. He meets Rosie again, this time privately, and their relationship grows and they fall in love. (LIVE THE LIFE)
We are informed of the ever changing shifting of the political and military climate (Laramie Treaty). The round up and reservations are escalating; the forceful movement of Indian tribes into less salubrious settlements. The Black Hills War. A general escalation of terror and oppression ensues. We witness the confrontation of Standing Rock. Chief Sitting Bull is murdered.
We see Rosie’s Sioux tribe being led away; Thomas is reluctantly part of this ethnic cleansing. Rosie laments their fate (DON’T LEAVE ME). Thomas gives her his St. Christopher Medallion.
On the plains, issues are coming to a head. The Sioux are resisting the US government’s attempts to solve “the Indian problem”, the Church is moving in, the gold miners are making fortunes, and the soldiers have to go in and sort it all out. We hear the thoughts and echoes of the Indian peoples, prospectors, miners, church and the soldiers (THE BUFFOLO SONG). As all the voices come together in a climactic finale to the act, we see Rosie and Thomas in their different worlds. As Act 1 comes to a close, Thomas realizes what he must do; go AWOL and rescue Rosie.
ACT 2
South Dakota, USA, in recent times.
We see (a younger) Rozene walking the cold and lonely streets. She carries a travelling bag and is hitchhiking. Voices sing of her individual plight and the plight of the many that inhabit the lands of South Dakota. (THIS LAND IS MY LAND). We witness the many distressing images that make up the homeland of the modern American Indian.
We see (a younger) Nathaniel, a bright, gifted ambitious student traveler driving in his camper van. (BADLANDS). He stops to pick up Rozene. Just as with Thomas and Rosie; there is an immediate connection. Later, we see them sitting by a campfire in the wilderness, in love. Nathaniel places his St. Christopher Medallion around Rozene’s neck.
1889. Rosie takes off her St. Christopher Medallion as she sings of her plight alone, away from Thomas, and dreams of a better future (ONE DAY). Thomas returns, surprises her and they embrace. By the end of ONE DAY Thomas and Rosie have joined the Elders, hoping Thomas can be initiated into her tribe so they can be wed.
We re-join Rozene as she sings of her own aspirations (THE LAKOTA PRAYER). By the end of her payer she had also led Nathaniel to her own people, and a spiritual guru, that he might be accepted and initiated by them.
In their different worlds, the ‘initiation rites’ towards the acceptance and ambition for both our couples to remain together begin. The Chief ‘Crazy Horse’ governs the ritualized ethnic ceremony for Rosie and Thomas and The Heyoka Man governs likewise over Rozene and Nathaniel. (CRAZY HORSE & HEYOKA MAN).
In Rosie’s land, a new indigenous religious fervor is sweeping the plains; celebrated by a ‘Ghost Dance’. It signals the protection of all tribes and an end of an old world with the birth of a new. The army has panicked and is closing in.
We learn of the growing popularity of The Ghost Dance as a way of repelling invaders and guaranteeing the survival and sanctuary for the Indian tribes. The army has taken to direct military action. The Ghost Dancers flee to the Badlands.
We see a Ghost Dance of Rosie’s Sioux tribe at the site of Wounded Knee, in which Rosie and Thomas share a peace pipe (EVERYBODY POWWOW!). The US troops slowly surrounds their camp. Thomas is commanded to leave by an army Captain, but he refuses. The tension is high. (BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE Part 1).
A single shot fires out and an Indian falls. Thomas intervenes to stop any more bloodshot but the Captain fires on him and for a moment he recalls his dreams (CHASE THE SUN reprise). Thomas is killed and the massacre of Wounded Knee begins (BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE Part 2). Rosie, one of the last survivors, cradles the body of Thomas (CHASE THE SUN reprise) and she becomes the victim of a final army bullet.
The massacred field slowly transforms into the memorial site of our opening scenes, as the historical dance pageant reaches its conclusion. The Tourists leave and thanks and goodbyes to their guides are exchanged. As Nathaniel and Rozene leave for home she picks a wild flower and places it on the memorial (CHASE THE SUN reprise).
As Nathaniel and Rozene embrace their love and freedom from oppression we see and hear the spirits of Thomas and Rosie (IN ANOTHER WORLD).