ROCK Sex: "Indian Rope Man": Richie Havens > Julie Driscoll + Brian Auger > Bob Marley

ROCK Sex says "it might grind slow but it grinds fine".

Today, the strands that intertwine "Indian Rope Man".

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The culture baton today starts with the original version by its writer Richie Havens.

Richie always had an intense drive that propelled his Folk songs with furious urgency. As much as the Folk and Gospel tradition, that relentless rhythm places his music somewhere between the polyrhythmic afrobeat of Fela and the Punk-Folk of Billy Bragg.

Here's he takes the pace down a bit and becomes entrancing.

RICHIE HAVENS -"Indian Rope Man" (1969)



No right-minded band could pass that fantastic groove up. The first was the Brian Auger Trinity, with the formidible vocals of Julie Driscoll, turning it into a Funk-Rock masterpiece.

JULIE DRISCOLL w/ BRIAN AUGER TRINITY -"Indian Rope Man" (1969)



That seemed to break the floodgates as it became a staple in jam bands' repertoire, all clearly influenced by the Driscoll/Auger version.

The English jazz-rock band Warm Dust ignited the career of Soul singer Paul Carrack.

The Driscoll/Auger template of funk-rock with female vocals clearly stamped itself on versions by Australia's McFEE, and Germany's Phaze and the twenty-minute version by Tomorrow's Gift.


Determined to make their own mark on it. the German Frumpy slowed it down and boiled the burn. And it didn't hurt that their singer was the blasting soul powerhouse Inga Rumpf, who gives even the mighty Driscoll a hard run for her money.

FRUMPY, w/ INGA RUMPF -"Indian Rope Man" (1971)



Bob Marley takes us from the Ganges to Ganja with "African Herbsman", mellowing it out in homage to his medicinal extract.

BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS -"African Herbsman" (1973)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Cool Ethereal Folk: VASHTI BUNYAN

• ROCK Orgy: "American Pie"

• Don McLean > Lori Lieberman > Roberta Flack > The Fugees

• "John The Revelator" - Son House > White Stripes > Gillian Welch > Depeche Mode

• "Indian Rope Man": Richie Havens > Julie Driscoll + Brian Auger > Bob Marley

• "Something In The Way" - James Taylor > The Beatles > Nirvana


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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