A new drummer appears on the 1972 album Already Here: Arturo Perez.
In 1973 Redbone released the politically oriented "We were all wounded at Wounded Knee", recalling the massacre of Lakota Sioux Indians by the Seventh Cavalry in 1890. The song ends with the subtly altered sentence "We were all wounded by Wounded Knee". The song reached the number one chart position across Europe but didn't chart in the USA where it was banned by most radio stations. Is this the cause of their future disparition from the charts ?
Arturo Perez
Wovoka contained the band's most successful single, "Come and Get Your Love" which featured a popping disco bass beat and Leslie-amplifed guitars supporting the husky call-and-response vocals of Pat and Lolly Vegas.
Perez departed shortly thereafter, however, and was replaced on the 1974 release, Wovoka, by Tony Bellamy's Filipino-Chicano cousin, Butch Rillera. Butch Rillera joined the band Redbone in 1973. While with Redbone he appeaed on TV shows, and toured Europe and the U.S. Butch played drums on the Wovoka and Beaded Dreams Through Turquoise Eyes album. Butch left the group in 1977. In 1996 Butch suffered a brain aneurysm and subsequent Basel seizure that left him partially paralyzed, which left him unable to perform.
Butch Rillera
Following the success of "Come And Get Your Love" the foursome played the disco card to the hilt and released their sixth and final album for Epic in 1974. Beaded Dreams Through Turquoise Eyes featured lightweight, string-laden, soul-influenced numbers such as "Beautiful Illusion", "I'll Never Stop Loving You" and "Blood Sweat And Tears", while two disco-oriented singles, "One More Time" and "Suzie Girl", attempted to reach top charts, with less success then "Come and Get Your Love".
The band in the mid-seventies
The mid seventies was the period of big success, not only in the USA but even more in Europe and especially in the Netherlands. Maggie, The Witch Queen of New Orleans, Come and Get your Love, Wounded Knee and even Suzy Girl were big hits in many european countries, some reaching Number One. This led the band to tour and play almost non-stop during this period.
Tony, Pat, Pete and Lolly in 1971
Redbone was touring a lot between 1973 and 1975. In Europe, they performed in Holland, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Spain.
On french TV in 1973
They shared the stage at various times with Dr. Hook, Albert Hammond, and others. Highlights on U.S. tours include playing at Carnegie Hall in New York with Argent and Kiss, opening for Marvin Gaye at the Forum in Inglewood, California, sharing the bill with Parliament Funkadelic in Philadelphia, and playing with Steely Dan at the Convention Center in Las Vegas.
They also played with Graham Central Station at Howard University and the J. Geils Band and Tower of Power at other venues. Butch Rillera left Redbone in 1976 because he was unhappy with the business arrangement.
As is usual at contract 's end, a double compilation album entitled "Come And Get Your Redbone" was released the same year, featuring only two cuts from their debut album and none from "Beaded Dreams", which is a shame as these two albums contain both very great songs. There were no previously unreleased tracks, and the sleeve art consisted only of alternative shots from the "Beaded Dreams" cover shoot and a crude reproduction of the "Redbone" gatefold.
