September 12: Singer "T-Bone" Bellamy of Redbone was born on this date ...

... he died on December 25, 2009 from liver failure at the age of 63.

Born Anthony Avila, Anthony Bellamy or Tony "T-Bone" Bellamy, was born in Las Vegas on September 23, 1946. was a Mexican-American Yaqui Indian, who became the lead guitarist, pianist and vocalist for the Native American rock band Redbone, in 1968.

Redbone was formed by brothers Patrick Vasquez (bass and vocals) and Lolly Vasquez (guitar and vocals) after moving to Los Angeles from Originally from Fresno, California in 1969. The name Redbone is a self-effacing reference to a Cajun term for a mixed-race person the band's members being of mixed blood ancestry. Their debut album "Redbone" was released in 1970.

Redbone played primarily rock music with R&B, Cajun, Jazz, tribal, and Latin roots. Their first commercial success came with the single "Maggie" from their second album, Potlatch, in 1970, and two other hit singles followed - "The Witch Queen of New Orleans" and "Come and Get Your Love." Come and Get Your Love", written by Lolly Vasquez stayed in the Billboard chart for 24 weeks, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 22 April 1974.

Before joining the band Redbone, Bellamy had performed with Dobie Gray, and a member of Peter and the Wolves - a band from San Francisco that evolved into the psychedelic band Moby Grape. Bellamy grew up in a family of dancers and musicians and learned to play the flamenco guitar as part of his musical education. Bellamy left Redbone in 1977.



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