Tom Bee

Tom Bee, a New Mexico-born producer, singer, songwriter, and proprietor of Sound of America Records (SOAR), the foremost label devoted to Native American music, has updated longstanding tribal sounds for present-day listeners. SOAR broadened under his guidance beyond its core focus on contemporary and traditional Native American releases to encompass three specialized divisions: Warrior for urban rap and rock, Dakotah for children’s music and spoken-word titles, and Natural Visions for new age recordings.

Bee received the Eagle Award from the American Indian Film Institute in 1994 and the Will Simpson Award at the Native American Arts Association’s first convention in 1996, followed by Producer of the Year recognition the next year. In 1993 he earned a NAIRD nomination for producing the music video “We’re the Boyz,” drawn from a recording by his son Robbie Bee.

A member of the Dakota tribe, Bee looked to Leonard and Marshall Chess, the architects of the Chess label in the 1950s, for inspiration. During the 1960s he established the R&B imprint Lance Records and Music, personally selling its 45 rpm singles from the trunk of his car.

In the 1970s Bee joined the Native American rock band XIT (pronounced Exit). Motown signed the group to its Rare Earth subsidiary, releasing the 1971 debut Plight of the Redman, which combined English lyrics with native chants. The follow-up Silent Warrior appeared two years later at the time of the Wounded Knee protests, establishing the band as cultural emissaries for Native American causes. Their third album, Relocation, was later reissued with four bonus tracks as one of SOAR’s earliest offerings in 1984; the label also issued the live recording Across the Atlantic, captured in Switzerland.

While at Motown, Bee worked with additional artists on the roster. The Jackson Five covered his songs “We’ve Got Blue Skies” and “Joyful Jukebox Music.” He supplied Native American chanting to Smokey Robinson’s version of “Just My Soul Responding,” included on the 1973 solo album Smokey. Taka Boom, younger sister of Chaka Khan, recorded his composition “Red Hot.”

Bee has stayed active as a performer, issuing the solo album Color Me Red in 1994 and narrating and producing several audiobooks by author Paul Goble.