Craig's songs create "mental television"

When Francis Vigil was a teenager he worked at the Hillcrest Restaurant in Dulce, N.M., where the job was tough but once the last customer left, the fun started.

That's when Vigil and his coworkers could pop in a tape of Vincent Craig music and listen to it as they closed the restaurant for the night.

"We'd sing on top of our lungs," he recalled.

Vigil, now 35, is a high school science teacher at the Native American Community Academy in Albuquerque.

Although he does not listen to Craig's music as much as before, he has noticed his students now listen to it and even include Craig's songs in their class presentations.

"His songs, it becomes something that everyone knows," Vigil said.

Native American Community Academy is a charter school serving grades 6-12. Its students come from diverse tribes, but through Craig's music they come together, he said.

"Even though we come from different Native cultures, we can relate to the community Craig sings about," Vigil said.

Craig, who died of cancer May 15, became a familiar voice on radio waves when KTNN began playing his music in 1986. The relationship Craig built with his listeners was personal and enduring.

"Ever since I met him, I noticed that he was very observant," recalled Ray Tsosie, a program manager at KTNN. "The things he writes about are very descriptive. I was amazed at how observant and the words he used."

Whenever Craig had a new album out, KTNN listeners were among the first people to hear it. Craig would always drop off a copy of his latest release, along with a business card, Tsosie said.

"That's the type of relationship we had with him," he said.

As word of Craig's passing spread through Indian Country, KTNN devoted a show to his music May 20, in addition to playing excerpts from live shows and interviews from the station's archives. Tsosie and Lori Lee, a former KTNN radio personality, hosted the 90-minute tribute.

Like many of Craig's fans, the first song Tsosie heard was "Rita," which continues to be a listener favorite along with "C'hizzi," "Coffee Chili" and "Thank God for Polyester."

Tsosie said the Native American music community has lost a songwriter who had the ability to create a "mental television," to borrow Craig's own description of his work.

"He laid the foundation to what it feels like to be an entertainer here on a Native nation," Tsosie said.

There are two memories of Craig that stand out for Tsosie. The first was when Craig played at a KTNN Christmas party one year, and the second was when he opened for country singer Dwight Yoakam at the Navajo Nation Fair in 1986.

At the time Yoakam was still relatively unknown, so it was Craig whom most of the audience wanted to see.

"I know Vincent brought in a lot of the crowd," Tsosie said.

When Gallup trader Ellis Tanner started Native American Appreciation Day in 1988, he called Craig to help organize the event and Craig continued to be a featured performer for each appreciation day.

"He was by far the biggest attraction," Tanner said.

One year, some of Tanner's staff bought cases of Big Hunk - the fateful candy bar in "Rita" - and when Craig reached that part of the song, they threw handfuls of Big Hunks into the audience.

"He sang from the heart, he would get quite emotional in some of the songs but at the end of the day he loved to put a smile on everybody's face," Tanner said. "Surely we've lost the songs he would have come up with, there definitely will never be another one like him."

Tanner said he thinks Craig's musical legacy will become similar to that of Navajo singer Ed Lee Natay.

"Natay's music is played as much today, if not more than when he was living. I think Vincent will be the same way," Tanner said.

Tanner's store was one of the first places to sell Craig's music. Among his favorite songs are "Rita" and "Navajo Code Talker," a song Craig wrote for his father, code talker Robert Craig.

Veronica Slinkey is another "Rita" fan.

Slinkey, 35, was selling jewelry Monday at the Window Rock flea market. As she strung beads for a new piece of jewelry, she recalled hearing "Rita" on the radio and watching Craig sing in the movie, "Blue Gap Boyz."

"His music and comedy describe what people did, especially when they were small," she said. "I don't think people will ever grow out of his music."

Back to top ^