Never a household name but revered by blues

musicians and aficionados, James "Yank"

Rachell was truly a rare breed of artist. A

Tennessee native born in Brownsville in 1910,

he began playing mandolin at age eight and while still in his teens was

working dances with Sleepy John Estes, with whom he formed his first

band, the Three J's Jug Band (the third J was pianist Jab Jones), and made

his first recordings, for Victor in 1929 and 1930. After the J's broke up,

Rachell went to work, literally, farming and for the L&N Railroad, and also

managed to cut another 25 sides for the ARC label while on a stopover in

New York. Next his path crossed that of another gifted Tennessee native,

harmonica master John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, and the two

eventually wound up in Chicago together, with Rachell sitting in on Sonny

Boy's June 1938 Bluebird sessions. But that same year Rachell, now married

and a father, took a full-time job and largely left music behind while he

tended to his responsibilities as the head of his household. Following his

wife's death in 1961 he found himself welcome on the college and coffee

house circuit, rejoining Estes harmonica player Hammie Nixon in a trio that

recorded for Delmark as Yank Rachell's Tennessee Jug Busters and

becoming a sensation with young audiences rediscovering the blues masters

of yore. Estes passed away in 1977, leaving Rachell to work solo thereafter,

which he did. Based in Indianapolis in his later years, he became a regular

attraction at the Slippery Noodle. Through the years those who crossed

Rachell's path spared no words in praising his exemplary mandolin work nor

did they pass up the opportunity to point out how different he was from

many of the musicians of his time. "My impression was that Yank lived

quite a different lifestyle than other like Sleepy John Estes," said Delmark

founder Bob Koester. "Yank worked all sorts of jobs for his family. He was

married with kids so he was more of a family guy. He was more of a day

person than the others." John Sebastian, an early and vocal supporter of

Rachell's music, has referred to him as "a conduit into rock and roll because

his original style is so much the same rhythmic content as the electric guitar

players who started rock and roll would be playing 30 years later," but was

quick to note: "Yank was a family man. This was one of the reasons for his

longevity. It was sheer love, that family approval. Whether he was 86 or not,

thing came second because he was pretty committed to his family. His life

lesson to me was to treat people right."

The same integrity with which Yank Rachell lived his life informed his

music as well. To those who have studied Rachell's technique and approach,

and tried to emulate it, or incorporate facets of it into their own style, what

he wrought was a thing of beauty. To the casual fan, the soul permeating his

performances washed over you in an invigorating rush. Artists who loved

Rachell's music and gathered to pay tribute to it on this disc invest their

performances with a wealth of heart and feeling, enough, surely, to make

Rachell smile from the great beyond. Many of these artists knew him

personally, some only knew him by his art, but all sing it like they mean it.

You can hear the commitment in the dramatic solo vocal performance by

Andra Faye, who counted Rachell among her mentors as a young artist

emerging in the Indianapolis scene. On "My Baby's Gone" she turns in a

virtuoso performance, not only scorching the lowdown blues tune but also

accompanying herself with some tough blues mandolin runs and a thumping,

ominous standup bass line. As comfortable in country as he was in blues,

Rachell found his tunes being easily converted from one style to the other, as

Tim O'Brien expertly demonstrates in kicking off the disc with a sprightly

bluegrass rendering of "Texas Tony," spicing the arrangement with some

fine, fleet-fingered mandolin picking of his own. Backed by a quintet of

honking sax, B3, guitar, bass and drums, Karen Irwin turns "She Caught the

Katy" into a stomping Southern soul testimony, further evidence of the

adaptability of Rachell's music. For some deep Rachell blues, few do it

better here than vocalist/guitarist Gordon Bonham and mandolinist Jim

Richter on "Brownsville Blues," the former with his emotive, sandpapery

vocals, the latter with a spectacular run of solos that strut along beside and

curl all around the vocals like some spectral presence, every bit as voluble

and emphatic as the singer. For gritty, downhome grind, few could top Rich

DelGrosso's growling rendition of "Shotgun Blues," in an arrangement

enriched by Ernie Scarbrough's feisty B3 and churchy piano as well as

DelGrosso's tasty mandolin soloing in support of his hearty vocalizing.

Sebastian, recorded live, stands out with a wonderful story about his first

personal encounter, on the phone, with Rachell, and his first, epic recording

session with the master in Indianapolis. With David Grisman on mandolin,

Sebastian then breaks into a good-time, jug band-ish "Tappin' That Thing,"

giving Grisman wide berth along the way to add some frolicsome

instrumental commentary of his own.

The Rachell family makes its mark here in other ways beyond Yank's music

and spiritual presence. Sheena Rachell, Yank's granddaughter, is backed by

a tight quintet playing slow, mournful blues behind her as she wrings

chilling drama out of "Lake Michigan Blues" in a voice as forceful as it is

pained, abetted at one point by Mike Butler-Schwab's eerie slide solo on

electric five-string mandolin. The disc closes on a moving note, as Sheena

joins Yank's daughters Mae Nell and Willia B. on a moving a cappella

rendition of Yank's favorite gospel song, "Freedom," a minute and nine

seconds' worth of respect and reverence for a life well lived and still

meaningful to those who loved him.

Note: With the release of this album came news that Sheena Rachell has

been diagnosed with a rare lung disease, Wegener's Granulomatosis. Net

proceeds from the CD sales will be used to help offset her medical expenses.