Blues mandolin man : the life and music of Yank Rachell / Richard Congress.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Congress, Richard.

Series:

American made music series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rachell, Yank.

Blues musicians--United States--Biography.

Blues musicians.

Blues (Music).

United States.

African American musicians--Biography.

African American musicians.

Blues (Music)--History and critisicm.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 184 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2001]

Summary:

Yank Rachell gave the mandolin to the blues. With his signature style of playing he moved every musician lucky enough to hear him perform. When he died in April 1997, he left behind a stack of unanswered requests that he bring his country-style blues to Europe and to blues festivals throughout the United States.

Blues Mandolin Man: The Life and Music of Yank Rachell, the first biography treating the mandolin's role in the blues, chronicles Rachell's life, times, and music, from 1910, when he was born into a family of west Tennessee share-croppers, through his seventy-five years as a professional bluesman who mastered several instruments. He first recorded for Victor in Memphis in 1929. Blues enlarged his world to include Chicago, New York, recording studios and, after the sixties, radio, TV, and national and European tours. Both a family man and an inspiring musician, he energized the likes of David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Sleepy John Estes, and Henry Townsend. B. B. King once told Rachell, "It's people like you who made people like me possible."

Rachell's recollections reveal new information about personalities and events that will delight blues history buffs. His mandolin and method of playing have given him a secure niche in blues history.

Contents:

Blues Mandolin Man 3

Appendix 1 Comments on Yank Rachell's Mandolin Style / Rich DelGrosso 89

Appendix 2 Comments on Yank Rachell's Guitar Style / David Evans 93

Appendix 3 Interviews 97

Appendix 4 Musicians 125

Appendix 5 Brownsville Lynching 139.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-178), discography (pages 143-157), and index.

ISBN:

1578063337

1578063345

OCLC:

45044181