Yank Rachell (born James A. Rachel; March 16, 1903[1] or 1910 – April 9, 1997) was an American country blues musician who has been called an "elder statesman of the blues".[3][4] His career as a performer spanned nearly seventy years, from the late 1920s to the 1990s.

Yank Rachell
Rachell performing in Hamburg, Germany, February 1978
Background information
Birth name	James A. Rachel[1]
Born	(1910-03-16)March 16, 1910 near Brownsville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	(1997-04-09)April 9, 1997 (aged 94) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.[2]
Genres	Country blues,[3] blues
Instrument(s)	Mandolin, guitar
Years active	1929–1997

Career

Rachell grew up in Brownsville, Tennessee. There is uncertainty over his birth year; although his gravestone shows 1910, researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc conclude, on the basis of a 1920 census entry, that he was probably born in 1903.[1]

In 1958, during the American folk music revival, he moved to Indianapolis. He recorded for Delmark Records and Blue Goose Records. He was a capable guitarist and singer but was better known as a master of the blues mandolin. He bought his first mandolin at age eight, in a trade for a pig his family had given him to raise.[4] He often performed with the guitarist and singer Sleepy John Estes.[5] "She Caught the Katy," which he wrote with Taj Mahal, is considered a blues standard.[4]

He appeared in the 1985 documentary film Louie Bluie (directed by Terry Zwigoff), about the musician Howard Armstrong. Rachell performed with John Sebastian and the J-Band in the film.[6]

By the mid-1990s, Rachell and Henry Townsend were the only blues musicians still active whose careers started in the 1920s.[7] Late in his life Rachell suffered from arthritis, which shortened his playing sessions, but he recorded an album just before his death, Too Hot for the Devil.[4]

Film

• Louie Bluie (1985), directed by Terry Zwigoff

See also

• List of country blues musicians
• List of Piedmont blues musicians

References

External links

• Yank Rachell page from Blues World site
• Grave marker from Dead Blues Guys site
• Yank Rachell at AllMusic
• Illustrated Yank Rachell discography
• Page that talks about details of Yank Rachell's musical practices, such as tuning and picking.