Yank Rachell has long been a legend in the blues world. One of the few blues mandolin players, Rachell recorded several notable sessions during 1929-1941 and then was off record for 22 years. After spending time outside of music, he was rediscovered and in 1963 he performed the music on this CD reissue. Rachell (who was in his fifties at the time), is in excellent voice throughout the date although it is his mandolin work that makes this set particularly special. He is reunited with two notable friends from the 1930s (guitarist Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon who is heard on harmonica and jug) and is assisted on some numbers by both Big Joe Williams and the up-and-coming Mike Bloomfield on guitars; several numbers find Rachell backed by three guitars…
While Yank Rachell was past his prime when he began recording for Delmark in the 1960s, he was still an effective, often exciting vocalist and mandolin player. He seldom sounded more striking and enjoyable than on the nine cuts that comprised Chicago Style, reissued on CD. Rachell sang with a spirited mix of irony, anguish, dismay, and bemusement on such numbers as "Depression Blues," "Diving Duck," and "Going to St. Louis."
THIS MONTH’S COVERMOUNT CD is Love In Vain, a collection of the spooky country blues embedded in the Stones’ DNA. Stars Robert Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, Charley Patton, Skip James, Geeshie Wiley and more.
8 original songs from blues guitarist & his band, inc. 2 tracks recorded live at The Saloon & 3 solo acoustic numbers; band features Artis Joyce (formerly with Charlie Musselwhite & Sista Monica) & Shad Harris (formerly with Tommy Castro).
In 1952, Folkways Records published the legendary 6-LP series entitled the Anthology of American Folk Music, compiled from original 78s by record collector, filmmaker, artist, and anthropologist Harry Smith. Many historians and musicians cite Smith’s reissue, with its recordings of country, blues, Cajun, and gospel music from the 1920s and ‘30s, and its booklet containing idiosyncratic liner notes, esoteric artwork, and handmade design as a major impetus for the folk music revival of the 1950s and ‘60s and as a source of profound cultural change.
People call Chicago The Home Of The Blues. It may not be where the blues came from but it s where the blues came to live. It’s the place where Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Jimmy Reed laid down the songs that inspired the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. The blues was the bedrock on which Jimmy Page created Led Zeppelin, the band that helped to change pop music forever. Chicago was the mecca for Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Elmore James and a host of others who arrived in the city to make their fortune. The process had begun decades earlier, when record companies first came to town.
This artist was perhaps the most significant pioneer of the city-styled, horn-oriented blues harp – a style brought to perfection by Little Walter. Williamson adapted the country-styled, chordal-rhythmic technique that he learned from Noah Lewis and Hammie Nixon to suit the demands of the evolving urban blues styles. These 42 tracks include Sonny Boy's records and sport an imposing list of sidemen: Robert Nighthawk, Big Joe Williams, Henry Townsend, Walter Davis, Yank Rachell, Big Bill Broonzy, and Speckled Red. This is a definitive collection.