"I first jammed with Yank in 1973 at his friend and fellow musician, L.C. Bate's home. Since then Yank Rachell has been a teacher, mentor and good friend to me as he has to so many throughout his life."
.No time to rehearse. "We put together a combo: Yank on mandolin, my late wife Maureen on piano, Peter "Madcat" Ruth on harp, and I played guitar. We rocked the house!"
"Yank wrung enough poetry, humor, balladry, and blues out of those eight strings to inspire an awful lot of people, me among them. "
Lowell Levinger:
Gordon Bonham (L) and Jim Richter (R):
Gordon Bonham: Having not grown up with that tradition ingrained in my mind it was sometimes a bit difficult to follow Yank's changes. Listening to where his voice was going was usually the best clue. Sheena, Yank's granddaughter had an almost psychic knack for following him. Sometimes she would win out on a particularly odd change and the rest of the band would follow her.
Jim Richter: "Unlike the clean lines of Johnny Young or the
sophistication of Carl Martin, Yank’s blues were rooted in raw power and having
one foot firmly planted in the country.
His blues are untouchable, unique to himself, and will never be
duplicated. The most we can and should
do is pay tribute to him and his music."
Greg Ashby:
Karen Irwin:
Mike Seeger:
1995, photo taken by David Gahr
David Clawson
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