Red Ratliff - mandolin
Casey Driessen - fiddle
Chipper Covington - banjo
Gus Friedlander - guitar
Marc Edelstein - bass

One day my phone rang and Gus wanted get together and make a recording featuring KY mandolinist Red Ratliff....just for posterity.  Gus was concerned that Red smoked too much and urged me to get Red in the studio before it was too late.  

This 1996 recording was impromptu, unrehearsed, and recorded ensemble style in a closet.  Most, if not each of the cuts were the first on only takes. It turned out to be one of Red's last recordings (other than Chicago Bluegrass Band's "Steel Rails In The Tennessee Night" CD). Gus had a good idea as Red passed away in 2000.  His grave stone in Skokie IL is a carved F5 style mandolin.

As a coal miner's son in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression, growing up was tough for Elster Ratliff. But "Red," as he became known for his fiery hair, was the oldest in a family of four children that managed a comfortable life.

Elster "Red" Ratliff, Bluegrass Mandolin Pioneer, of Skokie, Illinois. Elster "Red" Ratliff was born and raised in Elkhorn (Pikeville) Kentucky where he made his guitar debut at the tender age of 13 on the radio program, Big Sandy Hayride. By the age of 15 he was playing mandolin professionally in Virginia with Buster Pack and the Lonesome Pine Boys on WCYB's Farm and Fun Time, one of the premiere bluegrass radio programs of the 1950's. Red and the Lonesome Pine Boys played along other great bluegrass acts of the era, including the Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse, and Carl Story. Red went on to have a long and rewarding career in bluegrass.

Red passed away on Sept 3, 2000 due to complications from cancer.
_________________________________________________________
Below From Allmusic.com - written by Eugene Chadbourne

Red Ratliff was a Kentucky mandolinist who began his professional career plenty early, as if he knew something important was looming on the horizon. That turned out to be bluegrass, and Ratliff was in on the action from the git-go, beginning his professional career at the age of 13 and hearing the music being invented practically right in front of him. He was a forward-thinking musician who got the message quickly, and even at this young age was able to adapt to the new dimensions of bluegrass as it moved beyond the sound of old-time music. Ratliff continued to be innovative in his career, which continued for more than half a century.

Pike County - Windy City Bluegrass Pals with Red Ratliff

Red Ratliff - mandolin
Casey Driessen - fiddle
Chipper Covington - banjo
Gus Friedlander - guitar
Marc Edelstein - bass
Engineer - Dave Bragman
Recorded in 1996.

One day my phone rang and Gus wanted get together and make a recording featuring KY mandolinist Red Ratliff....just for posterity.  Gus was concerned that Red smoked too much and urged me to get Red in the studio before it was too late.  

We were not a band, but each of us were friends of Red. The recording was impromptu, unrehearsed, and recorded ensemble style in a closet.  Most, if not each of the cuts were the first on only takes. It turned out to be one of Red's last recordings (other than Chicago Bluegrass Band's "Steel Rails In The Tennessee Night" CD). Gus had a good idea as Red passed away in 2000.  His grave stone in Skokie IL is a carved F5 style mandolin.

As a coal miner's son in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression, growing up was tough for Elster Ratliff. But "Red," as he became known for his fiery hair, was the oldest in a family of four children that managed a comfortable life.

They grew vegetables in their garden. Radio shows transported them to far-away places. And after young Red quickly mastered the mandolin, there were parties on the family's porch practically each night as neighbors thronged to listen and sing along.

Elster "Red" Ratliff, Bluegrass Mandolin Pioneer, of Skokie, Illinois. Elster "Red" Ratliff was born and raised in Elkhorn (Pikeville) Kentucky where he made his guitar debut at the tender age of 13 on the radio program, Big Sandy Hayride. By the age of 15 he was playing mandolin professionally in Virginia with Buster Pack and the Lonesome Pine Boys on WCYB's Farm and Fun Time, one of the premiere bluegrass radio programs of the 1950's. Red and the Lonesome Pine Boys played along other great bluegrass acts of the era, including the Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse, and Carl Story. Red went on to have a long and rewarding career in bluegrass.

Red passed away on Sept 3, 2000 due to complications from cancer.
_________________________________________________________
Below From Allmusic.com - written by Eugene Chadbourne

Red Ratliff was a Kentucky mandolinist who began his professional career plenty early, as if he knew something important was looming on the horizon. That turned out to be bluegrass, and Ratliff was in on the action from the git-go, beginning his professional career at the age of 13 and hearing the music being invented practically right in front of him. He was a forward-thinking musician who got the message quickly, and even at this young age was able to adapt to the new dimensions of bluegrass as it moved beyond the sound of old-time music. Ratliff continued to be innovative in his career, which continued for more than half a century.

By the time he was playing with the Chicago Bluegrass Band in the '90s, he was now being referred to as the senior member of the band. Quite a few years had passed since he began touring and recording at the age of 15 with Buster Pack & His Lonesome Pine Boys, cutting sides for legendary indie bluegrass labels such as Rich R Tone and Lucky with players such as the fine fiddler Jimmie Farmer and the rhythmically ingenious bassist Blake Steltner. The leader of this outfit hardly decided to Pack lightly for only a bluegrass trip; he eventually began recording his own twisted version of rockabilly, encouraging Ratliff to play the then-almost-unheard-of electric mandolin. In the '70s and '80s, bluegrass pickers who were into the new grass or progressive styles began amplifying, and the electric mandolin became more commonplace, and indeed a necessity as volume levels got up to the fusion jazz level. But, at the time of these '50s sides with Pack, the sound of the amplified instrument must have come across as extremely novel.

Ratliff also recorded early on with the charismatic frontman Hobo Jack Adkins, who despite his name was fond of posing for publicity shots wearing a nice suit. Adkins was a popular performer who helped the mandolinist get his foot in the door at Starday Records, a firm responsible for some of the most gorgeous early country music, and some of the most incoherent in terms of liner notes or explanatory credits. The label made up for this confusion by reissuing and repackaging this material as much as possible. Thus, the discography of Ratliff will probably remain mysterious, especially the part pertaining to Starday studio sessions. The mandolinist also worked with fiddler and bandleader Kenny Baker, the Prairie Union Bluegrass Band, Breakwater Bluegrass, and New Cut Road. The 1999 CD Steel Rails in the Tennessee Night with the Chicago Bluegrass Band was his last recording. He truly went out in style, since this was a totally happening combo in which the mandolinist was in the fine company of Windy City bluegrass fiends such as guitarist Peter Nye, banjoist Jeff Krause, fiddler Brad Kennedy, and bassist Chipper Covington. In the '70s, the Rounder label reissued some of the early sides with Pack and Adkins on two different volumes of the wonderful Early Years of Bluegrass series.

Alabama Jubilee - Red Ratliff & Chicago Bluegrass Pals

Red Ratliff - mandolin
Casey Driessen - fiddle
Chipper Covington - banjo
Gus Friedlander - guitar
Marc Edelstein - bass
Engineer - Dave Bragman
Recorded in 1996.

One day my phone rang and Gus wanted get together and make a recording featuring KY mandolinist Red Ratliff....just for posterity.  Gus was concerned that Red smoked too much and urged me to get Red in the studio before it was too late.  

We were not a band, but each of us were friends of Red. The recording was impromptu, unrehearsed, and recorded ensemble style in a closet.  Most, if not each of the cuts were the first on only takes. It turned out to be one of Red's last recordings (other than Chicago Bluegrass Band's "Steel Rails In The Tennessee Night" CD). Gus had a good idea as Red passed away in 2000.  His grave stone in Skokie IL is a carved F5 style mandolin.

As a coal miner's son in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression, growing up was tough for Elster Ratliff. But "Red," as he became known for his fiery hair, was the oldest in a family of four children that managed a comfortable life.

They grew vegetables in their garden. Radio shows transported them to far-away places. And after young Red quickly mastered the mandolin, there were parties on the family's porch practically each night as neighbors thronged to listen and sing along.

Elster "Red" Ratliff, Bluegrass Mandolin Pioneer, of Skokie, Illinois. Elster "Red" Ratliff was born and raised in Elkhorn (Pikeville) Kentucky where he made his guitar debut at the tender age of 13 on the radio program, Big Sandy Hayride. By the age of 15 he was playing mandolin professionally in Virginia with Buster Pack and the Lonesome Pine Boys on WCYB's Farm and Fun Time, one of the premiere bluegrass radio programs of the 1950's. Red and the Lonesome Pine Boys played along other great bluegrass acts of the era, including the Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse, and Carl Story. Red went on to have a long and rewarding career in bluegrass.

Red passed away on Sept 3, 2000 due to complications from cancer.
_________________________________________________________
Below From Allmusic.com - written by Eugene Chadbourne

Red Ratliff was a Kentucky mandolinist who began his professional career plenty early, as if he knew something important was looming on the horizon. That turned out to be bluegrass, and Ratliff was in on the action from the git-go, beginning his professional career at the age of 13 and hearing the music being invented practically right in front of him. He was a forward-thinking musician who got the message quickly, and even at this young age was able to adapt to the new dimensions of bluegrass as it moved beyond the sound of old-time music. Ratliff continued to be innovative in his career, which continued for more than half a century.

By the time he was playing with the Chicago Bluegrass Band in the '90s, he was now being referred to as the senior member of the band. Quite a few years had passed since he began touring and recording at the age of 15 with Buster Pack & His Lonesome Pine Boys, cutting sides for legendary indie bluegrass labels such as Rich R Tone and Lucky with players such as the fine fiddler Jimmie Farmer and the rhythmically ingenious bassist Blake Steltner. The leader of this outfit hardly decided to Pack lightly for only a bluegrass trip; he eventually began recording his own twisted version of rockabilly, encouraging Ratliff to play the then-almost-unheard-of electric mandolin. In the '70s and '80s, bluegrass pickers who were into the new grass or progressive styles began amplifying, and the electric mandolin became more commonplace, and indeed a necessity as volume levels got up to the fusion jazz level. But, at the time of these '50s sides with Pack, the sound of the amplified instrument must have come across as extremely novel.

Ratliff also recorded early on with the charismatic frontman Hobo Jack Adkins, who despite his name was fond of posing for publicity shots wearing a nice suit. Adkins was a popular performer who helped the mandolinist get his foot in the door at Starday Records, a firm responsible for some of the most gorgeous early country music, and some of the most incoherent in terms of liner notes or explanatory credits. The label made up for this confusion by reissuing and repackaging this material as much as possible. Thus, the discography of Ratliff will probably remain mysterious, especially the part pertaining to Starday studio sessions. The mandolinist also worked with fiddler and bandleader Kenny Baker, the Prairie Union Bluegrass Band, Breakwater Bluegrass, and New Cut Road. The 1999 CD Steel Rails in the Tennessee Night with the Chicago Bluegrass Band was his last recording. He truly went out in style, since this was a totally happening combo in which the mandolinist was in the fine company of Windy City bluegrass fiends such as guitarist Peter Nye, banjoist Jeff Krause, fiddler Brad Kennedy, and bassist Chipper Covington. In the '70s, the Rounder label reissued some of the early sides with Pack and Adkins on two different volumes of the wonderful Early Years of Bluegrass series. 



Temperance Reel (trad) - Red Ratliff & Chicago Bluegrass Pals

Washington County (trad) - Red Ratliff & Chicago Bluegrass Pals

Sugar Loaf Mntn - Red Ratliff & Chicago Bluegrass Pals

Over The Waves - Red Ratliff & Chicago Bluegrass Pals

Katy Hill (trad) Red Ratliff & Chicago Bluegrass Pals

The James King Band - Live in Evanston - Saturday Dec 11 2010;
at Chicagograss - http://chicagobluegrass.com
w/ Ron Spears (mandolin); Bobby Davis (upright bass).
band link: http://thejameskingband.com

chicagograss

Popular tracks