I was trying to come up with a topic to write about yesterday when I opened my morning paper (yes, we still get a morning paper — three, in fact) and there was a story on the local section front about Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records.
You hear the words “national treasure” bandied about a lot, but I think Strachwitz is the genuine article, one of the great figures in the preservation of traditional roots music styles.
The news is that Strachwitz has sold his Arhoolie Records catalog to Smithsonian Folkways, where the 350-plus albums he has recorded over the years will be available in perpetuity.
“Since I’m not King Tut, I can’t take my Arhoolie baby with me,” Strachwitz told the East Bay Times. “It was Moe Asch, founder of Folkways Records, who told me in so many words, ‘Chris, you’ve got to think about what you are going to do with all your stuff when you kick the bucket.’” The thousands of Folkways Records that Asch sold to the Smithsonian Institution some years ago are available on-line, as the Arhoolie collection will be, at the web site smithsonianfolkways@si.edu.
Since acquiring Ash’s label, the Smithsonian has expanded by adding several other labels including Cook, Monitor, and the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. They have also released 400 new recordings on their own.
Strachwitz came to the United States as a teenager with his German family in 1947. He saw a Hollywood movie, “New Orleans,” with Louis Armstrong and Billie Holliday and was smitten by the music. Later, listening to the radio in his Santa Barbara boarding school he found a station that was playing western swing. That began a lifelong devotion to American roots music.
In 1960 Strachwitz traveled to Texas with recording equipment and found country blues singer Mance Lipscomb. His first Arhoolie record was “Mance Lipscomb: Texas Sharecropper and Songster.”
Strachwitz’ favorite music wasn’t particularly commercial, but in 1966 he caught a break. He recorded Country Joe and the Fish’s “I Feel Like I’m Fixing to Die Rag,” a catchy uptempo anti-Vietnam war song. The recording was done in Strachwitz’ living room, and for his hospitality, he got the song publishing rights. But then the song was performed at Woodstock, and included in the movie and soundtrack album. Enough money came flowing in to allow Strachwitz to buy the building on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito where his retail store, Down Home Records, continues to operate.
Over the years he has recorded Tejano music (Flaco Jimenez among others), Cajun music (Clifton Chenier among others), Oakland bluesman Jesse Fuller, and for bluegrass fans, The Vern Williams Band and Rose Maddox’s bluegrass recordings.
In the East Bay Times article, long-time business partner Tom Diamant sums it up: “There are very few people in the world who have done what Chris has done. Chris traveled and recorded in a world that basically doesn’t exist anymore. Before Chris came along and issued Cajun music, no one outside of Louisiana ever bought a Cajun record. People didn’t know who Flaco Jimenez was until Chris put him out on Arhoolie and made Tex-Mex a household word.
In February, Strachwitz received a Trustee Award at the Grammys. In his statement on his web site about the sale, he said, “I plan to continue to produce records and assist the staff at Smithsonian Folkways where I can.
