Legendary record collector and producer Chris
Strachwitz started Arhoolie in 1960 as a means of
recording a session featuring the Texas blues singer
and guitarist Mance Lipscomb. Strachwitz had long
been a noted enthusiast and fan of every genre comprising American vernacular music. Traditional jazz,
blues, R&B, Cajun, zydeco, Conjunto/Norteno,
gospel, bluegrass, and country acts are among the
types of music that have made it into Arhoolie releases.
Artists such as Clifton Chenier, Flaco Jimenez, Sam
‘‘Lightnin’ ’’ Hopkins, ‘‘Mississippi’’ Fred McDowell,
and Big Mama Thornton arguably made their greatest
releases for Arhoolie.
Strachwitz is also noted for cutting many of the
label’s best releases in live, regional settings. Arhoolie
albums and CDs have also appeared in several
movies, most notably Les Blank’s Chulas Fronteras
and Lone Star. But Strachwitz’s tastes are not limited
or restricted to domestic sounds. The company has
issued several albums of traditional and popular Mexican music, Hawaiian sounds, and material from
Africa, the Caribbean, Cuba, and Latin America.
Strachwitz began the Down Home Music Store in
1976. It soon expanded into the Down Home Music
Mail Order service (later Roots & Rhythm), arguably
the country’s finest mail-order service for roots music.
Strachwitz has also enjoyed success as a song publisher, thanks to his Tradition Music Company, which
has published material from Country Joe & the Fish,
‘‘Mississippi’’ Fred McDowell, and K. C. Douglas
that has subsequently been rerecorded and turned
into huge hits. The Rolling Stones and country star
Alan Jackson are among artists utilizing songs
through the Tradition Music Company.
Strachwitz even expanded into distribution in the
1980s as well, establishing Bay Side Record Distributors, which he later sold. Arhoolie’s vinyl catalog is
increasingly being reissued on special two albums on
one CD releases, but the company also sells some
vinyl and recently expanded into vintage 78s. In addition, there are new Arhoolie reissues and recordings
from such artists as Santiago Jimenez, Jr., Big Joe
Williams, and Big Mama Thornton. Arhoolie imports
releases from Document, an Austrian company that
specializes in prewar blues and gospel recordings as
well as early country. They also import world music
releases from the Pan label, a Dutch company.
RON WYNN