Arhoolie label founder Chris Strachwitz, who recorded Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Clifton Chenier and other Texas legends, has died
Chris Strachwitz stands for a portrait in the record section of his store, Downhome Music in El Cerrito, Calif., on Saturday, September 6, 2014.Chris Strachwitz appeared to be on a snipe hunt: A German immigrant living in California who traveled halfway across the country to Houston looking for a blues singer. On his first visit to Texas, Strachwitz failed to achieve his goal, which was to locate and record Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins.
He was born to a farming family in Gross Reichenau, which is now Bogaczów, Poland. His family moved to California in 1947. Here, his love of American blues, R&B and jazz flourished. Strachwitz would record concerts and radio shows while in college. But any formal musical pursuits were put on hold: He attained citizenship and joined the Army in 1954. He was stationed in Austria before returning to California and earning a political science degree.
“I preferred the music that captured the essence of a performance,” he said. "I wasn't concerned about uncovering or preserving much of anything. I just wanted to record things I liked." He made no demands of the artists that nudged their art into artifice. When Strachwitz and McCormick found Lipscomb in Navasota, he started playing them old Tin Pan Alley songs, thinking his white guests wanted to hear those. A proper songster, Lipscomb wasn’t a blues performer as much as he was a musician who could play hundreds of songs that he would customize to a particular gathered crowd. The two visitors insisted they weren’t seeking pop standards.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chris Strachwitz, founded Arhoolie label, dies age 91Producer and musicologist Chris Strachwitz has died. He was 91 years old. Strachwitz was a one-man preservation society whose Arhoolie Records released thousands of songs by regional performers and comprised an extraordinary archive. The German-born Strachwitz founded Arhoolie in 1960 and traveled the country over the following decades on a mission that rarely relented. He would record little-known artists in their home environments, be it a dance hall, a front porch, a beer joint, or a backyard. Arhoolie’s vast catalog includes blues, Tejano, folk, jazz, gospel, and Zydeco. Grammy winners Flaco Jimenez and Clifton Chenier are among those who later attracted wider followings.
Read more »
Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie Records Founder, Dead at 91Chris Strachwitz, the founder of Arhoolie Records — an indispensable label for American roots music, from blues and zydeco to gospel and Mexican folk, for nearly seven decades — has died at the age of 91
Read more »
Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie Records Founder, Dies at 91Chris Strachwitz, whose Arhoolie Records released thousands of songs by regional performers and comprised an extraordinary American archive that became known and loved worldwide, has died.
Read more »
Texas to open 6 new state parks, including 2 near HoustonIn the coming years, Texans will be able to access at least six new state parks, with two of them in Houston's back yard.
Read more »
Houston airports to build $5M training facility for Texas Southern aviation studentsHouston Airports will lease a new aviation training center to Texas Southern University for future pilots that will include a 22,000-square-foot aircraft hangar.
Read more »