ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS:Audio Interviews
Audio interviews by Chris Strachwitz during his research into the music he was recording for his label Arhoolie Records as well as for his radio programs on KPFA-FM (Berkeley, CA) in the 1960’s through 1980’s, and by Dr. Manuel Peña during his research for his several books on Mexican American music.
Sacred Steel Archive: Felton Williams Interview
Highly regarded among steel guitarists who grew up in the Church of the Living God, Jewell Dominion, Felton Williams was a talented man with a lifelong thirst for knowledge. He was born in Tupelo Mississippi in 1934. Following the premature death of his father, at the age of four, he moved with his mother and four siblings to Mt. Clemons, about twenty miles northeast of Detroit, Michigan.
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Chris Strachwitz Interviewed by Roy Trumbull on KBRG
Chris Strachwitz has been many things – songcatcher, music publisher, author, filmmaker, but he is first and foremost a Record Man. Take a listen to a newly unearthed interview with Chris in 1964 as he describes capturing the indelible songs on those early Arhoolie records, upcoming releases, and what it takes to start a record company.
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Ry Cooder Interview
“Once you can see somebody play, I’ve always found this to be true, it illuminates the whole situation, how they hold the instrument, how they physically go about doing these things. Copying notes off a record is pointless. You got to know how they get themselves in a physical state and then things happen, they just seem to happen…
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John Hogg Interview
I don’t know. It’s just in me. It’s in me. They say- Actually, the guys, since I’ve been on the west coast have changed me over kind of on the modern kick, but I still can’t away from this.
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Bukka White Interview
“‘I just reach up and pull them out of the sky – call them sky songs- they just come to me.’ That’s how Bukka White described his music making. His performances were not polished, finished, slick tin pan alley songs but marvelous, on the spot creations – images and recollections as they come to the artist’s mind.”
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Chris Strachwitz Remembers Mance Lipscomb
That’s his name, is Mance Lipscomb. That’s the first time we ever heard his name. And he told him exactly where he lived on the Washington road and gave us the address. And we went there and of course he wasn’t home. It was kind of in the middle of the afternoon or late afternoon by then.
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Deep Dives: Our Interview Archive
Arhoolie Records always worked to give voice to the musicians. In addition to releasing hundreds of records, hours of interviews with musicians and others were recorded...
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Sacred Steel Archive: Ron Hall Interview
Bishop Ron Hall played a significant role in the formative years of several Detroit, Michigan steel guitarists and contributed to establishing the presence of the steel guitar at the House of God, Keith Dominion annual General Assembly in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Dennis McGee Interview
Dennis McGee Interview Dennis McGee speaks candidly with Chris Strachwitz about Cajun music, his relationship with Amédé Ardoin, and his early days as a musician. Six...
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Ramiro Cortés Interview
Ramiro Cortés Interview Ramiro Cortés talks to Chris about his years as Lydia Mendoza’s impresario. Just after quitting his job playing baseball for the Coca Cola...
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