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.
Ann Savoy Collection: DL Menard, 1983
When I first met Marc he was traveling extensively with DL Menard, Doc Guidry, and sometimes Dewey Balfa. They called themselves The Louisiana Aces. DL was always ready to tease everyone and laugh. He was such a character.
Listen HereAnn Savoy Collection: John Delafose, 1983
We would go to John’s dances at Catholic Church halls in and around Eunice. He had his whole family working for him-Tony on rubboard, Geno on drums…He also had two slim brothers, Charles and Slim Prudhomme, playing bass and guitar.
Listen HereAnn Savoy Collection: Dennis McGee
Dennis lived in Eunice and was a constant visiter at Marc’s store, Savoy Music Center, and also at our house. Since he was the best living example of early Cajun music he was in high demand among musical historians and with young Cajuns and outsiders who wanted to learn the roots of the music.
Listen HereAnn Savoy Collection: Aldus Roger
There can’t be enough said about the importance of Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys. Their excellent band set the standard for Cajun dancehall bands. They actually were on TV on Saturday afternoons in Acadiana on channel 10 and both Cajuns and Black creoles would sit riveted to their TVs watching them, so proud for one of their own French speaking people to be on TV!
Listen HereAnn Savoy Collection: Belton Richard, 1983
Belton was the most modern and the most locally famous I interviewed. My friend Hadley Castille went with me to his house in Lafayette because it helped to have someone who knew Belton to give me access to his house.
Listen HereSacred Steel Archive: Nettie Mae Harrison Interview
Nettie Mae Harrison Interview 00:00 00:00 RS 131 00:00 RS 132 00:00 Interviewee: Nettie Mae Harrison Interviewer: Robert Stone Date: 9/11/2003 Location: Language: English For the...
Listen HereSacred Steel Archive: Harvey Jones Interview
Harvey Jones Interview Jewell Gospel Singers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1951. L-R: Bishop Lorenzo Harrison, steel guitar; Harvey Jones, guitar; Corroneva Burns, drums; Bobby Powell, piano; vocalists Candi...
Listen HereSacred 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.
Listen HereChris 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.
Listen HereRy 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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