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: Gamaliel Penn Interview
The son of Bishop Naomi Manning, the second Chief Overseer of the Church of the Living God, Jewell Dominion, and grandson of Bishop Lorenzo Harrison, the steel guitarist who prevailed in Jewell Dominion worship services for decades, guitarist Gamaliel Penn has deep roots in Jewell Dominion musical traditions.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Angelas LeJeune
Finding living relatives of Angelas LeJeune, one of my favorite early Cajun recording artists, was a bit tricky. I went to Church Point and I found his nephew Dewey LeJeune and his wife Carrie Miller who had photos of him.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Nathan Abshire
I never got to interview Nathan though I had a tape of an interview he did with Shirley Bergeron. Fortunately, Floyd Soileau offered to take me over to see Nathan’s wife, Olla. Olla took out her old photos and we had a great time talking.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Sidney Brown
Sidney Brown was not only one of the first people to recreate the diatonic Cajun accordion in southwest Louisiana but had a very popular band in the Lake Charles area.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Amédé Ardoin
My friends Bois Sec and Marceline Ardoin told me that they knew the woman that renowned Creole artist Amédé Ardoin had always loved and that she was alive and had a photo of Amédé!
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Douglas Bellard
Douglas Bellard was the first Black man to record Creole music in this area. In Vol 1 I put the lyrics to his two released songs and a beautiful portrait of him.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On The Babineaux Family
I went to Rayne in search of information about the Babineaux family who had a popular stringband there in the 1940’s. Somehow I found a relative of Sidney Babineaux, Wanda Wilson, who had a wonderful box of photos of the Babineaux family that she shared with me for my book.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Austin Pitre
Though I never personally met Austin I had heard him play at the Evangeline Club in Eunice. Marc and I stopped in one Sunday afternoon and entered a pitch black room, freezing cold due to the air conditioning. The music was rocking and the dance floor was packed.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Harry Choates
I had to interview several people to get enough info about Harry Choates. There were still plenty of people living who had played with him and watched him develop into the dynamo musician he became.
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Ann Savoy Collection: On Blind Uncle Gaspard
I drove the two hour trip to the Avoyelles region in search of traces of Blind Uncle Gaspard and Delma Lachney. The recordings of Blind Uncle Gaspard had always been my favorite Louisiana recording due to their uniqueness and haunting, strange quality of sound.
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