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.
Adolph Hofner Interview
“There wasn’t very many such things as guitars back in community I lived with, it was all brass and drums and tubas and vice-versa; but what got me interested in that was the steel guitars, I like the way they whine, you know? Also, see them in the Sears Roebuck catalogue and I figured it could be easy to play.”
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Sunny Ozuna Interview
Little Joe’s fiercest rival in the Onda Chicana field, Ildefonso, or “Sunny,” Ozuna, was born in a west side barrio of San Antonio, Texas, in 1943.
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Tony “Ham” Guerrero Interview
Trumpet player for Little Joe y la Familia and one of the founding members of Tortilla Factory talks with Manuel Peña about “what happened to the orquesta tejana.”
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Wallace “Cheese” Read Interview – Cajun
You probably won’t see Cheese Read at the local dance halls around Eunice because he is not a professional musician. He prefers to play music at home or at parties with a few friends. But a more powerful singer or a more precise, knowledgeable fiddle player couldn’t be found in Southwest Louisiana.
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Smiley Winters Interview
Smiley Winters talks with Chris Strachwitz about his life as a jazz drummer. “I just studied. For awhile, I did to advance my studies. But after a while I did nothing but to learn theory and everything. And then I got a group, a bebop group in 1948 and we made the downbeat Ralph Gleason wrote about us.”
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Big Mama Thornton Interview
“…I would like very much to do spirituals. Because I feel that I got the voice. I feel like I got the power. I just feel like I could just do them. You would be surprised, mostly my occupation every morning is turn on my radio and listen to spirituals. I love those spirituals. I love good singing.”
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