ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS:Chris Strachwitz Interviews
In 2015 The Arhoolie Foundation received a grant from the Grammy Foundation to digitize and put online the interviews that Chris Strachwitz recorded with musicians and friends over the past 50 years. He recorded these to capture the personal history of many of the musicians he recorded for his Arhoolie Records label and also for his long running radio show on on KPFA-FM (Berkeley, CA) during the 1970’s and 1980’s. You can listen to the following interviews and many have transcripts as well.
Joe Falcon Interview – Cajun
In 1928 Joe Falcon went to New Orleans and recorded the first Cajun record. In this 1962 interview with Chris Strachwitz, he talks about making that first record and his early days playing music.
Read MoreSonny Simmons, Barbara Donald, Juma Sultan Interview
“Yeah, they was very musical peoples, in fact, on this island, it was a tribal-like thing on the weekends. All the peoples would get together and they would go into this spot, their favorite spot and they would have festivities of music and voodoo. They’d deal in voodoo and witchcraft and all that. It was all surrounded with music.”
Read MoreHackberry Ramblers Interview
“The way we would play, when we started playing over here at Silver Star, we would play maybe about three numbers. Then we would play a waltz. The waltzes we would play, French waltzes. It has a certain beat that the people around here like.”
Read MoreBongo Joe Coleman Interview
In this brief interview Bongo Joe is not very talkative; however, he does reveal a few glimpses into his creative personality.
Read MoreStaple Singers Interview
“…he wanted us to sing blues. He said, Mavis can make a lot of money if we sang blues. I didn’t want to sing blues.” – Roebuck Staples
Read MoreJ.E. Mainer Interview
Joseph Emmett Mainer talks about growing up, working in the cotton mills and playing with his brother Wade for the Crazy Water Crystal Company-sponsored radio shows, and recording for RCA Victor, King Records and Alan Lomax.
Read MoreHowlin’ Wolf Interview 1967
“I always make up songs about the way people live and how people act amongst themselves. Ups and downs they have. Some people have ups and downs, and what caused these things. A lot of people come out and sing but they don’t never put their sweetening into it. You’ve got to tell the peoples why you’re singing this, and what causing this, and showing them what you’re singing.”
Read MoreFlaco Jimenez Interview | Tejano Music
“Naturally now you can’t stick just with polka and redova and schottisches. You have to play what’s going on in the world. Starting with polka, and a little rock-and-roll, or a little cumbia, cha-cha-cha”…”Because it’s pretty hard just to play just polka, polka, polka, polka, or just cumbia, cumbia, cumbia. You have to mix it up.”
Read MoreAudio Interviews
share: [feather_share] Luis Acosta Interviewed by Chris Strachwitz Date: May 19, 1974 Language: English Instrument maker, A&R man in San Antonio in the 1930s. Moses...
Read MoreChuck Berry | Berkeley Blues Festival
In 1965 Chris Strachwitz produced the Berkeley Blues Festival bringing Chuck Berry to Berkeley California and then to Los Angeles. Here’s a 7 minute interview conducted a few days after Chuck Berry passed away with Chris remembering those days and the two concerts.
Read More