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Record Company Catalogs and Publications of International and Regional Music

The Chris Strachwitz Collection

As an avid record collector, Chris Strachwitz also collected many vintage record company catalogs and publications of regional and ethnic music. Albanian, Scandinavia, Old Familiar Tunes, Mexican, Jewish, Greek, Turkish, and more. Not only do these catalogs list recordings, but some have information and photos of musicians and lyrics to songs. Below is a selection from these relics of a bygone era.

Click on image to open and view contents (not all publications have their contents scanned)
updated with additional catalogs 5-18-2020

Columbia Records Scandinavian – Swedish – Danish – Norwegian – Icelandic Catalog.

32 page catalog with photos and information about the musicians. Dated: October 1918.

Orthophonic Records Greek, Turkish and Albanian Records.

With photos of the musicans and song lyrics. 50 pages. Dated: February 1939

Victor Records in Hebrew and Yiddish

Monthly catalogs with photos and descriptions of musicians, and song lyrics.

Victor Records in Hebrew and Yiddish 1923
Victor Records in Hebrew and Yiddish 1924
Victor Records in Hebrew and Yiddish 1925
Victor Records in Hebrew and Yiddish 1926

Cancioneros

Song lyric magazine produced by various companies. Featuring song lyrics, photos of musicians, record lists and advertisements. Open and read over 30 cancioneros on our Cancioneros page.

cancioneros-feature_

Dr. Harry Oster’s Folk-Lyric Records.

In 1959 folklorist Dr. Oster started  Folk-Lyric Records which released 26 LPs.

Victor Blues and Hot Dance Tunes

Columbia Records – Old Familiar Tunes

Old Time Music from the United states with information and photos of the musicians. 36 Pages. Dated August 1939 (but this is probably a more recent reprint)

RCA Victor Greek Turkish and Albanian Records

“These fine records bring right into your own home the authentic music of these lands, recorded by native artists and in traditional style.” – from the introduction. 34 pages

Discos Iberia

32 pages. Date: Early 1950s

Discos Columbia

Discos Columbia
Columbia Foreign Records - 1931
Columbia Brasil - 1931

RCA Victor Bluebird

June 1940
April 1941. Happy Fats and the Rayne-Bo Ramblers and the Drum Quartett features on cover.

RCA Victor

RCA Victor Polish Records
RCA Victor Hebrew and Jewish Records
RCA Victor Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Scandinavian Records

Victor

1930
1914
1939

Vocalion

Discos Mexicanos Vocalion
Catalog supplement. Hermanas Padilla featured on cover. 1940

Dear friends, 

We’re thrilled to announce that the Arhoolie Foundation and Les Blank Films are joining together to purchase our longtime home at 10341 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. 

The decision to buy the building comes after several months of thoughtful consideration and a strong response from our community. It has become clear to us that continuing our work in the place where Chris Strachwitz originally conceived it is the best way forward for the organization. Staying in our longtime home preserves an important part of Arhoolie’s cultural legacy, prevents the disruption that moving would cause, and—most importantly—opens up possibilities for closer collaboration with Les Blank Films, Down Home Music, and our local East Bay community.

Now comes the hard part. While we are under contract to buy the building, we need to raise $2.4 million to meet the purchase price by April 15. Here are two ways you can donate to our cause:

  • The GoFundMe page for the capital campaign
    (donations to this fund are shared by all three of the tenants).

  • Direct tax-deductible donations/securities to either of the two non-profits who are buying the building:
    Contact Harrod Blank at Les Blank Films https://lesblank.com/contact/;
    or Adam Machado at Arhoolie Foundation, adam@arhoolie.org.

As we begin this capital campaign, we will continue our normal operations in the building while forging a closer institutional bond with Les Blank Films and taking modest, collaborative steps to bring more public programming into Down Home Music. We plan to revive Les Blank and Chris’ tradition of in-store film screenings and will host more informal, free performances and gatherings in the store as part of our outreach work. We believe this collaboration will result in a vibrant community gathering place dedicated to music, film, and deep roots culture. 

We’re grateful for your support. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the coming weeks and months.