This five CD set is subtitled the Journey of Chris Strachwitz, and that's
apt, since its an aural history of his wide ranging musical passions, which
he's been sharing with record buyers over the last forty years. Strachwitz
had grown up in Germany and Poland, but his family fled from the Russian
army and wound up in Reno in 1947. He fell in love with American music,
starting with hillbilly and New Orleans Dixieland Bands, and became an avid
record collector. After a couple years in the army, he became a high school
teacher in Los Gatos California. He got turned on to blues after hearing
Lightning Hopkins, and after a trip to Texas where Hopkins had been found by
blues researcher Mack McCormick, Strachwitz decided to start a record label.
His first album was cut and released in 1960, it featured Texas songster
Mance Lipscomb.
From there on his label grew at a steady rate. Strachwitz continued to make
southern field trips to find and record amateur or neighborhood musicians,
always more interested in their passionate performance than swayed by
technical proficiency. He recorded in barber shops and bars, capturing the
men on their home turf--at first focused mainly on bluesmen like Jesse
Fuller, Little Son Jackson, Big Joe Williams and the Black Ace. But even on
his earliest field trips, other music caught his ear as well, and early
sixties recordings include The Hodges Brothers, a white country band, as
well as the Hackberry Ramblers, a Cajun tinged trio. In 1964 Chris made his
biggest discovery, Clifton Chennier, a cousin of Hopkins wife. Chennier was
the zydeco accordionist king and he went on to become one of the labels
better sellers.
Not only was Strachwitz doing live recordings, he also began reissuing long
out-of-print blues 78's. His Blues Classics label introduced many to the
harmonica sounds of Sonny Boy (John Lee) Williamson, and the intricate
guitar work and vocals of Memphis Minnie. He began doing reissues when he
met Minnie in a Memphis nursing home, where she was crippled and paralyzed.
He'd loved her thirties recordings and was motivated "to give folks some
money, and putting out their records (which were not available at the time)
seemed like a good way to go about it. I paid her royalties from day
one...". Strachwitz also reissued the amazing Trumpet label sides on Rice
Miller, Sonny Boy Williamson II. Chris had a strong influence on the blues
revival, furnishing many young bands with material in his compilation
collections such as "The Jug Jook And Washboard Bands", "Country Blues
Classics" (Vols 1-3) and "Chicago Blues Classics--The Early 50's". The later
was a great compilation of seminal sides by Little Walter, Baby Face Leroy,
Junior Wells, John Brim, Floyd Jones et al. He also bought masters from old
labels and reissued a number of Hopkins sides for the Gold Star label. (It
should be pointed out that NONE of the reissue sides are included here--the
criteria was that all tracks would be ones that Strachwitz had a personal
hand in recording.)
He continued to record bluesmen like Bukka White and Fred McDowell, though
his tastes were branching out to include more country, zydeco and free jazz
as well. One of his odder discoveries was Bongo Joe who he cut in 1968.
Joe, who played two oil drums with mallets had a BBC radio hit with
"Innocent Little Doggie", it got FM airplay in the US as well. In 1969
Country Joe McDonald had performed "Fixing To Die Rag" at Woodstock--it
appeared in the movie and on the soundtrack album--and Strachwitz got the
publishing royalties, per a deal made when he'd recorded Joes debut EP in
1964. (He subsequently gave McDonald back the publishing, but got enough to
put a down payment on a building for the company.) Then in 1971 the Stones
cut Fred McDowells "You Got To Move"--after a lawsuit proved the claim,
Chris and Fred split a good-sized check. Strachwitz put a lot back into the
business, and indulged his new found taste for border music bands.
The first two CD's in this set cover the first decade of Arhoolie label,
they're heavily blues laced. By 1970 Chris had found a new passion; Mexican
tejano music of all stripes. The third and fourth CD's are a heady mix of
conjunto, zydeco and even Klezmore music, another popular artist was
BeauSoleil, who recorded a number of albums in various configurations. The
fifth CD has a smattering of world music with musicians from Africa, India
and Belieze mixed with gospel groups, preachers and county singer Rose
Maddox. It ends with several tracks from Chris's latest love, the Sacred
Steel numbers played by Holiness sects in Florida, with artists like Sonny
Treadway and Aubrery Ghent making some driving, blues tinged steel guitar
recordings that verge on unearthly in power and drive.
The over six hours of music heard here has one thing in common--its all
music from the heart, played more for pleasure than profit, and recorded
with much the same spirit. Strachwitz has done a truly monumental job of
collecting and disseminating music with roots, and he's helped shape the
face and sound of the genre for over 40 years now. This set is a fine
sampler of what Arhoolie has to offer, it comes in an LP sized box, with a
68 page LP sized book (legible type size!), with Chris's reminiscences of
each song or group and how they were recorded. It also includes a number of
unseen photos along with the 41,000 word text. In other words, if you want
to explore what roots music in America and environs is about, this set is
tailor made for you. And it also makes it obvious that the musical community
owes Strachwitz recognition for following through on his passion for music
with heart.
This review is copyright © 2000 by Tony Glover, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.
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