Chris Strachwitz

Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931 in Groß Reichenau , Lower Silesia , today Bogaczów , Poland, as Christian Alexander Maria, Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche and Camminetz) is an American music producer of German origin, in particular the founder and operator of the influential US record label " Arhoolie Records " (as well as its sub-labels "Blues Classics" and "Old Timey Records").

Live and act

Strachwitz was resettled with his family in 1945 and lived in Braunschweig until 1947 . Then he immigrated with his family to the USA, where he first lived in Reno (Nevada) and then in Santa Barbara (California) before attending Pomona College and Los Angeles jazz and blues concerts from 1951 . As an American citizen, he was drafted into military service in 1954, which he spent in Salzburg . He then studied engineering, mathematics and physics at the University of California, Berkeley , and then graduated in political science and worked as a high school teacher in Los Gatos until 1959 . Then he did an internship with Bob Geddins and first recordings with Jesse Fuller and Sonny Simmons .

Strachwitz founded his own record label in 1960 to record hitherto unknown “down home” blues musicians such as Lightnin 'Hopkins , Mississippi Fred McDowell , Jesse Fuller, Juke Boy Bonner and Mance Lipscomb and to make their music accessible to larger' white 'groups of buyers do. Soon he expanded the program of his “Arhoolie Records” to include re-releases of blues recordings from the interwar period (“Blues Classics”) and gospel music , old-time country & western , (white) Cajun and (black) Zydeco recordings from Louisiana and Mexican-American "roots" music ( Tejano / Conjunto music ).

In 1995 he founded the Arhoolie Foundation with the aim of documenting and preserving traditional and regional music. The foundation also maintains its collection of historical records, which has been open to the public at the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles since 2009 .

Prizes and awards

In 1993, Strachwitz received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Blues Symposium for his role in preserving the blues; In 1999 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame .

Web links

• Chris Strachwitz biography / interview
• The Arhoolie Records Story
• Matthew Block, Chris Strachwitz, Arhoolie Records, and Traditional Blues Field Recordings , Rhythm & News
• Official Arhoolie homepage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Larry Rohter, Still the Address of down-home sounds , New York Times, November 24, 2010
2. ↑ Arhoolie Foundation home page ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Chris Strachwitz and the Arhoolie Story, part 3 ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Blues Hall of Fame: 1999 inductees ( Memento of the original from August 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.