Strachwitz was the founder of Arhoolie Records and in 1960 first recorded Texas songster Mance Lipscomb playing on his guitar a repertoire of lyrics and roots music that Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Taj Mahal later emulated as counterculture.
In July of 2021 I interviewed Strachwitz (from El Cerrito, CA) over the phone about his experiences recording vernacular rural music, such as Mance Lipscomb's guitar repertoire of downhome blues and Big Mama Thornton’s powerful original rendition of Hound Dog. In our two-hour conversation he talked about his experiences starting Arhoolie Records, which was acquired in 2016 by The Smithsonian Institution.
In this 18-minute episode, Chris Strachwtiz talks about how he drove from California to Houston and was looking for Lightnin' Hopkins, but found Lipscomb instead. Strachwitz said, "And Mack (McCormick) said, this is probably the most important person you will ever meet."
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