Smithsonian Folkways Makes Arhoolie Tracks Available Today

Smithsonian Folkways

SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS is making more than 300 standout albums (over 5,500 tracks) from the famed ARHOOLIE RECORDS catalog available digitally and on CD through the its website starting TODAY.

ARHOOLIE RECORDS is renowned for "down home" blues, jazz, country, gospel, CAJUN, zydeco, MEXICAN-AMERICAN and world music. SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS acquired the ARHOOLIE catalog in MAY from its founder CHRIS STRACHWITZ and business partner TOM DIAMENTE. It is the largest addition to the SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS catalog since it launched in 1987, bringing the total number of available tracks to almost 60,000.

The collection features seminal recordings by artists such as BUKKA WHITE, BIG MAMA THORNTON, LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS, MANCE LIPSCOMB, MISSISSIPPI FRED McDOWELL, BIG JOE WILLIAMS, FLACO JIMENEZ and CLIFTON CHENIER. More recent releases include titles from the SAVOY FAMILY BAND, THE MAGNOLIA SISTERS and the PINE LEAF BOYS. "Hear Me Howling," a collection of recordings made in the SAN FRANCISCO BAY area during the '60s, won a GRAMMY in 2011. That same year, the label issued a GRAMMY-nominated retrospective box set celebrating ARHOOLIE's 50th anniversary.

The ARHOOLIE acquisition brings more than 1,000 new artists into the FOLKWAYS family and includes 350+ albums released going back to 1960, as well as recordings from three SOUTH TEXAS regional labels specializing in MEXICAN music (IDEAL, FALCON, and RIO); ANDEAN HUAYNO music from the PERUVIAN label DISCOS SMITH; and archival materials. Remaining titles from the roughly 650-album collection will be released on an ongoing basis.

A selected number of titles unearthed from ARHOOLIE's EL CERRITO, CA, warehouse are also available on vinyl, in limited quantity, including 12" releases from CLIFTON CHENIER, MICHAEL DOUCET & BEAUSOLEIL, STRANGE CREEK SINGERS, UNCLE JOHN PATTERSON, FLACO JIMENEZ, ROSE MADDOX and CJ CHENIER. 

See a full list on vinyl at folkways.si.edu/arhoolie.

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