Texas artists and Arhoolie folk label celebrate 60 years with streaming concert
This past week, Chris Strachwitz s life s work was honored at a virtual 60th-anniversary party in which noted Arhoolie enthusiasts such as ZZ Top s Billy Gibbons, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Los Tigres…
Andrew Dansby December 13, 2020Updated: December 15, 2020, 10:28 am
Mance Lipscomb, left, played in Navasota when Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz met him. They’re shown in 1964. Photo: Chris Simon & Maureen Gosling
Chris Strachwitz showed up in Texas without much of a plan. He knew he wanted to record the storied blues player Lightnin’ Hopkins, and that was about the extent of his endeavor as an aspiring musicologist. Strachwitz instead found himself following a trail to Navasota trying to track down another musician noted for singing a song about Tom Moore, a plantation owner. He found Mance Lipscomb, who played some songs. Strachwitz recorded them, and upon his return to Californ