Chances are that if you have an interest in blues, Cajun, zydeco or ethnic music, you’ve probably got a few Arhoolie CDs on your shelf. Now in its 37th year, the El Cerrito, California-based label has deservedly earned a reputation as one of the best independent labels in the country.

With close to 200 titles in print—a great percentage by Louisiana artists—a conversation with Arhoolie’s owner Chris Strachwitz reveals that the label’s catalog is very much a reflection of his own personal tastes. While sales are important, most Arhoolie titles only sell a few thousand copies in a year, some just a few hundred.

“If I had a big hit I’d probably ask myself what I did wrong,” laughed Strachwitz.

A frequent visitor to New Orleans, Strachwitz was in town recently to take part in the Cutting Edge Music Conference. The visit included a side trip to South Louisiana—to hunt vintage 78s—and going to see some jazz and brass band music.

A native of Germany, Strachwitz became interested in folk and jazz music not long after his family moved to the West Coast after World War II. As a fan of Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and Bunk Johnson, New Orleans was a natural destination for Strachwitz, who first visited the Crescent City while on leave from the U.S. Army in the mid-1950s.

“A lot about New Orleans has changed since then, but a lot of it remains the same,” said Strachwitz. “There’s plenty of great music here, but there’s plenty of bad music too. Unfortunately the bad music gets most of the attention because it gets played in the tourist joints.”

When Strachwitz started Arhoolie in 1960 (Arhoolie is an African word meaning “field holler”), his initial releases were recorded on field trips to the South. His travels would lead him to South Louisiana, where he recorded the Hackberry Ramblers. Strachwitz also made several of the earliest zydeco field recordings, taping Sidney Babineaux, Willie Green and Herbert Sam.

For several years Arhoolie was a struggling blues label. However, in 1964 Strachwitz met the artist who would changes his fortunes—Clifton Chenier.

“I was in Houston visiting Lightnin’ Hopkins,” recalled Strachwitz. “One night Lightnin’ said, ‘Let’s go see my cousin Cliff play.’ I’d heard of Clifton before because I had a few of his Specialty 78s, but I considered that stuff R&B.

“We walked in a joint and there was Clifton playing some real low-down blues and old-time zydeco. Lightnin’ introduced us and he told Clifton that I made records. Clifton said, ‘Make one on me.’ He hadn’t recorded in five years and he needed a single for the jukeboxes so he could get more work.

“The next day we went in the studio and cut ‘Ay Ai Ai’ and ‘Why Did You Go Last Night.’ The Houston distributor sold about 1,000 singles so I did a little better than break even. I came back the following year and did his first album, Louisiana Blues and Zydeco.”

As events transpired, Chenier and Strachwitz’s meeting was a turning point for both men. Arhoolie went on to develop a rich catalog of Louisiana music and Chenier was the label’s top-selling artist. In all, Chenier recorded nearly a dozen Arhoolie albums on his ascent to the role as king of zydeco.

Strachwitz recorded other zydeco artists, including the Sam Brothers, John Delafose, Bois Sec, Canray Fontenot and C.J. Chenier, Clifton’s son.

Arhoolie also developed a top-notch roster of Cajun artists. Marc Savoy and his various musical aggregations have kept traditional Cajun music alive, while Michael Doucet and his group BeauSoleil became popular on a national level by experimenting with the folk music of South Louisiana.

In fact, two of Arhoolie’s current bestsellers are Cajun titles—The Best of Beausoleil and Savoy’s Cajun Hot Sauce. Arhoolie has also just reissued Joe Falcon’s essential Louisiana Cajun Music, which Strachwitz recorded at the Triangle Dance Hall in Scott, LA in 1963. Austin Pitre’s Opelousas Waltz has also been reissued.

Like many independent labels, Arhoolie has recently introduced a mid-line series of CDs in order to recycle its catalog. These CDs normally retail for $9.99.

“Today it seems like the life span of a full-priced CD is about two years,” said Strachwitz. “Unless it’s a hit they seem to stop selling. After that you’ve got to repackage or recycle your catalog to keep it active. The consumer seems to want cheaper CDs, so we’ve been putting out low-priced collections of different types of music to meet the demand. I really think that’s the way to go.”

Of area interest, Arhoolie’s mid-line has recently issued 15 Louisiana Cajun Classics, 15 Louisiana Zydeco Classics, and a reissue of Louisiana Blues featuring Henry Gray, Silas Hogan and Guitar Kelley. Brass band fans will welcome the return of Here to Stay, the Rebirth Brass Band’s first LP.

“I recorded that live at that funky Treme joint (the Grease Lounge) in the mid-1980s,” said Strachwitz. “They [Rebirth] really had a lot of energy then. It might not have been their best seller but I thought it was their best record. Later they added a saxophone and that changed the whole sound and style the band had.”

Up until July of this year, Arhoolie had been handled by a number of regional distributors. That changed when Arhoolie signed a pact with Koch International that made it Arhoolie’s exclusive U.S. distributor.

“It’s a change I’d been thinking about for several years,” said Strachwitz. “With the way retail has been going, it was a move I felt I had to make. I don’t think the chains and the big stores want to fool with a bunch of small distributors anymore. They just want to do business with a small number of large distributors.”

Strachwitz also sees radical changes at the retail level.

“The independent dealer can’t possibly carry the same inventory as the chains and super-stores. There are just too many titles out there. If they want to survive in the record business today they’ve got to find a niche in the market by specializing in a certain type of music, be it blues, Cajun, classical or rap. It’s the only way I can see a small store surviving.

“I just hope this industry settles down so I can go on putting out CDs.”

August “Dimes” Dupont, who played saxophone with the Gondoliers, died September 14 of lung cancer. He was 68. A veteran studio musician, Dupont might best be remembered for being half of the duo Myles and Dupont, which recorded the classic New Orleans rocker “Loud Mouth Anne.”

Buddy Stewart also died last month from a heart attack while singing on stage. He was 70. Stewart led the Top Notchers, which was a popular Baton Rouge R&B band in the 1950s and 1960. Buddy later opened Buddy’s Rock Shop, which was the Capitol City’s finest blues and soul record emporium.