Chris Strachwitz

Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording and issuing blues, Cajun, norteño and other forms of roots music from the US and elsewhere in the world. He was born Christian Alexander Maria, Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz, in Gross Reichenau, Lower Silesia, then within Germany and now known as Bogaczów, Poland. His family were aristocratic farm owners, with some American antecedents; Strachwitz's mother's grandfather was US Senator Francis G. Newlands. In 1945, under the terms of the Potsdam Agreement after World War II, he and...