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Narciso Martínez (1911–92), the father of Texas-Mexican conjunto/norteño and its most influential early accordion player, made his first recordings in 1936, which this album contains. According to Chris Strachwitz, “Narciso was a fast and snappy player…so efficient at the accordion that he was able to record twenty titles in one day.” When he became the house accordionist for Ideal Records in San Benito, Texas, in 1946, he accompanied many popular singers, such as sisters Carmen & Laura Hernández, on commercial records. By doing so, he popularized what is now known as conjunto/norteño with an accordionist and bajo sexto player backing a duet. "Down-Home Music: The Story of Arhoolie Records" is on display, post-security, in Terminal 2. http://bit.ly/StoryofArhoolie This image was posted on November 20, 2018.

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SFO Museum mourns the loss of Chris Strachwitz (1931–2023), founder of Arhoolie Records. This image was posted on May 11, 2023.
The French-speaking settlers who left the Acadian region of Canada for southwest Louisiana in 1764 became known as Cajuns. This image was posted on November 07, 2018. #storyofarhoolie #arhoolie #arhoolierecords #acadian #french #canada #louisiana #cajuns #cajun #creole #accordion #ballads #fiddletunes
Over time, the traditional Cajun waltzes and two-steps played on the accordion fused with rhythm-and-blues, blues, and eventually, rock-and-roll to create a uniquely new Creole sound called zydeco. This image was posted on November 03, 2018. #storyofarhoolie #arhoolie #arhoolierecords #chrisstrachwitz #cliftonchenier #zydeco #blues #cajun #creole #texas #accordion #pianoaccordion
Narciso Martínez (1911–92), the father of Texas-Mexican conjunto/norteño and its most influential early accordion player, made his first recordings in 1936, which this album contains. This image was posted on November 20, 2018. #storyofarhoolie #arhoolie #arhoolierecords #chrisstrachwitz #conjunto #norteño #narcisomartínez #accordions #accordionist #texas #bajosexto #accordion #album #albumcover
Cleveland Chenier, the older brother of the "King of Zydeco" Clifton Chenier, played the rubboard in Clifton's zydeco band. This image was posted on January 03, 2019. #storyofarhoolie #arhoolie #arhoolierecords #chrisstrachwitz #cliftonchenier #clevelandchenier #rubboard #zydeco #music
Powerful rhythm-and-blues singer Big Mama Thornton (1926–84) was first to record the songs “Hound Dog” and her own composition, “Ball n’ Chain,” which would later be made famous by Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin. This image was posted on October 12, 2018. #storyofarhoolie #arhoolie #arhoolierecords #chrisstrachwitz #bigmamathornton #hounddog #ballnchain #harmonica #drums #rockandroll #blues #folkmusic #ballads #gospel #texas

This post mentions the following things involved with the SFO Museum collection:

Down-Home Music: The Story of Arhoolie Records
This nonaviation exhibition was on display between September 2018 and June 2019 in the 2A Boomerang Gallery gallery, located in Terminal 2